ANTHRAX Vocalist JOEY BELLADONNA Talks For All Kings – "A Bit Of The Old, A Bit Of The New, And It's Kind Of A Darker Album, Too"

Anthony Morgan at Metal Forces recently conducted an interview with Anthrax vocalist Joey Belladonna during the band’s European tour with Slayer. They discuss the band’s new album For All Kings, the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Spreading The Disease, and more. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On new album “For All Kings”:

“I think the band overall is sounding like it really wants to be. It’s definitely heavier. For me vocally, there’s a little bit more room than usual. It’s really, from the start, like the old days. We have finally had a chance to be a band; we haven’t had any people in from the side, like this guy or that guy, and all that horse shit we used to go through (laughs), or they have been going through… I think it really just sounds like a new thing that we’re doing. It’s a bit of the old, a bit of the new, and it’s kind of a darker album, too. It’s got some really interesting moments. I just think we’re really, really on top of our game, doing what we need to do.”

On the Paris terrorist attacks:

“We had played Paris about a week to two weeks before that. Someone asked me about that, too, like what I think about the area and what’s going on – even though that hadn’t happened yet. I said ‘You know what? It sucks.’ What do you do? Does anybody really have any answers for that kind of stuff? The more and more I listen and the more and more people talk about it, it’s a very complicated situation. It’s deeper than it looks.”

On whether such attacks cause fear among bands and fans alike:

“Yeah, and that’s the thing. Every day goes on and every show that happens, you can’t help but think about stuff like that. We’re very sad to hear of any of that stuff go down, because we knew some of those people. There were caterers there that we knew, some lighting people that were there. You know what? Who would’ve even thought that with Dimebag? That somebody would come into a club and do shit like that? Any of that stuff, it’s horrible. I wish I had an answer for it, and I wish I had… Who wants to stop? I don’t wanna stop, and I don’t want people to not come out. We don’t wanna go home, and all that stuff. We’re just carrying on right now. Everybody’s taking as much measures as they can.”

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Anthrax has revealed the cover art for the band’s new album, For All Kings, due out February 26th, 2016 via Megaforce.

The band’s drummer, Charlie Benante, who designed the artwork and worked closely with artist Alex Ross, talks about the concept in the short video below.

Benante promises that the eleven-song For All Kings will be “aggressive and super-thrashy”. The album was written by Benante, bassist Frank Bello, and rhythm guitarist Scott Ian, the dynamic triumvirate whose unique composition chemistry is, in part, what sets Anthrax’s music apart from other bands’ in the same genre. Add to that Joey Belladonna’s breathtaking vocals and the searing guitar leads by newest member Jonathan Donais, and it’s no wonder the band is so excited for fans to hear what will be their 11th studio album.

Anthrax will join up with Lamb Of God in the US starting in January. On these dates, fans will be treated to songs from throughout Anthrax’s career, including the classics as well as the brand new “Evil Twin” (lyric video below), a song that Bello says “is a song that begs to be played live.” US tour dates are below.

Tour dates:

January
15 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE (Indoor)
16 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
17 – Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore Silver Spring
19 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
22 – Norfolk, VA – Constant Convocation Center
23 – New York, NY – Hammerstein Ballroom
24 – Wallingford, CT – Toyota Presents Oakdale
28 – Detroit, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre
29 – Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
30 – Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom
31 – Grand Rapids, MI – Orbit Room

February
2 – Kansas City, MO – Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland
4 – Houston, TX – Revention Music Center
5 – Dallas, TX – Bomb Factory
6 – Corpus Christi, TX – Concrete Street Pavilion        
8 – Austin, TX – ACL Live at The Moody Theater
9 – Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom
11 – Las Vegas, NV – Brooklyn Bowl
12 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium

“Evil Twin” lyric video: