Anthrax surely had some pressure on when they began to work on this one, their fourth full length album, since the previous album 'Among the Living' (1986) had already gained a classic status among the fans. Being one of the thrash titans from mid-eighties, the band probably did just what they wanted to do and as usually, it worked. At least in my ears.

'State of Euphoria' is a classic, too, at least for me. It just took more time to become one. Maybe the album is a couple of minutes too long, and it does include a couple of things I do not like so much. One is that '13' song, a jokey, under 1 minute long piece of nonsense. There is a few vocal melody lines I have always struggled to go through (one being that "schism, sk-sk-sk-schism" thing, and other are 'Make Me Laugh's "preaching verses"), but nothing major. Now there are the biggest flaws on the album (really!!!). Now let's get onto what are the important things about the album.

As you must know, Anthrax's thrash metal on the 80's is extremely energetic and has a good feel vibe going on almost all the time. I treasure it. There is enough of dark and evil metal so Anthrax truly stand out in metal music world. They sound bloody tight on this one and after playing who knows how many gigs on previous tour, the band is even tighter. While the rhythm section of Charlie Benante (one of the best and most characteristic drummers out there) and fast-finger bassist Frank Bello hit them like hell, guitarists Scott Ian (one of the tightest rhythm guitarists out there) and Dan Spitz (talented leads) shred metallic and heavy riffs and leads out of their axes. Joey Belladonna's extremely clean singing in higher register simply put the finishing touches to the Anthrax-sound (TM). The Mark Dodson / Alex Perialas production shined back in 1988, and it is still bloody good. Of course the volume level and lower end are bigger nowadays, but otherwise this sounds lovely, clear. I'm not saying this doesn't kick enough, since it does! The mosh factor is ten out of ten. The performances are full of nuances and tricks.

Anthrax's style of thrash metal includes some heavy metal and punk rock in it; they crafted very unique sound, which cannot be called crossover, though. This album is a tad darker at times, when compared to older material, but still far from its follower, 'Persistence of Time' (1990). 'Be All, End All' starts with a bleak cello, and when the band hit in, it's surprisingly dark in atmosphere. But wait a few seconds and your head is banging. Shredding guitars, massive and vivid tempos (from slow to fast), plus great vocals make a extremely catchy song. An instant hit. The band couldn't follow with as good songs for some time, but still I find them following ones interesting: they are filled with energy, tempo changes, curious part transitions and catchiness. The catchiest song is funny Trust cover 'Antisocial', though, as track 4. The band's own material like 'Out of Sight, Out of Mind', 'Make Me Laugh' and 'Schism' do contain some not fully fluidy transitions, but I don't know, I've got to know the songs so well that it doesn't much matter to me, unlike some band members (still, in 21st century; the band needed to rush on this album, because they had tours waiting, so I understand their point). Surely, there's a worse part or vocal line here and there; not all is perfect, but the album has grown on me so tightly I just do not care. There really is no straight songs, except for the cover one.

I like to call Joey Belladonna as "thrash's Bruce Dickinson". Joey's voice is very clean, it has a small amount of vibration, so he actually sings when there's time to sing. The lyrical themes vary from life to social commentary ('Who Cares Wins' is about poverty and homeless people), from Stephen King ('Misery Loves Company') to David Lynch ('Now It's Dark' was inspired by "Blue Velvet"), from televangelism to racism. While the band can be fun to listen to, it can have deep lyricism.

The cover art is definitely striking, but I've never liked it. The band portraits are pictures of a happy band. Well, they always were joking a bit now weren't they?! Still are. Mort Drucker from MAD Magazine draw himself and the band, too.

Anthrax bloody well rocks on 'State of Euphoria'! Another gem from them, this one. 'Now It's Dark' is my favourite Anthrax song from this era and 'Finalē' and 'Be All, End All' come next. Definitely top-list material there! Each of the songs do have some great stuff in them, seriously so. Noone does it this way anymore... Not even Anthrax. Mosh on, here's the music for it!

Rating: 9- (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
05/27/2021 20:32