Unitron Anthrax - For All Kings

"For All Kings" is the eleventh studio album from legendary thrash metal band Anthrax. Five years after vocalist Joey Belladonna's comeback album with Anthrax, "Worship Music", Anthrax finally returns with power on full blast. This time it's heavier with a powerful punchy production.

While the previous album "Worship Music" had a balance between thrash and more classic heavy metal elements, "For All Kings" is pretty much a full-return to thrash albeit with classic metal and groove metal elements being mixed in. A good description would be a combination of "Worship Music", "Persistence of Time", and a bit of the John Bush-era sound. Before moving into the brutal thrashing of 'You Gotta Believe', the album harkens back to the classical strings of the beginning of 'Be All, End All' from 1988's "State of Euphoria" with the intro 'Impaled'. The political 'Zero Tolerance', which is probably my favorite on the album, sounds straight out of "Persistence of Time".

Anthrax must have been listening to a bit of Meshuggah, and one listen to the brutal skull-crushing riffing in 'Suzerain', showcases that. However, in typical Anthrax fashion, they combine that brutal crunch with soaring melody. 'Evil Twin', another favorite of mine, is also a real thrashing and groovy treat. The more classic metal elements come in with 'Breathing Lightning', 'Blood Eagle Wings', and the majestic Iron Maiden-esque opening of the title track.

Overall, there's not much else to say. This is a killer album, and any fan of Anthrax should give it a listen. Anthrax has always managed to get the perfect combination of thrash, melody, and groove into their sound like no other band has done quite like them. This album proves that Anthrax is still at the top of their game, and remains the most consistent of the big four of thrash. Hope you found this review helpful.

Feel free to comment!

Nightfly Somewhere along the way I lost interest in Anthrax. I guess it was around the time of Sound Of White Noise as that was the last Anthrax album I bought until now. Having bought Spreading The Disease when it was released back in the 80’s, an album which I loved and played to death, each subsequent release offered diminishing returns for me despite some quality stuff, particularly Among The Living but nothing had the joint power and melody of Spreading The Disease. By the time of Sound Of White Noise vocalist Joey Belladonna had gone, who always stood out from the pack of the first wave of thrash bands for being more of a traditional metal singer. Despite the loss John Bush was an inspired choice being a fine vocalist in his own right and I always had a soft spot for Armored Saint. By now though the band were moving away from their thrash roots, slowing down and going more in an alt/groove direction. To this day I don’t think I’ve listened to the following three albums in their entirety. Moving onto 2011 I was intrigued to hear what the band would sound like with the return of Belladonna. Worship Music, a good album by the way, offered a partial return to earlier thrashier days and whilst I didn’t feel the urge to rush out and buy it my interest was piqued enough to keep an eye on them.

For All Kings, the second since the return of Belladonna seems a more rounded and consistent album than I’ve heard from Anthrax since the 80’s. There’s still slower groove infused moments but there’s also plenty of thrash and perhaps most importantly, Anthrax are always at their best when they inject plenty of melody into their music, though not at the expense of hard riffing I hasten to add. When the album kicks in properly on You Gotta Believe, a song with plenty of dynamics but also a fine statement of intent that they mean business and it hits hard and fast for the most part. Monster At The End is slower but a winner on the strength of its catchy hook and Belladonna is on fine form proving that he’s the best singer for Anthrax once and for all. The title track is a bit ordinary and lacking something but there’s still plenty of great moments to come like Breathing Lightning which is the band circa Spreading The Disease. Suzerain wins the most brutal riff of the album award and Evil Twin really kicks ass picking up the tempo again. Blood Eagle Wings is particularly memorable for another strong melody, perhaps the strongest of all.

There are no bad tracks on the album at all really, despite tailing off a bit at times like on the ordinary All Of Them Thieves, but some of it just lacks that X Factor to raise it to classic status. Nevertheless, For All Kings is a very good record, better than I ever expected to hear again from Anthrax. Good to have them back in such fine form.

