Anthrax looks back on jam-packed 2011
Having made one of 2011’s most impressive rock’n’roll comebacks that included the 9/13/11 release of the band’s long-awaited new album Worship Music that landed on boatloads of “Best of 2011…” lists, metal masters ANTHRAX will keep the pedal to the metal in 2012. The band launches the New Year with the delivery to radio of a second single from Worship Music, “I’m Alive,” and plans to tour extensively beginning January 22 with round two of a U.S. co-headline tour with fellow thrash titans, Testament (dates are below).
Worship Music debuted on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums charts at #12; the album and the track “Fight’em ‘Til You Can’t” both went to #1 on Mediaguide’s Metal charts. Worship Music was named one of the year’s best albums in media outlets including Revolver, Guitar World, SPIN, Metal Assault, Metal Sucks, Blistering.com, the UK’s Classic Rock and Metal Hammer, Canada’s Lithium, the Copenhagen Post, JAM Magazine, Powerline, Lou Brutus’ HardDrive, Eddie Trunk/VH1’s That Metal Show, and SiriusXM’s Jose Mangin. In addition to naming Worship Music the #1 Metal Album of the Year, Loudwire singled out the track “The Devil You Know” as the site’s #1 Metal Song of the Year, SiriusXM’s Mangin named “Earth on Hell” as the #1 track on his Liquid Metal/Octane Countdown, About.com named Joey Belladonna as its “Man of the Year,” and Revolver celebrated Anthrax as one of the Top 10 Stories of the Year.
Twenty-eleven also saw Anthrax play two Big Four shows in the U.S. with fellow thrash/speed metal architects Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth, the second taking place at New York’s Yankee Stadium, making it an emotional hometown show for the New York born-and-bred members of Anthrax.
Last fall, immediately following The Big Four show at Yankee Stadium and in support of Worship Music, Anthrax played to SRO crowds from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, entertaining fans with brand-new songs and favorites from throughout the band’s 30 year history. Anthrax will head back out on the road in late January for Leg Two of its U.S. tour with Testament and Death Angel – Leg One was included on a number of “Best Live Shows of 2011” lists. Worship Music, the band’s first new album in eight years, and first with “classic era” vocalist Joey Belladonna in two decades, has received stellar reviews, as evidenced below.
As Anthrax’s Scott Ian summed it up, “2011 was the best year of my life.”
Dates for Leg Two of the Anthrax/Testament U.S. tour are as follows:
JANUARY
22 House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV
23 House of Blues, Anaheim, CA
24 Marquee Theatre, Tempe, AZ
26 Midland Theatre, Kansas City, MO
27 Egyptian Room @ Murat Center, Indianapolis, IN
28 Piere’s Entertainment Center, Fort Wayne, IN
29 Expo Five, Louisville, KY
30 The Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
FEBRUARY
1 Green Iguana – Stadium, Tampa, FL
2 Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA
3 Promowest Pavilion, Columbus, OH
4 Bogart’s, Cincinnati, OH
6 Crocodile Rock, Allentown, PA
7 Rams Head Live!, Baltimore, MD
8 Best Buy Theatre, New York, NY
What the media has said about Anthrax’s Worship Music:
“…easily the best album of the year and maybe the best album they ever made.” — Eddie Trunk, VH1’s “That Metal Show”
“…the comeback album of the year.” — Zach Shaw, Metal Insider
“One of the best albums of their career.” — Iann Robinson, Crave Online
“‘Worship Music’ is the Anthrax album fans have been praying for.” — Metal Underground
“This record absolutely smokes.” — Loudwire
“A riff-shitting, doubt-crushing monster of a record, and it’s about fucking time.” — Alexander Milas, Metal Hammer
“Not only is [Worship Music] Anthrax’s best album to date, it’s a landmark for heavy metal as a genre.” — Rick Florino, ARTISTdirect
“[‘Worship Music’] represents the band at the absolute top of their game.” — FearNet
“‘Worship Music’ is nothing short of brilliant.” — Paul Gargano
“There is no filler on ‘Worship Music.'” — Pat Prince, Goldmime
“‘Worship Music’ is a glorious modern metal record, full of crushing riffs, machine-gun kicks and a career-best performance by returning vocalist Joey Belladonna.” — Classic Rock
“…one of the best records of the year, metal or otherwise.” — HERE Magazine
“…a thrash masterpiece from start to finish.” — Metal Delirium
“Every song a future Thrax classic, zero filler.” — Metal Exiles
“‘Worship Music’ is insanely good…” — Blistering.com
“…a crushing blend of riffs, bass and drums. Easily making my Top 5 albums of 2011.” — Maximum Metal
“‘Worship Music’ is one of the best albums of the year…easily the best Anthrax album since 1993’s ‘Sound of White Noise.'” — Heavy Metal
Now
Some of the 2011 “Best of…” lists that include Anthrax/Worship Music:
Loudwire
#1 Metal Album of the Year
#1 Metal Song of the Year – “The Devil You Know”
Eddie Trunk/VH1’s “That Metal Show”
Album of the Year
Metal Hammer
#1 Album of the Year (Editor-in-Chief Alexander Milas and Deputy Editor Lewis Somerscales’ Top 10 lists)
#3 Album of the Year (overall Critics’ Poll)
SPIN
#7 Top 20 Metal Albums of the Year
Powerline
Best Metal Album of 2011
Metal Assault
#2 Album of the Year
#5 Best Live Performances of 2011
Metal Sucks
#4 Album of the Year/Vince Nielson
#10 Album of the Year/Anso DF
Guitar World
#4 Top 50 Best Albums of 2011
Revolver
#8 Top 20 Albums of 2011
#9 Story of the Year
Lithium/Mike Bax, Publisher
#1 Top 10 Albums of 2011
JAM Magazine/Roy Turner
#1 Album of the Year
Blistering.com
#1 Album of the Year (w/ Onmium Gatherum)
HardDrive/Lou Brutus
#3 Albums of the Year
Classic Rock
#29 Top 50 Best Albums of 2011
Copenhagen Post
#2 Best Albums of 2011
Gears of Rock
#1 Album of the Year
Skulls N Bones
#5 Album of the Year
Metal Delirium
#5 Album of the year
