Album Review – Anthrax “Worship Music” 2011

  Were you all as worried as I was that this was never going to happen? Were you equally worried that it would be a spectacular mess, or, even worse, simply forgettable? Fear not, for although John Bush fans will grumble (and I am one) and the record took several years to finally drop, Worship Music is here and Planet Anthrax keeps on turning.

The band needs a solid performance from Joey Belladonna to make Worship Music work, lest it become the album remembered for swallowing three different singers and possibly bringing an end to the whole Anthrax enterprise in a whimper-not-a-bang way. He proves himself up to the task and then some, delivering speed, power and exuberance on double-tap singles “Devil You Know” and new crowd favourite “Fight ‘em ‘till You Can’t”. However, it’s on power dirge “In the End” that Belladonna and his long-estranged band mates really outdo themselves, pouring heart and soul into a monolithic eulogy for Dimebag Darrell and Ronnie James Dio. The tributes continue on “Judas Priest”, a paean to the still-living Gods of Metal that would seem a bit silly if not for Rob Caggiano’s appropriately blistering salutary fretwork.

“Appropriate” might be the right word for this whole project. Worship Music doesn’t break the mould, and there’s a bit of wobbly genre-hopping on some of the deeper cuts, but it’s miles ahead of the shit-the-bed territory we feared. It seems as though all the “Big 4” attention has reminded Anthrax of their place in metal history, which has proved both humbling and empowering. 8 out of 10