ANTHRAX Guitarist: We Are 'Thrilled' With How 'Worship Music' Turned Out

Joe Bosso of MusicRadar.com recently conducted an interview with ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

MusicRadar.com: Being that "Worship Music" is the first ANTHRAX record Joey has been on in 21 years, did you feel a greater level of pressure or expectation?

Scott: "Only from myself, just from the matter of 'What's ANTHRAX going to sound like in 2011 with Joey Belladonna?' It's a question I've asked myself for years. Our album 'Sound Of White Noise' what would that have sounded like with Joey? So this big question wasn't new, but now I was finally going to know the answer. It was a reality. Actually, to step back, we had already heard Joey sing with us before we went into the studio. On the day before the first 'Big Four' show in 2010, we had a rehearsal with Joey, and he was unbelievable. He was singing songs from the John Bush era, and he just nailed it. The crew guys, who couldn't give a shit, even started cheering once they heard him. So live, we felt great about what Joey was doing. Being in the studio is a different thing, though. But I'll tell you, he recorded his first track for the album, and the producer, Jay Ruston, sent an MP3 to everybody in the band. Within minutes, we were all e-mailing one another going, 'Holy shit, this is amazing!' One after another, the songs kept getting better and better. We're pretty thrilled."

MusicRadar.com: ANTHRAX have seen various members come and go over the years. Has it been hard to maintain a true band identity?

Scott: "No. No, I don't think so. We're ANTHRAX. The core has always been there. It's not like we're ANTHRAX with no original members. It's ANTHRAX with Charlie [Benante, drums], Frankie [Bello, bass] and me. And then, over the years, we've had either John Bush or Joey on vocals, pretty much. To me, it hasn't been that confusing. There's really been only two years where all of those people haven't been in the group."

MusicRadar.com: "The Devil You Know" has very intense riffs and rhythms. How do you go about composing riffs?

Scott: "Geez, I don't know! [laughs] Charlie and I pretty much write most of the music, soI don't know, I just hear things. I don't know where my ideas come from. Most of what I do comes about when we're in the studio writing, jamming, working on tunes. I'm not the kind of guy who sits around at home and writes songs. Once in a while I'll pick up a guitar and noodle around, but it's rare. Perhaps I should say to myself, 'I'm going to sit for an hour a day and practice the guitar,' but I think that would bore me to tears. To me, the guitar is a tool for songwriting, and it's fun, too. The day that it's not fun, that's when I'm not gonna play guitar anymore. I never wanted it to feel like work. I think the best riffs and the best songs come when you're jamming and having a good time. You can't sit there and say, 'OK, I'm going to write a great song now.' It doesn't happen like that."

Read the entire interview from MusicRadar.com.