Anthrax is one of thrash metal's "big 4", together with Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth. Anthrax was always most playful of them all already in 1980s, best known from their flirtation with (gasp!) rap music. In 1990 the band had released their most mature, and slower, thrash metal album, 'Persistence of Time'. And then Joey Belladonna left...

With new vocalist John Bush came another change: Anthrax took more and more steps towards more groovy presentation with fine 1993 album 'Sound of White Noise'. Then Dan Spitz left, who played most of the lead guitar parts. Maybe it means something, that Mr. Spitz didn't write anything for 'Sound...' album anymore, even though he never was a main writer for the band. Maybe he didn't want the band to get too groovy, rocking?

So, welcome to the first Anthrax album, that can be said to contain groove metal, and nothing else. Back when it was released, it might have sounded heavy as the ball of metal junk (no pun intended) on the cover. On the other hand, it looks more like a rock album artwork. Guys were around 30 years old, and new winds were blowing. So many bands tried to survive the attack of grunge rock by making changes in their sound and songwriting in early 1990s. The album is rocking and at times, punky, and those nu-metal whiffs featured aren't so much of killjoy as they could have been! Anthrax, generally, still did things by their own book.

Scott Ian's guitar riffing is heavy-handed. He does hammering palm-muted stuff, plays a lot with open strings and generally keeps things pretty simple. Some are simple as heck, hence the punk vibe here and there around the album. Anyway, it can be heard, that Scott's fingers must have been mash after recording sessions... Surely you hear heavy metal here, and 'American Pompeii's Black Sabbath influenced riff that starts just before 3-minute mark is one shining example of that! Then again, there's not much of memorable stuff happening in lead and solo guitar departments. Paul Crook was enlisted as the lead guitarist, but his work was to throw in some noisy leads and solos ('In a Zone' features one of the more memorable ones, and surely there are a few more). Dimebag Darrell of Pantera fame guested on two songs, but he didn't conjure anything that could be called as legendary here. The guitars sound live.

Melodies are brought in by vocals by John Bush (Armored Saint). His lines are memorable, but again, rather simplistic. I like his rough-ish voice; you can hear he has lived. And not too strictly. This can be sensed from the lyrics, too, which are very streetwise. Fighting, drinking, anxiety, fucking society. Mr. Bush also does more clean vocals on 'Nothing', which is one of the catchiest songs on offer. Also so on 'Bare', which is a bit surprising semi-acoustic closer, where Bush manages to sound somewhat similar to Kurt Cobain. Generally, his vocals are raw, without much, if any, effects and such. The vocals sound live.

The rhythm section in Anthrax have always been more or less vivid. No lack of ideas in bass and drums departments! Charlie Benante is one of my favourite drummers ever. He just lives the beat. His simpler stuff always contains some tasty small tricks to enjoy about, and dan he is a real octopus is he wants to be. And you can bet he does! All of the music was written by drummer him, so that probably explains why it is so very rhythm-based. Frank Bello's bass is one of the funkiest in metal without being any gay. The rhythm section is, n a word, versatile. The bass and drums sound live.

So, the album sounds live! It sounds raw. It's not a presentation of balanced and clean production job, but while it's full, it's not clogged by any means. No, even though a lot of musical elements stay on lower levels.

'Stomp 442' is definitely better than the next one, 'Volume 8 - The Threat Is Real!', which was released as late as 1998. Here, the variety isn't so big, but on the other hand it could have been better in general songwriting; this is quite unvaried. However, the songs have their own vibes mostly for sure. I've managed to find something good in each of them, and the years do not seem to corrode them. Still, 'Stomp 442' is a remnant of mid-90s. It feels it has some similarities with early Machine Head, The Almighty's 'Crank' (1994) and even Helmet, just to name a few. This is a party record or one I love to listen to while driving my automobile.

Rating: 8- (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
02/26/2016 17:47