Anthems (Anthrax album)
| Anthems | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| EP by Anthrax | ||||
| Released | March 19, 2013 (North America) March 22, 2013 (Europe) |
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| Recorded | 2012 at various locations | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal, hard rock | |||
| Length | 33:40 | |||
| Label |
Megaforce (North America) Nuclear Blast (Europe) |
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| Producer | Anthrax, Jay Ruston, Rob Caggiano | |||
| Anthrax EP chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| About.com |    |
| AllMusic | |
| Exclaim! | 7/10 |
| Metal Forces | 8/10 |
| PopMatters | 6/10 |
| Revolver | 3.5/5 |
Anthems is the sixth EP by American thrash metal band Anthrax. It was released on March 19, 2013 through Megaforce Records in North America, and three days later in Europe by Nuclear Blast. This was the group's last release to feature lead guitarist Rob Caggiano, who left the band subsequently. The record features cover songs from some of the band's favorite acts of the 1970s, along with two versions of "Crawl", a song from their previous studio album.
The EP was recorded during 2012 at various locations. Although it was initially scheduled to be released as part of a special edition of Worship Music, the record was released both separately and on a deluxe edition. It received favorable reviews by music critics and debuted at number 52 on the Billboard 200, selling approximately 8,500 copies in its first week of release. By April 10, 2013, Anthems had sold 14,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan.
Anthrax intended to release Anthems as a tribute to the bands that influenced them over the years. Vocalist Joey Belladonna explained: "These are all bands I grew up with and have listened to forever. It's just great music. I had fun singing these songs and I was happy recording together with Anthrax, doing classic rock songs." When asked how the band got the idea to do such a record, bassist Frank Bello answered: "The reason why that happened, if you ever came to an Anthrax sound check, you’d probably hear every other song but an Anthrax song." He further said that the band got the idea while jamming to some older songs. "We just wanted to say this is where we also came from. That gave us our start and that is what sparked us."
The band started working on this project in the summer of 2012. The album was recorded in 2012 at different locations: at Benante's home studio, in Ruston's New York studio and during tour. Some of the tracks were recorded earlier, during the recording sessions of their previous studio release Worship Music. Drummer Charlie Benante, in an interview for Loudwire, stated: "To commemorate the first year of Worship Music being out, we're putting together a little companion EP with some fun shit on it." The original idea was to record a few songs that would have been placed on a deluxe edition of their previous album, but the band did not manage to finish the project in time. However, when the band had recorded enough songs, they contacted their US and European labels who offered to put out Anthems as a stand-alone EP, a proposal which the band accepted. In addition, Benante and artist Stephen Thompson have redesigned each track's original artwork to "Anthrax" it.
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