ANVIL's LIPS Says JOEY BELLADONNA, Not CHARLIE BENANTE, Is 'The Real Powerhouse Musician' In ANTHRAX

April 20, 2017

In a brand new interview with the "Thunder Underground" podcast, ANVIL frontman Steve "Lips" Kudlow spoke about heavy metal drummers who compose music and play other instruments — like Charlie Benante from ANTHRAX — as opposed to most others who just keep a steady beat. Lips said: "Talking about ANTHRAX, the guy that's the real powerhouse musician is the singer, Joey [Belladonna]. Joey is the man. He can play drums and he can sing like a bird. That's the talent. We did a show with [Joey's solo band BELLADONNA] quite a number of years ago, and Joey… The [drummer] didn't show up, and they had Jack Frost on guitar, and Joey did all the singing from the drums. It was fucking unbelievable; he was playing as good as Charlie — maybe better. I almost wonder why [the ANTHRAX] guys got Charlie. You know, you don't even need the guy. Your singer can play drums just as well, and [it's] one less guy to pay."

A few years ago, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian told Noisecreep that ANVIL's "Metal On Metal" was one of his favorite "thrash" albums of all time. He said: "They've gotten popular now, but for a long time, most people completely overlooked ANVIL. 'March Of The Crabs', 'Jackhammer', '666', 'Mothra'. They were all so classic and definitely pre-dated what thrash would evolve into. Robb Reiner's drumming helped invent thrash metal. The guy was just so over the top and so insane. Back then, he was the guy that Charlie and Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] looked up to. Everyone looked up to him. He was the guy, he was the God."

Lips and Reiner recently revealed that they are working on material for ANVIL's follow-up to "Anvil Is Anvil" album, which came out in February 2016 worldwide (excluding Japan) via SPV/Steamhammer. "We're gonna try to record it [during the] summer [for a January 2018 release]," said Robb.

"Anvil Is Anvil" was recorded in October 2015 at Redhead 4 Studios in Pulheim, near Cologne, Germany, with producer Martin "Mattes" Pfeiffer.

Find more on Anthrax
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).