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.

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