ANTHRAX's SCOTT IAN On 'For All Kings': 'It's The Most Metal Record We Have Made In A Long, Long Time'

Ireland's Overdrive recently conducted an interview with ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

Overdrive: [ANTHRAX's new album] "For All Kings" is due to be released early next year. Can you talk about the reason behind the title of the record?

Scott: The meaning, to me, for this title is that everybody can be a king. Everybody can have control over their own lives, control over their destiny, just by growing up and becoming a responsible human being. I'm not necessarily saying that being a "king" is being the boss in your relationship, or any relationship for that matter. A king of yourself is what I mean. Taking responsibility and ownership for your own shit is basically what it means to me.

Overdrive: How far back had the writing process begun for this album and is there any material on "For All Kings" which was written during that time period when Joey [Belladonna] stepped in to re-recorded the "Worship Music" vocals?

Scott: No, this didn't really start until 2012. We were out on the road in America on the [Rockstar Energy Drink] Mayhem tour and then back over here [Europe] with MOTÖRHEAD near the end of that year. Charlie [Benante, drums] stayed home from that tour, because that's when his hand really started to become a problem, so that whole time he was home, he was working on the new material. Then in early 2013, when Frank [Bello, bass], Charlie and I got together in the jam room in my house, that's when the official writing really started for this new album.

Overdrive: Is there anything that will be considered a surprise on this album or have you stuck to the trusted ANTHRAX formula?

Scott: No, it's just the most metal record we have made in a long, long time! It's ANTHRAX, but with extra metal. [Laughs] There is way more thrashy stuff and heavy stuff on this record. Also, it's just way more riff-heavy, if you know what I mean. It's way more proggy! [Laughs] I'm just kidding; there is no prog on this album! Actually that was the original title of the album. We were just gonna call it "Prog" and have a circle with a line through it. [Laughs] I like prog. I'm just fucking with you! Seriously, man, all jokes aside, it's not a jazz album or anything less than what our fans and we collectively wanted to make. It's a very heavy fucking record, and that's what we wanted to achieve.

Overdrive: "Evil Twin" was released as a lyric video recently. Are there any plans to put out a video for the next single off the album or does it not really matter these days?

Scott: Not yet, as we are still talking about it. I can tell you that it won't be for "Evil Twin", but I'm pushing more towards the idea that it could be for a track called "Bloody Eagle Wings", and it's a bit of an epic track, so we feel like we could really do a sort of short movie for it. This is still in talks at the moment, so it might not happen. But talking about videos, I really don't see the purpose in doing videos these days. Even back in the '80s when MTV had "Headbanger's Ball", I still was thinking, "What's the point?" Nowadays, there is nowhere that really plays videos, apart from YouTube. Videos aren't free, and it can cost a hell of a lot of money for us to make them, and then you have to consider the fact that people are not buying records anymore.

Read the entire interview at Overdrive.

"For All Kings" will be released on February 26, 2016 via Nuclear Blast in Europe and Megaforce in the U.S.