ANTHRAX Has Made The 'Right' Follow-Up To 'Worship Music', Says Bassist FRANK BELLO

ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello was interviewed on episode 118 of the "Mars Attacks" podcast. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On ANTHRAX having two albums' worth of material written for the follow-up to 2011's "Worship Music":

"It's hard to choose your favorites, because we take time with each and every song. We don't just throw a song out. We don't just throw a song together, that's for sure. We nitpick the hell out of each song, and you've gotta live with it. My thing is, with our songs, you have to live with it, and we are. I've been listening to this record and all these songs just about every day — at least once or twice, sometimes three times a day. Just seeing what bothers me, what's not right, what doesn't get me going, what brings me back with it: 'I've gotta have more of that.' Or just because I think it's important. This is what we do, man. The attention span of people is not that… I mean, just in general, you've gotta keep people's attention, man. There's a lot of metal out there, and you've gotta put out the best. So we've gotta keep that attention span there, for the record. 'Cause I listen to songs, [and] I wanna hear what I wanna hear, 'cause I'm a fan of this stuff."

On the possibility of ANTHRAX releasing a double album:

"As far as two records, look… I don't know if that's ever gonna happen with us, quite honestly. We have a lot of songs, but we have a lot of great songs, which I'm really happy about. And my thing is, I think… Like, I have a good list right now. My favorites are coming out now, which is great; they're showing up. It's about four or five songs over what we're allowed… what we're gonna put out on a record, but we're getting down there, so it's really cool. At this stage, it's really hard to say 'no' to some of 'em, but you just want the 'oh my God' thing in our music."

On a possible release date for the new ANTHRAX album:

"We're talking about January, dude. We're just about to start mixing. We're getting all the nitty-gritty stuff done, some B-sides, all that fun stuff. But it's just about finished, and mixing will start soon. There needs to be a proper setup — when record companies set up a record and make people understand that it's coming out. By the time you get all that [done], that whole propaganda thing you need to get out there in order for people to know [that the album is on its way]. So, it's end of August now… We figure… Yeah, I'm thinking January."

On ANTHRAX taking such a long time to write and record the new album:

"We just wanted to take our time, 'cause there's no rush. It has to be the right record. And for us, you can't let it go until it's ready; there's no reason to do that at this stage. And we learned that, and that's the way to do it. And so, we wanted to just make sure it's the right record. And I think… As I speak to you genuinely, I think we have that right record. I couldn't be more excited for ANTHRAX. Just as a fan — not even a bandmember — just as a fan, 'cause I think the songs speak for themselves. I'm really excited right now about them. 'Cause I can't wait to play them live, and that means a lot to me, man. I can't wait to get on stage and play these songs live… My thing is, I have to be excited about it. I mean, everybody's excited about their new record, but my thing is… We have to live this, man. This is what we do. It's gotta have energy. It's gotta kick you in the ass. Otherwise, everybody's wasting time. It's gotta be that record; otherwise, what are we doing? Just as a fan… Put you headphones on, [and] it's gotta blow you away. My thing is, it's gotta blow me away. The last record we did, 'Worship Music', it did so well, thankfully. Everybody said, 'ANTHRAX Is back. It's the best record. Blah blah blah.' Thankfully. And we couldn't be more happy about, and humbled, quite honestly, 'cause we didn't expect that reaction. But we write like that, and I think we're in a good vein of writing right now. I just think we've learned something, and I just think, right now, we're taking the next step into that with this record, so I couldn't be more excited."

ANTHRAX's new CD, which is once again being produced by Jay Ruston (STONE SOUR, STEEL PANTHER),will include such songtitles as "The Battle Chose Us", "You Gotta Believe" and "The Evil Twin".

ANTHRAX recently completed a six-week North American tour with VOLBEAT. The band's setlist included the new song "Soror Irrumator (Lords Of The Rock)", ANTHRAX's contribution to the the second installment of "Catch The Throne: The Mixtape", for HBO's Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning series "Game Of Thrones".

Interview (audio):