It’s been more than 8 years since the last Anthrax musical opus and in the meantime the spotlights were turned to the seemingly ever revolving door of singers and the recording of an album with an unknown frontman behind the mic who was soon replaced by a well-known frontman. Confused? Well, things were not that tragic; on the other hand the tragic dimension of the whole thing lies solely on the fact that Anthrax let some precious time slip through their hands thus remaining inactive (in the studio).
I knew right from the beginning that “Worship Music” could not be similar or approach the level of the classics “Among The Living” and “State Of Euphoria”…after all, we couldn’t have demanded such a thing after almost 25 years. Nevertheless, I’d expected at least to be superior to the last 3 records with John Bush. In my humble opinion, “Worship Music” is more complete and representative of the trademark Anthrax sound. The combination of the sharp riffs and Belladonna’s voice have naturally something to do with that. Musically speaking, I wouldn’t compare “Worship Music” with any other Anthrax record but If I had a gun pointed at me to come up with an estimation…well, imagine a modern approach or version of “Persistence of Time” (and that’s not a solid or accurate picture).
The bad thing is that the album kicks off with 4 superb songs (kudos to the band’s management for releasing “Fight ‘em Til You Can’t as the first single), continues with 5 “just OK” moments (that have absolutely nothing to do with thrash and openly flirt with metal music…there is even a tribute song in there for the mighty Judas Priest) and concludes with a dynamic song called “Revolutions Screams”.
All in all, we are treated with 5 excellent compositions and 5 simply OK ones. “Worship Music” might not have met my great expectations from my favorite New York thrash band but nevertheless it includes 5 songs that will occupy my c.d. player for many years.
Highlight: Let the c.d. play even after the end of the last song…there is a bonus song in there.