Anthrax - All For The Cause - Review

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.

Anthrax - Welcome - The Red Lion Gravesend (Video)

Recorded live at The Red Lion, Gravesend on 29th January 2011.
Video and still taken by The Welsh Tart & put together by Urban Fallout.
All other images come from Anthrax MySpace

Welcome is the second track on One Last Drop CD single

This was the welcome return home to The Red Lion in Gravesend for Kent Anarcho band Anthrax after a triumphant night at The Winter Of Discontent.




This gig was also the last gig of reformed Sheerness band - The Commited who had played thier last gig before they originally split with Anthrax at this venue in 84/85 - see "Dictated Life " video for the first song they ever wrote played at the last show.

The Commited - Dictated Life (Video)

The Commited - Dictated Life

Filmed at their last gig at Gravesend Red Lion on 29th January 2011 by The Welsh Tart.

Daz Champ from The Commited writes a bit about The Commited's recent history and also talks about Dictated life. (see below video)



The Commited – Recent History

The lyrics to “Dictated Life” were the first written by me. Although it’s a very basic structure, the words sum up the feeling of adolescent life at the end of the 70s. It’s about the lack of true choice in life (especially for the unemployed). Days of boredom watching crap telly; the rip-off prices of fags, booze & food; the need to steal (“liberate”) goods because dole money is so shit; getting nicked for trying to survive; standing before the pompous, well-off magistrate & being told you have to pay a fine, leading to a greater need to “liberate”; & the soul-destroying depression which can come from a long time being treated as a non-entity.

As all of the members had somehow survived, we decided to reform in the summer of 2009 for a one-off gig to mark the 30th anniversary of the recording of the “Fast Lane” EP (19th October 1979). We thought about maybe updating some of the lyrics to make them more relevant to the state of society today, but soon realised that the original words are as relevant today as they were when we first wrote them, so we left them alone. The response to that first reunion gig was so positive that we decided to do another. That led to another gig, then another, and then to the final one at The Red Lion, Gravesend on 29th January 2011 where we had last played in about 1984. Playing again with Anthrax was a fitting finale to our reunion and the other great highlight was supporting the UK Subs. We had followed the Subs since the late 70s & would never have believed then that a) they would one day play on the Isle of Sheppey or b) that we would support them.

A few weeks before the Red Lion gig, one of the band announced that he would be leaving the band after that gig. Life sometimes has a habit of getting in the way of things we really want to do so, as gutted as we all were, we accepted that this would be the final fling for the band.

I think I speak for the whole band when I say that each one of us really have had a great time over the last 18 months. It’s too soon to know what direction things will go now, but several ideas are about. Watch this space.

Keep the Faith & Keep on Rockin’
Daz