ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian spoke to U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine about the band's reunion with vocalist Joey Belladonna.
"We had a meeting with John [Bush, the ARMORED SAINT frontman who sang with ANTHRAX during 1992-2005 and again for the past nine months], at which he was honest enough to tell us that he really couldn't make the commitment to the band that he knew we needed," Ian says. "It was all very friendly, but ended with us feeling we had to find someone else.
"Nobody wanted to go down the route of finding an unknown. So, it left one option: calling Joey. He was really into the idea of coming back.
"The five of us [Ian, Belladonna, guitarist Rob Caggiano, bassist Frank Bello and drummer Charlie Benante] met in New York, when I did a show with Pearl [Aday, Ian's wife], and we got along really well, and that sealed the deal. It was that easy."
According to Ian, the reunion with Belladonna will include the recording of a new studio album. "That's something we all felt was crucial," the guitarist says. "None of us, especially Joey, wants this to be just a nostalgia trip. The album'll probably have a few songs from 'Worship Music' [the unreleased record the band did with Dan Nelson on vocals], plus some we'll co-write with Joey. It'll be out next year."
