Last year, NUCLEAR ASSAULT kissed us goodbye, with “Pounder” EP and Overkill two years ago, crushed us under their “White Devil Armory”. Now, it’s the third NY thrash legends’ return: ANTHRAX! Five years after the really good “Worship Music” (2011), the first one in 21 years with Joey Belladona-vocals-, they are back with another brand new album called “For All Kings“, the first one for Jonathan Donais (Shadows Fall) replacing Rob Caggiano on guitars, who has proven his worth during live performances.
The album kicks off with the duo “Impaled”/”You Gotta Believe” which brings us a trademark Anthrax song, in the vein of “Among The Living”, fast with the groove known from the band’s more mature days, including a really headbanging-inducing chorus! “Monsters At The End” kicks in with a beautiful lead, before turning into a groovy headbanger with a great chorus. One of my favorites on the album. In comes the a cappella chorus of the title track, mostly a mid-tempo thrasher in the vein of “Spreading The Disease”, filled with great soloing, Donais seems to have done a great job in the lead department.
Time to slow things down a bit, with the “Breathing Lightning” acoustic intro, building up slowly to some mid-tempo trademark Anthrax riffage and soloing, with another anthemic chorus. “Suzerain” brings up the tempo once more, showing some modern-era heaviness and groove incorporating into the Anthrax sound, meant for intense headbanging! “Evil Twin” ,which is the first song made available from this album, it’s one of the fastest numbers, in the vein of “Gung-Ho”, maybe groovier.
“Blood Eagle Wings” comes up next, with a stoner-like vibe to it, lots of mid-tempo headbanging groove and really nice solos, clocking just under 8 minutes length. “Defend Avenge” is a staccato, mid tempo headbanger, giving room for the bass to surface. “All Of Them Thieves” brings up the speed, with a Slayer-esque riff on the background of blazing solos, on a mid-tempo track. “This Battle Chose Us” as well as “Zero Tolerance” are two of the best and fastest songs, on this album, showing both the speed and melodies Anthrax are capable of composing.
If I had to complain about something, it would be some intros and outros that last a little bit longer, than I’d prefer them to. Other than that ANTHRAX did it again, a really good album, with some killer tracks to crack heads wide open in live shows. MOSH!!!
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