ANTHRAX Guitarist On Reunion With Former Bandmates: 'The Ball-Busting Has Been Non-Stop'

April 4, 2005

The April 1, 2005 ANTHRAX reunion press conference was no April Fool's joke. Kicking off an entire "Spreading the Anthrax" weekend on Sirius Satellite Radio's metal station Hard Attack, ANTHRAX announced the reinstatement of their classic "Armed and Dangerous" lineup, featuring Joey Belladonna, Frankie Bello, Charlie Benante, Scott Ian and Danny Spitz. Now together for the first time in 13 years, the band touched upon the excitement of going out on the road with each other again and playing songs that they have not played in years.

A plethora of media outlets had the opportunity in an open forum to ask these famed metallers about their break–up as well as the reunion and future plans.

"Going into this reunion, the only way it would've worked was if everyone was into it," Ian said. "If it was a case where there was arm twisting and convincing to be done, there would be no reason to do it. This came together easily and with no need for us to have band therapy or for us to massage egos or anything of the sort. The relationship between the five of us is easy and natural and the last week has been a blast. The ball-busting has been non-stop and I'm looking forward to having fun with this."

While maintaining the trend of social consciousness that ANTHRAX have displayed for years, the media was also informed about the Slave to the Metal Foundation and its crusade to educate the public about the tragic Gulf War Syndrome and the dangerous Anthrax Vaccine that causes the disease and our innate right to make the decisions to be vaccinated or not. A panel of experts in the medical and military fields was on hand to speak to the Sirius Satellite global listening community about the catastrophic BioShield Act and how its unethical laws affect our entire nation.

At MTV2 headquarters in New York City, HATEBREED's Jamey Jasta welcomed his headbanging heroes into the studio for an episode of MTV2's "Headbanger's Ball". Jamey and ANTHRAX got down to business talking about what happened in the elapsed time since the original split and the profound brotherhood that brought the group back together. Amidst all of the intense conversation some killer old school metal videos were aired. This episode ran on Saturday, April 2 at 10 p.m. EST and will re-air on Tuesday, April 5 at 4:00 a.m. EST.

Confirmed ANTHRAX tour dates so far:

Apr. 30 - Chicago, IL @ House Of Blues
May 01 - Chicago, IL @ House Of Blues
May 04 - Dublin, IRE @ Ambassador Theater
May 05 - Glasgow, UK @ Barrowlands
May 07 - Nijmegen, NETH @ Dynamo Festival
May 12 - Brisbane, AUS @ Arena
May 14 - Sydney, AUS @ Roundhouse
May 15 - Melbourne, AUS @ Palace
May 16 - Adelaide, AUS @ Heavan
May 18 - Perth, AUS @ Lookout
Jun. 09 - Sövelsborg, SWE @ Sweden Rock
Jun. 11 - Nottingham, UK @ Download
Jun. 12 - Monza, ITA @ Gods Of Metal
Jun. 24 - Le mans, FRA @ Fury Fest
Jun. 25 - Dessel, BEL @ Graspop
Jun. 26 - Tolmin, SLO @ Metal Camp Fest
Jul. 02 - Löbnitz (near Leipzig),GER @ With Full Force
Jul. 09 - Athens, GRE @ Rockwave

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