ANTHRAX's Next Album Will Be 'Intense,' Says Bassist FRANK BELLO

ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello spoke to The Metal Voice about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2016's "For All Kings" album.

"Everybody has their own collection of stuff," he said (hear audio below). "And Scott [Ian, guitar], Charlie [Benante, drums] and I will get together in two and a half weeks and we will start putting songs together. At NAMM [show] week [in late January], that's what I'll be doing. I fly in [to Los Angeles] on that Tuesday. Believe me, it's a big schedule there, because I go back and forth to NAMM also, so it's pretty crazy. But during the day, I'll be writing with ANTHRAX, and at nighttime, it's ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE [Bello's project with MEGADETH's David Ellefson] stuff."

Asked what the new ANTHRAX material will sound like, Bello said: "ANTHRAX is in a really good place. And I call this good for a record, because it's an angry place. You just feel it. And I'm very excited to see what we come up with, 'cause I don't know yet. We're just gonna bounce off of each other. I know what I have, and I'm sure everybody's gonna bring it. But I know it's an angry sense, which I like. It's gonna be intense, I'll put it that way."

Frank's latest comments echo those made by Benante, who told Metal Rules in June that the songs that the band is working on now "are a little more aggressive and angrier, only because the climate we are all living in is reflected in our music.

"When I come in with something, I have hopes and dreams that the song is going to be as great as I hear it in my mind," he added. "I think the other guys stepped up as well and want to hit a home run on each song. Everybody in the band stepped up their game."

Released in February 2016, "For All Kings" was called by some critics ANTHRAX's strongest album to date. Its arrival followed a five-year period during which the band experienced a rebirth of sorts, beginning with ANTHRAX's inclusion on the 2010 "Big Four" tour with METALLICA, SLAYER and MEGADETH, and continuing with the 2011 release of comeback LP "Worship Music".

ANTHRAX's upcoming disc will be the band's third full-length release since the return of singer Joey Belladonna, who came back into the fold for the "Big Four" shows, in the process helping inspire a new wave of creativity.

ANTHRAX supported SLAYER on the first two legs of the latter outfit's last-ever North American run of dates.