ANTHRAX: Video Footage From Japan's LOUD PARK Festival Posted Online

Video footage of ANTHRAX — featuring vocalist John Bush (ANTHRAX's singer from 1992 to 2005) — performing the song "Only" at this year's installment of the Loud Park festival on October 17 at Makuhari Messe, a convention center in Japan located in the western region of Chiba Prefecture, close to Tokyo, can be viewed below.

In other news, ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello has posted the following recap of the band's performances at Loud Park and the Sonisphere festival in England on the Fender.com web site:

"Since I last checked in, it's been pretty 'interesting' in the ANTHRAX world, to say the least.. A lot has happened that I can't talk about, so I'll just fast-forward to the good stuff…

"The vibe in the band is electric right now because John Bush agreed to sing some big shows with us. John hasn't sung with ANTHRAX in over four years and we couldn't wait to jam with him again.

"The first show we played with him was the Sonisphere festival in the United Kingdom, with bands like METALLICA, LINKIN PARK, HEAVEN & HELL and many more on the bill.

"On the day of the show, everything was running smoothly — too smoothly. I got up early because I was pumped up, ate some breakfast, showered and waited in the lobby for the van to pick us up for the show. Turns out our 'smooth day' was about to hit some potholes. Our van was an hour and a half late picking us up and then we had a two-hour traffic jam getting through London to the show, which should have been only a 45-minute drive. When we finally got there, we had 15 minutes to get dressed, warm up and get to the stage.

"STRESS, BABY, STRESS! (Why should it be easy?)

"The vibe onstage for our show was incredible. I can't really describe it; the only word that comes to mind is energy. It felt as if no time had passed at all since we had last played together, and John sounded better than ever! The crowd (60,000-plus) was absolutely raging, singing every word.

"It's funny how things work out sometimes, because after all the drama of trying to get there on time, the show's promoter asked us to play a half-hour longer because the band playing after us was stuck in that same traffic jam. So we got to play extra to a crowd of 60,000-plus…

"Dare I say it — all was well in ANTHRAX world.

"The second half of this blog takes us to Japan, where we played the Loud Park festival just outside Tokyo with our friends JUDAS PRIEST, MEGADETH and many others.

"It's a loooong 14-hour flight to Japan from where I live (New York),and during this flight I learned a very painful lesson: when you are lactose intolerant (as I am),DO NOT EAT ICE CREAM ON THE PLANE!!

"Man, I was back and forth to the restroom so many times that there were grooves in the carpet of the plane!! (Why do I always feel compelled to talk about that subject? I apologize.)

"Anyway, no more ice cream on planes.

"On a healthier note, the vibe within the band continues to be great. It's very obvious that we all looked forward to jamming with John again.

"On the first night in Tokyo, our record company (JVC) took us out to dinner only a few hours after we landed, which means some of us (me) were walking zombies. All I could think of was sleep until the sake and Sapporo beer started to flow.

"It's funny how all the pain of wanting to sleep seems to just go away with booze. Thank you, booze.

"The night continued at the hotel bar, way until the wee hours, and the next thing I remember is being woken up by that damn LOUD and OBNOXIOUS phone next to my bed. I had only a half hour before we had to leave for the show, so a quick shower and a Starbucks with an extra shot was in order.

"The ride to the show was over an hour, so it gave the band a good chance to catch up on all of our lives, and talk about the songs for the set.

"ANTHRAX has never really rehearsed for shows in all the years we've been together; we should know the songs by now. So if we add any new or different songs to the set, we usually just jam them backstage before the show.

"The show that night in Japan was once again amazingly loud and raging. It felt good to let it all out and have such a great crowd response. It was absolutely worth the trip.

"Thank you, Japan!

"After the show, we had some dinner and I was totally beat. I just wanted a nice quiet sleep-night and to wake up coherent for my flight the next day. That lasted until I bumped into my friend James Lomenzo (bass player for MEGADETH) in the lobby. I told him I was spent, but he relentlessly guilt-tripped me by saying that we never get a chance to hang and we should go to this bar he knew of … and once again, after a couple of hours and many drinks later, that sleepy feeling started to dissipate. The next thing I know, I'm writing this blog on the plane ride home.

"It was a great weekend in Japan!!"

ANTHRAX (featuring John Bush) is confirmed for the 2010 edition of Austrlia's Soundwave Festival, which will kick off on February 20 in Brisbane.

The dates are as follows:

Feb. 20 - Brisbane, AUS - RNA Showgrounds
Feb. 21 - Sydney, AUS - Eastern Creek Raceway
Feb. 26 - Melbourne, AUS - Melbourne Showgrounds
Feb. 27 - Adelaide, AUS - Bonython Park
Mar. 01 - Perth, AUS - Bassendean Oval

In a recent interview with Kerrang! magazine, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian stated about the band's recent appearance at Sonisphere, "It went better than I even hoped it would go. I'd been waiting four years for that moment that we had on [August 1] to have John Bush back in the ranks, and it was an unbelievably, magnificently emotional hour of my life; it was really amazing."

When asked about the likelihood that John Bush will rejoin ANTHRAX on a permanent basis, Ian replied, "It's obviously what we want, and I think this is just hopefully the first of a couple of steps to make it happen. The show went great — we all had a great time; John had a fucking blast — and hopefully this is now... the foot's in the door to make this happen again. But it's absolutely what we want to happen. I don't really see any other possibility."

ANTHRAX parted ways with singer Dan Nelson in July due to what has been described as "personal differences." As a result, the band canceled 10 European shows and pulled out of a U.S. tour with SLIPKNOT which was scheduled to take place in August and September.

ANTHRAX's manager, Izvor Zivkovic of Split Media, told BLABBERMOUTH.NET on July 21 that the band's new album, "Worship Music", which was previously due in Europe on October 23 via Nuclear Blast Records, will now be "pushed back to a later date." According to Ian, Dan Nelson's tracks will most likely be erased from the CD, which was mixed at a New Orleans studio by Dave Fortman (a former member of UGLY KID JOE who has also worked with artists such as MUDVAYNE, EVANESCENCE).