album : Worship Music
artist : Anthrax
genre : Speed/Thrash, Groove Metal
year : 2011
Call this a major coincidence or a planned move, I get a feeling that several major bands had a round table conference and decided to release their tenth album in 2011. RHCP, Opeth and now Anthrax. Without any second thoughts I have to say the first two did not stand tall with their respective releases, and I was so looking forward to a band from this angry genre to smack me hard enough to have me on the floor looking for my lost tooth. Never mind.
Anthrax – they have nine albums to their credit, they’ve given hope to countless and they have a style that cannot be imitated. Of the so-called big four, Anthrax has more or less remained my least favorite. Sure they knew and know how to set the ears ringing but then it was all relative when it came to being a part of the four thrash biggies and Anthrax lacked something. Not necessary that it is something the other three possessed but it is just that Anthrax lacked something. This time these ageing thrashers took a good eight years to feed us with some new speed/thrash reasons to munch away. It’s called Worship Music.
Throwing in an intro that sounds as if a suspense is going to unfold leads the listener into a groove-oriented speedy track Earth On Hell that is very much the sound I had been craving for. For a thrash album getting the sound right is as essential as the music. Amongst one of the most thrashy tracks on the album complete with every reason to headbang and hair-raising melody is The Devil You Know. The chugging is carried forward on Fight ‘Em Til You Can’t where the vocals and guitars go together making it an experience to remember. I particularly am made to obey them for the melody that has been used in parts.
There is a continuous effort to ramp up the speed and it works well and can be seen as the tracks progress. The band’s efforts to try and keep the listener hooked is appreciated but then comes I’m Alive where the band runs after the sound they are trying to achieve so the continuity is maintained and it’s not happening here. Hymn 1 is just a break of half a second so we are taken towards the next part. And so we hit In the End. Anthrax fails to shoot up on In the End. The moments on the song is like climbing down and then up a hill but overall it’s loose. By the end of the song I would prefer remembering In The End as a Linkin Park track. A lot of chorus is repeating over tracks, and despite this being a strength it does not make The Giant likeable.
Hymn 2 is again a forty five second filler and it is not being very kind here. The lane is changed on Judas Priest, where the band hides the fact that they wanted to write a better track but they couldn’t. The band runs around in circles, and the outcome isn’t really the kind that would make you run along with them. Crawl is a welcome change, and knowing that there is at least one such track on an Anthrax record, I was anticipating it. Slow, with a dark theme, and constant throughout. That’s what the track is. An interesting song named The Constant follows where nothing at all is constant. There are a few effects used in the track that clears the head. Groove returns, solo returns and even the mood returns. I say this for the next song as well, where variety and variations are displayed in loops, and Anthrax signs off in style.
Although it isn’t raining riffs on Worship Music, there definitely are drizzles throughout. Rob Caggiano and his instrument are inseparable on the album, as he reproduces a cyclone of solos. The Devil You Know, I’m Alive and The Constant are just a few names that belong to Rob Caggiano. Joey Belladonna had to do justice to the vocals and the microphone feels glad to be in his hands.
We listeners have always worshiped music to the point of tripping over it, dancing to it, providing it undivided attention and boasting about it. But when a thrash giant decides to worship music then it definitely isn’t meant for the listeners who aren’t ready for it. Anthrax, on the other hand, take it upon themselves to enter the listener’s ears, battle the unbearable ear wax with ease and settle down. Worship Music isn’t the revival of thrash but at the moment, apart from Megadeth, the only other band (out of the big four) that is making music worth paying attention to is Anthrax. Believe me, for I believe in thrash.
Rating : 3.5/5
