Vim Fuego
It would be churlish to label the title of this EP accurate. Anthrax’s ‘Nothing’ delivered a tasty little appetiser for the band’s 1996 Australasian tour, with a couple of originals, an unreleased track, and a couple of covers. Tour EPs are great collector’s items if you can find ‘em, and this one has the added bonus of a little turbo-charged demon on the cover.
The song “Nothing” possesses a great vocal melody, while retaining the old fashioned Anthrax power. John Bush is a more earnest vocalist than Joey Belladonna was. He doesn’t have Belladonna’s almost operatic range, but more than compensates with feeling. Drummer Charlie Benante shows off his six-string talents, also playing the main solo to the song. The song is indicative of the post-‘Persistence Of Time’ direction the band took. Hey, Anthrax was having a great time, even if no one was listening.
Benante also had a hand in remixing “Fueled”, which is still recognisable, but a bit more staccato than the original. It was the standout track on ‘Stomp 442’, and is powered up somewhat by the remix. It’s not a radical decomposition, but more a re-emphasis of parts of the song from the original mix.
Not enough bands cover Iron Maiden songs. “Remember Tomorrow” might seem like an unusual choice for Anthrax, but it’s a fairly faithful cover, and it works well. Bush’s voice more than does justice to Paul Di’Anno’s original vocal track, and the band rock the whole song up somewhat. It’s not a heads-down thrasher, but it’s definitely higher velocity than Maiden.
“Grunt & Click” has a darker feel than most of ‘Stomp 442’, and doesn’t sound quite up to the same quality as the rest of that album but it’s not bad. It lurches along happily enough, unaware that it’s an ugly unwanted stepchild.
The cover of The Police’s “No Time This Time” would have most Anthrax fans scratching their heads. If you didn’t know better, you would think it’s the original. Yep, Anthrax went New Wave. It’s a chirpy little song, which rocks like a mutant surfer tune.
There’s nothing here the average Anthrax fan can’t live without, but completists will love it.