ANTHRAX Guitarist: 'Everything Couldn't Be Going Any Better' Since BELLADONNA's Return

Following seven historic shows as part of the "Big Four" European festival dates with METALLICA, SLAYER and MEGADETH, ANTHRAX will join SLAYER and MEGADETH on the Jägermeister Fall Music Tour set to kick off September 24 at Superpages in Dallas, Texas. The 20-date concert trek will mark the first U.S. tour ANTHRAX has done since vocalist Joey Belladonna rejoined the band earlier this year, and the first time the three bands have shared an American stage since the classic 1991 "Clash of the Titans" tour. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com (KnoxvilleTickets.com for the Knoxville date).

For this tour, ANTHRAX has teamed up with Artist Arena to offer fans the ultimate ANTHRAX VIP Package, which consists of a meet-and-greet pass to meet ANTHRAX, an autographed commemorative poster, a commemorative tour laminate, and an exclusive VIP-only ANTHRAX T-shirt.

For more details, and to get your ANTHRAX VIP Package, go to this location (Usermane: anthrax; Password: tickets).

Media showered praise on the Belladonna-fronted ANTHRAX for the European "Big Four" festivals: "It's been almost two decades since [Belladonna] initially parted with ANTHRAX, but he proved to be in raw, primal and fine form," one European journalist wrote, while another noted, "ANTHRAX made their presence known with a raucous roar...you would never have known that they weren't the headliners."

"It's great to see so many people getting excited about us being together again," said Belladonna. "Even with just one day of rehearsal before the show in Poland, we played really well and really jelled together on stage. We had a great time in Europe, and are looking forward to seeing our U.S. fans this fall."

"Everything has been going so great, just like we hoped it would," said guitarist Scott Ian. "We wanted Joey to say yes to coming back to the band, we hoped all would go well, and everything couldn't be going any better."

For the Jägermeister Fall Music Tour, fans can expect an ANTHRAX set packed with some of their all-time favorite songs — "Caught In The Mosh", "Antisocial", "Madhouse" and "Indians" are just a few that the band knows HAVE to be played.

"There are a lot of songs to fit into 50-minutes," laughed drummer Charlie Benante, "so we'll probably change up the set list a little from night to night, and we might debut a new song from our upcoming album as well."

Since returning from the European tour, the members of ANTHRAX have begun writing and rehearsing for their new album which is expected out in early 2011.

"We've got an unusual luxury of hindsight," Ian explained. "We finished an album more than a year ago, we've lived with those 12 songs since then, and we can look back on them and see what we really love and what we can make even better, especially with Joey back in the fold. On these U.S. dates, we'll have a portable rig with us so we can work on the songs during any down time, and get everything to the point where we'll be ready to get into the studio as soon as possible."

Added Benante, "There are five or six songs from a year ago that we don't want to change, we love them the way they are, other than having Joey making them his own with his vocals. Then there's another five or six that we may want to rework, and then there are a bunch of other tunes that are still in the early stages, that we want to finish."

With worldwide sales in excess of 10-million, ANTHRAX is about to celebrate its 29th year as a band. Over its career, ANTHRAX has received multiple gold and platinum albums, multiple Grammy nominations, and a host of other accolades from the press, industry and fans. Belladonna, an essential part of ANTHRAX's lineup from 1985 to 1992, sang on some of the band's most popular albums, including "Spreading the Disease", "Among the Living" and "Persistence of Time". He had reunited with original members of ANTHRAX for the 2005 - 2007 "Among the Living Tour", but is now permanently back in the fold.

"We're super-excited that SLAYER and MEGADETH asked us to be part of this tour," said Ian, "especially coming off of the European shows. To tour with both of them again in the U.S. is an unbelievable high, and we can't wait. This is why we love being in a band: it's not work, it's 'let's go out and have some fun with our friends.'"

ANTHRAX will also headline two shows while out on the Jägermeister tour.

Complete itinerary for the Jägermeister Fall Music Tour and ANTHRAX's headline shows:

Sep. 23 - Diamond Ballroom - Oklahoma City, OK (ANTHRAX headline show)
Sep. 24 - Superpages.com Center - Dallas, TX
Sep. 25 - AT&T Center - San Antonio, TX
Sep. 26 - Verizon Wireless Theatre - Houston, TX
Sep. 28 - Lakefront Arena - New Orleans, LA
Sep. 30 - Civic Coliseum - Knoxville, TN
Oct. 01 - The Arena at Gwinnett Center - Atlanta, GA
Oct. 02 - Hard Rock Live - Orlando, FL
Oct. 03 - Bayfront Park Amphitheatre - Miami, FL
Oct. 05 - Hampton Coliseum - Hampton, VA
Oct. 06 - 1st Mariner Arena - Baltimore, MD
Oct. 08 - Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum - Uniondale, Long Island, NY
Oct. 09 - Toyota Pavilion @ Montage Mountain - Scranton, PA
Oct. 10 - LC Pavilion - Columbus, OH
Oct. 12 - Freedom Hall - Louisville, KY
Oct. 14 - War Memorial Coliseum - Ft. Wayne, IN
Oct. 15 - DeltaPlex - Grand Rapids, MI
Oct. 16 - Eagles Ballroom - Milwaukee, WI
Oct. 18 - Summit Music Hall - Denver, CO (ANTHRAX headline show)
Oct. 19 - Maverik Center - Salt Lake City, UT
Oct. 20 - The Pearl - Las Vegas, NV
Oct. 21 - Gibson Amphitheatre - Hollywood, CA