Web Site Stands By Its Published Interview With ANTHRAX Guitarist DAN SPITZ

Metal-Rules.com has issued a statement in response to ANTHRAX guitarist Dan Spitz's characterization of the web site's recent interview with Spitz as "tabloid-esque journalism" and "a compilation of bullshit." The chat with Spitz, which was published in a question-and-answer format, was conducted by the web site's Finnish contributor Marko Syrjälä during the band's recent visit to Finland, and included quotes attributed to Spitz in which he appeared to insinuate that late PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott copied his leads for ANTHRAX's "Stomp 442" record, and slam some of his bandmates on a number of subjects, including the release of ANTHRAX's "The Greater of Two Evils" CD (featuring re-recordings of the band's classic songs). Metal-Rules.com's statement reads as follows:

"Since our interviewer and our whole webzine has been referred to as 'tabloid-esque journalism' with an interview that is 'a compilation of bullshit,' we felt we needed to make a statement about the interview that was done with ANTHRAX guitarist Danny Spitz.

"Many people that have been upset about the comments and excerpts that Blabbermouth chose to highlight from the interview. Many who commented on it seem to have not even read the actual interview in full and are simply reacting to an attention-grabbing headline.

"Metal-Rules.com interviewer Marko Syrjälä says that: 'the impression I got while talking at length with Dan Spitz, was that he absolutely was not bad-mouthing anybody, just being very honest, which is a rare thing these days. In no way did anything he said come across to me as arrogant or malicious. Understandably, that aspect may not have been so obvious in the written form. I saw none of the comments as stabs at anyone personally. People (some on purpose, I'm sure) are reading way too much into things, the overall tone of the whole interview was very positive and it was also quite clear that Dan is really very pleased to be back playing with the guys and is looking forward to making new music. I hope that clears up some of the confusion.'

"We would like to emphasize, however, that the interview did happen and there was no fabrication whatsoever. This can be witnessed from the recorded interview, which runs uninterrupted for almost an hour and a half.

"We hope this clears things up and that we can put this drama behind us. As ANTHRAX fans, we wish all the best for the band and for Dan and hope that they will soon be releasing a new album that will kick our collective asses!"

The original interview can be read in its entirety at this location. Dan Spitz's statement regarding the interview can be found here.