Interview: Anthrax On ISIS And 35 Years Of Metal
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- One year ago as terror hit the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, something struck Anthrax guitarist and lyricist Scott Ian.
Working on the band's new album For All Kings, the event eventually sparked their lead single "Evil Twin."
"I don't understand how a human being is capable of that, and that's the evil twin of humanity to me" Ian explains before the band's show at Electric Factory in Philadelphia. "These people are criminally insane. It has nothing to do with God, or religion, or any of that. It's just criminally insane people preying on the innocent on this planet and it's obviously something I have a lot of anger about. As I should."
"Everybody has the same anger" adds bassist Frank Bello. "I love singing that every night. You're no martyr."
"You know what my gut reaction is?" exclaims Ian. "I want to put on Dr. Doom's metal glove, and punch him in the face until he's dead. That's what I would personally like to do. And I would like to say that I'm above the law too because God told me that I should punch that dude in the face until he's dead, but I can't do that. I'm not allowed to do that, and I'm not criminally insane so I'm not going to do that. But I don't know how you fight this warfare - it's insidious, it's everywhere, and it's only gonna get worse."
On the subject of ISIS, Scott Ian is passionate, but he doesn't claim to have the answer. "Truly what do we know?" he shrugs. "It's like us saying, I really can't wait to hear Ted Cruz's review of the new Megadeth album"
Anthrax is fired up and just as loud and alive as they have ever been after thirty-five years. Looking back, the New York band has had a lot of Philadelphia memories woven into their history including recording their 1995 album Stomp 442 in Conshohocken. "We were here for like six weeks just kind of raging in Philly for the whole making of the Stomp 442 record so, it was really fun to actually live down here for a while" Ian remembers. "Those old school shows at the Tower Theater, like back in the day in the 80's were amazing."
"This is always like a home show for us" says Bello. "It's so close, all my friends still come up, and I have a lot of good friends out here in Philly so it's really a very home thing for me."
After thirty-five years of music and standing as a pillar of metal, Anthrax celebrates their anniversary this year with their album For All Kings out February 26th and shows no sign of stopping. "It's ******* awesome" exclaims Ian. "It's the most metal record we've ever made and we love it."
To hear more from Scott Ian and Frank Bello of Anthrax listen to the full interview below, or check out the video here.
