ANTHRAX's SCOTT IAN Says He Was 'Blown Away' When He Heard METALLICA's 1982 Demo

Canada's "The Metal Voice" recently conducted an interview with ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian. You can now listen to the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow.

On the heavy metal scene when ANTHRAX was starting out:

Scott: "Well, there was no scene. That's the thing. We were just kind of… We were an island unto ourselves. There was no scene in New York for bands playing their own music. There was just cover bands at the time. We were just a bunch of guys that were into metal and wanted to write our own songs and had a rehearsal space. We were there six, seven nights a week just working on trying to be the best band we could be."

On how Megaforce Records founder Jonny Zazula played him METALLICA's "No Life 'Till Leather" for the first time in 1982:

Scott: "I remember he played me the 'No Life 'Till Leather' demo at his store [Rock 'N' Roll Heaven] one day. It just blew me away; it sounded so cool. And he told me he's bringing them to New York, and he's gonna make an album, and he's starting his own record company. It was all very big talk at the time. You've gotta remember, this is, like, 1982. I was, like, 'How do you do that? How are you going to start a record label? How do you even know how to do that?' And he was honest. He was, like, 'I don't know. But nobody else is gonna do it. I've been playing this demo for every major label, and they just stick their fingers in their ears and they throw me out of their office.' He goes, 'I'll make it happen somehow.' And he put his money where his mouth is."

On the golden era of thrash metal in the 1980s:

Scott: "When it comes to heavy metal, certainly what happened in the U.S. in the '80s was certainly a pretty big deal, and a lot of people worldwide are still interested, obviously, in us and METALLICA and SLAYER. So it just shows what we were doing as kids in the early '80s really, really has left a big imprint on this planet. And we weren't just a bunch of guys who were feeling self-important. Other people actually cared about what we were doing too. So, it is cool, and I am glad I can give a peek behind the curtain for people, obviously, who weren't personally a part of it. If you read my book, you can kind of get to see what was actually going on."

On the progress of the recording sessions for ANTHRAX's upcoming album:

Scott: "It's coming along great. We're gonna take a break. We head out on tour on [April 24], we'll take a break and be able to get away from it, live with it for awhile, and then come back right at the beginning of June and spend another month finishing it up . We're in a really good zone creatively, and I think if you liked the last record [2011's 'Worship Music'], you're really gonna love this new one."