ANTHRAX's FRANK BELLO Has Begun Writing His Memoir

ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello has commenced work on his memoir. The book, which does not yet have a release date, is being written with Joel McIver, the bestselling author of more than two dozen books on rock music, including "My Life With Deth" from Bello's ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE bandmate, MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson.

Speaking to Sweden's RockSverige, Bello stated about his upcoming book: "We started and we're going to get back to it because we have busy schedules. We started it and I plan to write it with Joel. He's done great stuff and he knows my history probably better than me. He's great at what he does, so we'll probably work that out. He goes deep and he does it right. That's what I like about Joel. He has a lot of history that I probably have forgotten."

Bello is not the first member of ANTHRAX to write an autobiography. Back in October 2014, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian released "I'm The Man: The Story Of That Guy From Anthrax" via Da Capo Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group. For "I'm The Man", Ian worked with Jon Wiederhorn, co-author of the books "Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History Of Metal" and "Ministry: The Lost Gospels According To Al Jourgensen".

In the RockSverige interview, Bello said that he "always knew" he wanted to be a musician. "I was scared that I'd better get a fucking job, you know what I mean?" he said. "Because in the early days of ANTHRAX, like with everybody else, there's no money, so you start thinking, 'Should I have gone to college?', all that stuff. Remember, I got into ANTHRAX at 17, so I graduated early. It's either college or ANTHRAX, and I went for it, and thank God, believe me, that we made a living out of it. But you still look back, 'Should I have gotten more education?' and all that stuff. But, I mean, the education of life is here, and this is a great education that we've developed. I just feel very fortunate and I never take it for granted. Not one day. You have to put your nose to the grind and work hard every day. Even now. We have to do this, man, so it's a fun ride. Look, life is this short, take full advantage, dude… that's the way I look at it."

Asked if he was a good student in school, Bello said: "I was a good student other than in music class. I was in jazz class with my friend John Tempesta. He plays with THE CULT. I grew up with John, and we went to school together. We went to jazz class together. Every day in jazz class, instead of playing jazz, John and I would get there early and jam [BLACK] SABBATH and [IRON] MAIDEN and the teacher would scream at us and throw us out. This was pretty much three or four times a week. But I was a pretty good student. I had honors in high school and graduated with honors and all that stuff, but at the end of the day, it wasn't me."

ANTHRAX is hard at work on material for the follow-up to 2016's "For All Kings" album, tentatively due in 2020. When not writing new music, the band is continuing to tour in support of "For All Kings", which was called by some critics ANTHRAX's strongest album to date. Its arrival followed a five-year period during which the band experienced a rebirth of sorts, beginning with ANTHRAX's inclusion on the 2010 "Big Four" tour with METALLICA, SLAYER and MEGADETH, and continuing with the 2011 release of comeback LP "Worship Music".