I have been waiting for this album patiently since the Red Lion gig in Gravesend last year where a couple of new tracks were aired on the night and fitted in quite nicely next to the old familiar songs.
So here I was expecting an old school style Anthrax album and didnt get it.
When the plain envelope dropped thru the door i ripped it open and headed for the CD player only to be confronted by another envelope printed with a black and white image of the album cover and a neat anarchy A "grow your own" vegetable logo, nice, as was the lyric booklet and poster and the gatefold CD packaging inside the envelope - all very nice but would the noise on the CD stand up to the packaging.
"Sleeping Dogs" woke me up with a bite, then sneaked quite neatly into a semi skank with the guitars working together better than they ever have, adding somehing new to the old Anthrax groove.
A superb opening track, swiftly followed by "Monochrome Dreams" and still the guitars work beautifully together with the rhythm section providing a solid and sometimes funky backing that weave their way through the songs, this is shaping up to be a good album.
Then it's "One Last Drop" which almost gets very pop punk in places as do "Happy" and "Grin", both of which start off really poppy and drift quite nicely into the familiar onslaught and drift back again, held together superbly by Oskars voice which is given space to take control for a change and does quite nicely.
"What Does It Matter" hammers its way out of the speakers and assaults the ears old school style and wont dissapoint old school fans.
"Running On Empty" almost steps on Oi territory and pulls it off very well with its chant along chorus and almost Business like vocals in places.
And the rest of the album?
Go and get yourselves a copy because this deserves to be heard rather than written about. Whatever i can say wont do this album justice.
Anthrax have obviously worked on these songs and it shows, this is certainly no one dimensional album as many are these days and this is not a band trying to be like the band they were. Anthrax are being the band they want to be and this album oozes with that. Anyone expecting old school Anthrax from start to finish will be disappointed, this is something new and refreshing from an old school anarcho band.
Anthrax have certainly matured with age without losing their sound or their integrity.
Best thing they have ever done......quite possibly.
"Dance You Bastards Dance, You May Never Get Another Chance"
Welcome from the previously mentioned Red lion gig.
The Cd and Vinyl will be available from Anthrax on 27th August
We should be getting some for our store when it is released.
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