I’ve probably written about Anthrax five times in my years here, and I feel like every time I start out defending their legacy against the (wholly correct) statement that they’ve released very, very little of lasting value since Sound Of White Noise. At this point, there’s no need to continue beating that long-rotted horse. No matter how good Anthrax used to be, everyone knows how good they’re not now, and any further harping upon the quality of the classic era will – and likely should – fall upon deaf ears.
And if you’ve got deaf ears, I might have an album for you…
Well, actually, that’s a bit harsh.
But it’s not too far off…
After a brief symphonic intro, For All Kings starts with a thrash-by-numbers riff in a thrash-by-numbers song. “You Gotta Believe” rides that pedal point genero-thrash groove, like any number of the bands that Anthrax has inspired in the last thirty years, with a chugga-chugga verse custom made for Scott Ian’s circular stomping. It’s not that “Believe” is awful – for the most part, it’s fine, although it’s definitely not great; it’s a less interesting version of the formula they managed to make work with Worship Music’s “Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t.” But we’ve been here, done this, and far better before.
And therein lies For All Kings’ primary flaw: Most of these tracks are cookie-cutter modern semi-thrash, which is disappointing coming from one of the originators of actual thrash. “Monster In The End” and the title track waste moments of metallic inspiration on lame radio-rock choruses and chunky single-note not-riffs, but the biggest perpetrator of wastefulness is the nearly abysmal “Breathing Lightning.” That one burns a strong verse section – one of the album’s better riffs – with a lame-as-hell chorus and another dreamy breakdown where Ian-via-Belladonna declares “I’d do anything / just to hear the angels sing.” (Generally speaking, the lyrics on For All Kings are not strong, but only rarely do they reach that level of ridiculousness.)
There are some lights in the darkness, and not all is a wash. “Suzerain” stands strong, and even with some of the same hallmarks – the chugs, the big chorus – it at least demonstrates a certain energy and a heaviness that succeeds. That one would’ve fit in the White Noise era, which may or may not appeal to all Anthrax fans, but the fact that it sticks out well above the rest of the disc should speak volumes. The Charlie Hebdo-inspired “Evil Twin” was the first track released from Kings, and when it dropped, I wasn’t blown away, but within the context of the album, it stands stronger, again at least leaning toward a full-on thrash fury. The ascending series of descending runs in the pre-chorus is easily one of the best riffs on the album, and the “you’re no martyrs!” refrain is a perfect shout-along for the pit. Closing number “Zero Tolerance” is the only moment where Anthrax manages to capture their thrash spark – that riff in the chorus is absolutely stellar, another of the album’s best, as is the blistering verse – and is by far the best song on hand.
The moody “Blood Eagle Wings” is the centerpiece and second single of Kings, and at least it falls outside the album’s melo-thrash comfort zone. But while there are some promising points and interesting ideas (the middle section, for example), but overall it just doesn’t really coalesce into anything transcendent, like a heavier take on the gloomy darkness that made “Black Lodge” great all those years ago. Likely, it might’ve been helped by buoying it against more numbers like “Suzerain” or “Zero Tolerance,” instead of stranding it in a sea of mostly half-thrash, but that’s purely speculation…
On the absolute positive front, the band is tight and Joey Belladonna in particular sounds great. His voice still soars, still possesses the melodic power that gave Anthrax a certain trad-metal edge over the gruffer snarls of the other big thrashers. The Benante-Bello-Ian trio has always been a first-rate rhythm section, even if the songs aren’t always particularly interesting, and new guitarist Jon Donais (ex-Shadow’s Fall) can certainly shred.
I’ve read quite a bit of praise for For All Kings – which obviously I don’t really agree with. And it pains me to say that. I’m an Anthrax fan, and I have been for a long time, but I can’t deny that they’ve struggled through two very uneven decades now, somehow never quite finding whatever fire drove them for their first ten years. If you’re one of those people who hailed Worship Music as a great comeback, then chances are you’ll find more to love here than I did, as For All Kings fits nicely against that half-decent return. For me, too much of For All Kings feels like Anthrax trying too hard to fit in to modern times, to stay relevant and compete with the bands they inspired, instead of just doing what everyone wants them to do – or at least what I want them to do – which is to release another album that hits fast and frantic and fun like the classics. More “Zero Tolerance” and less “Breathing Lightning,” please…
File this one with Dystopia in the bin labeled “This Band Has Done Worse; This Band Has Done Exponentially Better,” and then we’ll try again in another year or two…
