New ANTHRAX Singer: 'The Naysayers Are Gonna Be Shut Down'

ANTHRAX has issued a press release officially announcing its new singer, Dan Nelson (as first reported by BLABBERMOUTH.NET back on December 6). Nelson (Photo#1, Photo#2),32, is a virtual unknown, having fronted several local bands in the Long Island/New York area, including DEVILSIZE and ME, MY ENEMY. Drummer Charlie Benante says, "Rob [Caggiano, ANTHRAX lead guitarist] called me and said, 'I have a singer, you should check him out.' We gave him a shot, and he floored us."

After a successful reunion tour with returning vocalist Joey Belladonna in 2006, there were rumors of recording a new album with that lineup. However, talks fell through and the band was left, once again, without a frontman.

"I was actually looking for a band," commented Nelson. "Long Island is a pretty dead scene. I was in UNBROKEN, and through that I met Rob a couple years ago. I had gone through some stuff on a personal side where I took time off from the music. When I got back to the scene, I couldn't find a band, so I contacted Rob through MySpace and offered my services. We sent music back and forth, got together, and jammed for 10 hours straight. After 10 hours, he said, 'I think you'd be right for ANTHRAX."

"There's no place else I'd rather be right now," Nelson said. "It's a great vibe. I feel great, and I'm ready to go. It's lit that much more of a fire under me. I'm getting to live the dream, and it feels amazing. I can't wait for all these people who think ANTHRAX is done to be proven wrong. The naysayers are gonna be shut down, and the true-blue fans are gonna be pleased.”

Guitarist Scott Ian commented on the new singer saying, "It feels great working with Dan. The first time we jammed, we ran through a bunch of old songs, songs from the John Bush/Joey Belladonna eras. Right from the first second Dan started 'Room For One More' we knew. We said, 'Now that we've got that, let's work his ass off.'"

ANTHRAX, featuring Nelson on vocals, guitarists Ian and Rob Caggiano, bassist Frankie Bello, and drummer Benante, is currently working on all-new material. "We wrote these songs and they fucking kicked ass," says Benante. "It was cathartic. We also want to take our time. This record will be under the microscope, more so than the others. We want to make sure it's 100% perfect."

In other news, two classic ANTHRAX records — "Sound of White Noise" and "Stomp 442" — are going to be available on iTunes on December 18. They will be expanded editions with bonus tracks, and it's the first time the records will be released digitally. The online versions of the albums will also include commentary tracks from the band members themselves!

ANTHRAX has not yet announced a release date for an upcoming album, but the band is in the middle of the writing process, so stay tuned for more updates.

A DEVILSIZE song titled "Taken" featuring the vocals of Dan Nelson can be heard at this location. Four more DEVILSIZE tracks featuring Nelson — "The Way", "Explode", "Brooding" and "Freedom's Wings" — are available for streaming here (click on the play button to the left of each songtitle to launch audio).