In Defense of the Metal Band Anthrax

Fred
Jul 9
5 min read

My favorite metal band is, clearly and unequivocally, Anthrax.

But for the last 5 or 6 years now, Anthrax has been under attack and I really don't understand why.

What exactly do I mean? Back in 2022, I came across a hack website called Metal Mofos that was very vociferous that Anthrax weren't in the "Big Four." I re-explained that the Big Four wasn't my definition, it was a fixed definition in pop culture, the best 4 thrash metal bands between 1985 and 1990. You can't come in 30 years later and say Anthrax wasn't part of the Big Four just because you liked Pantera better.

Metal Mofos eventually went on hiatus because they sucked so bad. But there's still an undercurrent in the metal world that Anthrax wasn't hard enough or consistent enough by current metal standards.

Listen, Anthrax's Fistful of Metal was wildly uneven, but Spreading the Disease and Among the Living can stand toe to toe with any two back to back releases in Metal History. Many of the opinions that Anthrax didn't belong in the Big Four were mostly from trolls and edgelords.

**Anthrax at Ozzy's Farewell this weekend.**

Until today.

Over at Consequence of Sound, I read their newly released list: 75 Best Metal Albums of All-Time.

Of course Ozzy and Black Sabbath are at # 1, that's why they released the list the day after Ozzy's Farewell Concert.

Now this is where I usually scream what a terrible list I had just read and make my own. But, surprisingly, with the exception of Anthrax, it was a really good list.

COS's Top 20 Metal Albums of All Time:

Paranoid by Black Sabbath
Master of Puppets by Metallica
Reign in Blood by Slayer
Painkiller by Judas Priest
Rust in Peace by Megadeth
The Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden
Vulgar Display of Power by Pantera
Toxicity by System of a Down
Symbolic by Death
Lateralus by Tool
Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath
Ace of Spades by Motorhead
Rage Against the Machine by Rage Against the Machine
Ride the Lightning by Metallica
Dirt by Alice in Chains
Sunbather by Deafheaven
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas by Mayhem
Iowa by Slipknot
Holy Diver by Dio
Korn by Korn
37. Among the Living by Anthrax

Senior Editor Jon Hadusek was seemingly penalizing Anthrax for some unknown reasons. Let's briefly review.

Paranoid by Black Sabbath - Anywhere in Top 5 would have been acceptable.
Master of Puppets by Metallica - Should have been # 1, but it wasn't their weekend.
Reign in Blood by Slayer - Any one of Slayer's three late 80's releases could have been in the Top 5.
Painkiller by Judas Priest - Somewhere between 5 and 10 would have been fine.
Rust in Peace by Megadeth - Anywhere in Top 10 would have been acceptable
The Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden - Again, Top 10 album, undisputable.
Vulgar Display of Power by Pantera - Range of 5-10 is spot on.
Toxicity by System of a Down - Should have been between 10-20, but splitting hairs.
Symbolic by Death - And here's the problem. If you were alive between 1985 and 1990, there is no question that Among the Living should have been somewhere between spots 3 and 10. No one was listening to Death when they released their albums. I love Gene Hoglan, and Symbolic was slightly more accessible than the band's earlier albums...but not by much. The album was like the Ghost Pepper, too extreme to be enjoyed.
Lateralus by Tool - I would have went with Aenima in this slot.
Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath - No argument on Ozzy's weekend.
Ace of Spades by Motorhead - You can't argue with Motorhead either.
Rage Against the Machine by Rage Against the Machine - Influential and acclaimed.
Ride the Lightning by Metallica - Either Ride the Lightning or Master of Puppets are the right answer. The wrong answer? The Black Album.
Dirt by Alice in Chains - Range 10 - 20 is right on the money
Sunbather by Deafheaven - Way too high, but not egregious.
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas by Mayhem - The myth of Mayhem is greater than the sound of Mayhem. If the book (and the movie) The Lords of Chaos didn't come out, Mayhem would have been lost to history. When death metal reached a modicum of success at the turn of the millennium, critics chirped that Mayhem was a pioneer in the movement. If you listen to Mayhem with your ears, they are to metal what GG Allin was to punk. Influential....and unlistenable.
Iowa by Slipknot - I would have gone with Volume 3, but I can't stress this enough, with the exception of Anthrax, we are arguing semantics.
Holy Diver by Dio - Last in Line is better, but Holy Diver is more than fair.
Korn by Korn - How many times can I say: Good List

So with the exceptions of Death and Mayhem, I can't argue the Top 20 results. Who would I have added in their place? For sure Anthrax, then either Isis, Exodus, or Meshuggah. All of whom appeared later in the list.

Now there are a few theories as to what happened

Theory 1:

They say rap and metal can never mix....

I'm so bad, I should be in detention.

If you want to know where Nu Metal began, it started right at the I'm the Man single. Nu Metal now has the stigma of disco, but the genre's big bang was right there. Once heralded as innovators and barrier-breakers, Anthrax is now derided for taking too many detours. Music snobs claim Bring the Noise was nothing but a novelty.

Very unfair revisionist history.

Theory 2:

One of the criticisms of Anthrax was that they were too fun. When it comes to music, when did that become a strike against you? Attack of the Killer B's and the band's rap forays were mostly likeable crowd-pleasers.

For an art form that takes itself way too seriously, Anthrax was hard core when they needed to be, yet accessible enough for the casual fan. When I was younger, I jokingly called the band "the gateway to metal."

Nearly every album on the COS list was as serious as a heart attack. The folks over at Revolver called Among the Living "A Masterpiece." At Riffology, they exclaimed that Among the Living cemented Anthrax's place in the Big Four.

I thought the greatness of the band was conventional wisdom.

Man, this make's me uncomfortable as hell, but I have to bring it up.

Theory 3:

I also really enjoyed the Anthrax side project Stormtroopers of Death. Earlier this year, Scott Ian announced "the world's hardest tribute band': Stormbreeders of Death

Members? Scott Ian was back.

Dan Lilker was back.

Ian's Son was on drums, while Charlie was touring with Pantera.

Billy Milano was suspiciously absent. In his place? Hatebreed's Jamey Jasta.

Where was Billy Milano? Apparently he used a lot of bad words to describe Scott Ian.

Editor's Note: Like, really bad words. Words you can't take back once you say them.

So it appears S.O.D. is done.

But on the same bill during Ozzy's sendoff was Disturbed's David Draiman. Draiman was loudly booed by a portion of the audience on a day where there was almost universal acclaim and harmony.