Kingcrimsonprog After a brief cinematic-sounding instrumental intro, the East Coast Thrash Metal legends Anthrax’s eleventh full-length studio album kicks into gear with the stompy upper-midpaced ‘You Gotta Believe’ calling to mind the longer tracks on their Persistence Of Time and State Of Euphoria albums; the clicky drum production serves to balance the modern with the classic, the repetitive but not hypnotic song structure harkens back to State Of Euphoria even further, but when the lead guitar kicks in it is apparent that Dan Spitz and his unique and singular style are nowhere to be seen, nor can we hear the warm feel of the excellent Rob Caggiano. New man and former Shadows Fall member Jon Donais has some big shoes to fill.

Joey Bellandona, back for the second studio album since rejoining the band, sounds a little more at home here than on 2011’s Worship Music, which makes sense since the songs weren’t written with someone else in mind first. He still tries a bit more of the Bush-aping choruses which were a weak point on Worship Music since the two very different vocalists had different strengths, but there’s a bit more umph to the verses this time. A bit more of a spitting delivery. A bit more bite. Ironically, on this one he sounds more like he has something to prove, incumbent though he may be.

So far so good. The end of the songs when a few more double kicks let fly and the guitars get a bit busier are always good. The guitar solos are always entertaining. The musicianship is great in general on all the instruments all the way through. The mix is good, and you can really separate the bass drum for the bass guitar or concentrate on whatever you chose, be that a ride cymbal or an individual guitarist’s part.

There’s a few pretty damn enjoyable songs worth pointing out too, such as the speedy politically-charged closer ‘Zero Tolerance’ as well as the aggressive ‘Defend/Avenge’ and the complex and entertaining album highlight ‘Blood Eagle Wings.’

Sounds like a good album to me. The only problem is that it lacks a wow factor. It’s a bit repetitive, a bit unadventurous, a bit ploddy and a bit dull. The song tempos could use a boost. There could be a bit more variety (especially in the vocal department, the choruses sort of blanket over the tracks and make them feel a bit too safe, too samey and too slow). The song lengths could do with a trim. Heck, some of the songs could do with being trimmed altogether… there’s value for money and there’s quality control. ‘Suzerain’ is a perfect example of the whole album, it has a great verse recalling the best parts of the likes of ‘What Doesn’t Die’ or ‘Discharge’ but then the chorus comes in and you just start planning your groceries, looking out the window at the fat guy with the interesting shirt or checking your phone messages. Not even on purpose. Its not like its even bad, its not like you want to lose interest, its just that musically and vocally For All Kings just isn’t special enough to keep your attention. Where’s the choruses like ‘Fueled’? Or ‘Metal Thrashing Mad’? Or ‘Lone Justice’? Where’s the drama of ‘This Is Not An Exit’ or ‘Indians’ ? Where’s the damn excitement?

Its one of those albums where no song is bad and there’s nothing actually even bad or objectionable on there, but overall its just not that great. I like the album, but I don’t love it. Much like the recent Slayer or Megadeth albums, you don’t initially want to compare them to the past, but they just don’t have the same spark and you can’t help but feel that no-matter how objective you would prefer to stay. Its more an album of ‘Ooo, that’s a cool drum part’ rather than ‘Ooo, that’s a cool song.’ Its more, ‘wow, this is slick’ than ‘wow, this is awesome.’ Its good, but its good in the wrong way. It doesn’t grab you. It doesn’t speak to you. I don’t hear too much on here I’d love to hear in concert. I don’t hear too much I want to run out and show my friends. I don’t hear too much to even discuss at all. It one of those classic 6/10 albums that you’ll have in your collection, but never actually love, you might even listen to it more than an actual great one to try and get something more out of it. Overall; It feels like Anthrax are on the right path, but they just haven’t gotten all the way to the desired destination.