METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett joined ANTHRAX on stage last night (Thursday, March 28) at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, California to perform a cover version of the AC/DC classic “TNT”. Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

Speaking to Music Radar, ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante stated about the band’s decision to cover “TNT” on its newly released “Anthems” EP: “This was Joey‘s [Belladonna, vocals] track. We already had ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’ recorded, but he wanted ‘TNT’. I can see why: his voice totally lends itself to this track.

AC/DC is probably one of the greatest bands ever. The came in with a certain sound, and they’ll end with that same exact sound. They never altered it; they just stayed true to what they were. To me, that’s an honest-to-goodness rock ‘n’ roll band.

“It would have been obvious to pick something off of ‘Highway To Hell’ or ‘Back In Black’, and so we didn’t. [laughs] I studied every Phil Rudd lick, and I did not go overboard with anything. I played exactly what he played on ‘TNT’. You can’t do a fast drum fill on the song — it’ll stand out as being out of place. I laid it down, pulled it back, and that was that.”

Slash joined ANTHRAX on stage Wednesday night in Hollywood, California for the TNT” cover. And then, later in the show, Chuck D came out for “Bring The Noise”, the song ANTHRAX and PUBLIC ENEMY recorded together in 1991.

Also in the House Wednesday night were SLAYER‘s Kerry King, John Tempesta from THE CULT, Justin Chandellor from TOOL, DETHKLOK/“Metalocalpyse”‘s Brendon Small and actor/musician Brian Posehn.

The “Metal Alliance Tour”, which also features EXODUS, HIGH ON FIRE, MUNICIPAL WASTE and HOLY GRAIL, will stay on the road through late April.

“Anthems”, ANTHRAX‘s long-awaited, eight-track EP that pays tribute to the classic songs by some of the band’s favorite acts from the 1970s, sold around 8,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 52 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD was released in North America on March 19 (MRI/Megaforce), and on March 22 in Europe (Nuclear Blast).

ANTHRAX‘s latest full-length album, “Worship Music”, sold 28,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at No. 12. The band’s previous studio CD, 2003’s “We’ve Come For You All”, opened with just under 10,000 units to debut at No. 122.

Source: www.blabbermouth.net