East Coast thrash veterans Anthrax bring 40th anniversary tour to Oakland
OAKLAND -- The Bay Area may have been the epicenter of the emerging thrash-metal scene at the dawn of the 1980s, but NYC's pioneering headbangers Anthrax unquestionably earned a place in the genre's history. Founded by guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Dan Liker in 1981, Anthrax served as an East Coast counterpart and early ally of Metallica during the band's stay in New York while preparing to record their landmark debut Kill 'Em All.
Anthrax would craft its own unique template by mixing hardcore punk's breakneck tempos and shouted gang vocals with brutal guitar riffs, eventually getting signed to record store owner John Zazula's label Megaforce, who put out the band's debut Fistful of Metal in 1984. While there would be a continuing turnover in band members, the group eventually hooked up with singer Joey Belladonna and produced some of the timeless classic thrash albums of the decade like Spreading the Disease and Among the Living that were powered by mosh-pit inducing tunes "Caught in a Mosh," the Judge Dredd tribute "I Am the Law" and "A.I.R."
The group would also become pioneering figures in mixing metal with rap with the release of their riff-heavy novelty tune "I'm the Man" that parodied the rhyme-swapping style of the Beastie Boys and ended up being a surprise MTV and radio hit. They would also collaborate with UTFO on a song before teaming with hip-hop legends Public Enemy on a headbanging remake of the classic tune "Bring the Noise" and embarking on a co-headlining tour with PE after the release of their underappreciated gem Persistence of Time.
The band had an acrimonious falling out with the singer in 1992, which led to the hiring of former Armored Saint vocalist John Bush for well over a decade. While Anthrax would switch back and forth between the two singers for a number of years after initially reuniting with Belladonna in 2005, the lanky singer has been a constant with the band ever since they participated in a series of "Big Four" European concerts with fellow thrash titans Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth in 2010.
The following year, the group released Worship Music, the first album to feature Belladonna since Persistence of Time and the band's first new recording since 2003. Featuring some of the most indelible songs of the band's career, the effort marked a brilliant return to form without sacrificing an iota of the band's characteristic aggression. The band has continued it's creative hitting streak ever since, issuing the 2013 covers EP Anthems (featuring covers of classic tunes by AC/DC, Rush, Thin Lizzy and more) before finally offering fans a follow-up to Worship Music in 2016 with the critically acclaimed For All Kings.
While the band has been working a follow-up to that album for an extended period, Ian has said Anthrax aims to release its next record sometime this year. Members have been busy working on other projects with the guitarist playing in the reconstituted line-up of Mr. Bungle with ex-Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo since 2020 and Benate putting out two solo releases before becoming the drummer in the new version of Pantera, taking the place of the late Vinnie Paul behind the kit for a number of festival shows.
For their current 40th anniversary tour, Anthrax is joined by Black Label Society -- the biker metal band led by former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, who is currently also playing alongside Benate in Pantera -- and local greats Exodus. One of the pioneering thrash-metal outfits to emerge in the Bay Area, Exodus has been delivering its signature neck-snapping riffs for over four decades. The group was formed in 1979 in Richmond by guitarist Kirk Hammett and drummer Tom Hunting, several years before Los Angeles transplants Metallica poached Hammett to replace troubled guitar player Dave Mustaine in 1983.
The band went through a number of line-up changes before the quintet -- now led by guitarist and principal songwriter Gary Holt -- recorded its seminal debut Bonded By Blood with original vocalist Paul Baloff in 1984. Powered by such brutal mosh-pit anthems as "And Then There Were None," "Strike of the Beast" and the pulverizing title track, the recording would have been one of the first salvos of the growing Bay Area thrash-metal movement if the album's release hadn't been delayed by business issues until the spring of 1985.
Still, thanks to underground success of the raw recording and the band's growing reputation for ferocious live shows, Exodus was soon being courted by major labels trying to tap into the emerging popularity of thrash. The band would part ways with Baloff after the Bonded By Blood tour, replacing him with Steve "Zetro" Souza, the singer who had made his name fronting Legacy (see above).
Signed to Sony/Combat Records, Exodus hit its commercial peak with 1987's Pleasures of the Flesh and Fabulous Disaster two years later, continuing to set the bar for sonic brutality high while earning a broader audience thanks to MTV airplay of the hit "The Toxic Waltz" from the latter album.
The group would hit a rough patch after moving to Capitol Records for 1989's Impact is Imminent following the departure of Hunting. Holt would put Exodus on hiatus in the early '90s after issuing the slower, more experimental Force of Habit in 1992, but the band reunited with Baloff and new bassist Jack Gibson later in the decade for a live album and periodic touring. It wasn't until after Baloff passed away in 2002 from a stroke that Souza would return to the fold, recording 2004's Tempo of the Damned before a sudden and acrimonious split from Exodus that same year.
The band spent much of the next decade producing new albums featuring more intricate thrash epics with new singer Rob Dukes and former Heathen guitarist Lee Altus, who performed on several acclaimed albums including a re-recording of Bonded By Blood entitled Let There Be Blood in 2008. While the busy Holt has split his time since early 2011 filling in onstage for ailing Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman (who sadly two years later), Exodus has remained his main passion.
In 2014, the band made surprise announcement that it had parted ways with Dukes after a decade and Souza would be returning to Exodus once again. Though some fans expressed skepticism over the change, their Nuclear Blast Records release Blood In, Blood Out in 2014 was widely hailed as a punishing return to form.
Exodus maintained a busy touring schedule since that album was released, despite the fact that Holt was busy for a solid stretch of 2018 and 2019 with Slayer's global farewell tour. Still, the band managed to write enough new songs to enter the studio to record their latest effort (and first album in seven years) Persona Non Grata during late summer of 2020 at Hunting's home studio near Lake Almanor.
While the band had planned to release the album sooner, another health issue besides the pandemic would force them to change plans. In the spring of 2021, Hunting announced that he had been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the stomach. In addition to a regimen of chemotherapy to treat the cancer, this summer he was forced to undergo a full gastrectomy and spent several months recovering from that operation and adjusting to living life without a stomach.
Hunting was happily able to return to the stage with Exodus on multiple legs of "The Bay Strikes Back Tour" with fellow local metal institutions Testament and Death Angel. Persona Non Grata finally saw release to reviews that have hailed the band for delivering such a brutal feast of riffs more than 40 years after it was founded.
Anthrax, Black Label Society and Exodus
Saturday, Feb. 18, 5:30 p.m. $49.50-$69.50
Fox Theater
