ANTHRAX’s first album came out roughly around 1980. For over 20 years and several line-up changes, the band churned out album after album of no-frills NY style heavy metal/hardcore. From their early days as a Power Metal outfit to today’s PANTERA aspirations, ANTHRAX have remained at the forefront of the hard music scene. The group has deserved the success they enjoy today, because of their dedication to touring and sticking to their guns. ANTHRAX is also one the first thrash bands to embrace the music video format. They’ve released some of the earliest and best hard rock videos around, including Indians, Anti-Social, Belly of the Beast, and the MTV banned classic, Madhouse. And back in the late 1980’s they dabbled with the longform concert release with OEDIVNEKUFECIN on VHS. Yet, with all their dedication to the home video format, they have never released on all-digital musical event that showcase entire career—that is until now. ANTHRAX and their label Sanctuary Music team up to produce the DVD known as MUSIC OF MASS DESTRUCTION, an aggressive musical attack that lives up the band’s legacy.

With the exception of the vocalist and guitarist slots, 3/5s of the band are the original line-up. Charlie Benante still lays down a mean beat behind the drum seat. Frank Bello still pounds the bass. And rhythm guitarist Scott Ian still gives ANTHRAX a lot of crunch. Joey Belladonna exited the band in the early 1990’s to be replaced by former ARMORED SAINT front man, John Bush. The new kid on the block is Rob Caggiano, who provides a very punk-ish style of guitar playing that compliments ANTHRAX’s new direction. For MUSIC OF MASS DESTRUCTION, the band claim to have put on their ultimate show for preserving their live reputation for this DVD. The concert portion was recorded December 5, 2003 at the Metro in Chicago, Illinois. The band jams through some of their best material from (most of) their albums including:

• What Doesn’t Die
• Got the Time
• Caught in a Mosh
• Safe Home
• Room for One More
• AntiSocial
• Nobody Knows Anything
• Belly of the Beast
• Inside Out
• Refuse to be Denied
• 604
• I Am the Law
• Only
• Be All End All
• Indians
• Bring the Noise
• Fueled
• Metal Thrashing Mad

ANTHRAX have taken a page out of the PANTERA school of song writing and fashion. Even John Bush is the latest member to shave of his hair and perform bald, because that is, after all, the trend these days in NYC hard rock scene. The highlight of the show for me is the older stuff like Belly of the Beast, I Am the Law, Be All End All, etc. However, they didn’t go far back enough because except for the Turbin-era Metal Thrashin Mad, there are no other songs off A FISTFUL OF METAL or the classic SPREADING THE DISEASE albums, (the latter of which firmly put ANTHRAX on the metal map alongside METALLICA, SLAYER, & MERCYFUL FATE). All the new songs, with the exception of Room for One More and Only pretty much sound alike all the way through. The once great vocalist John Bush, whose pipes where a highlight of ARMORED SAINT, is now reduced to mimicking Phil Anselmo’s stage presence and vocal stylings, and abandoning his true metal roots. He hits a few high notes on some of the older Belladonna songs but on the new stuff he just grunts away. New guitarist Rob Caggiano is perfect for ANTHRAX’s newer material since originality, talent, and musicianship are not required—only heaviness is. He displays some dexterity problems during the older songs. Put it this way, you won’t be confusing him with Steve Vai anytime soon. But since the band is creatively drained anyhow, he will get by with just playing heavy riffs over and over since that’s all ANTHRAX’s new material is anyhow.

The actual concert portion of ANTHRAX: MUSIC OF MASS DESTRUCTION was shot on real film, and Sanctuary Records presents the main show in widescreen at about 1.85.1. The result is eye-catching to say the least. The picture quality is rich and colorful despite the dark stage lighting of an ANTHRAX show. The blacklevels are truly deep adding to the luster of the visuals. ANTHRAX and their record label spent a lot of dough capturing this performance on film, employing multiple camera angles to ensure you never get the same view twice. The cameramen and the editors did a great job making this show look great. Sanctuary Records also spared no expense to produce a comparable Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack (although no DTS on this one for some reason). The sound mix is razor sharp making the overall heaviness of the band come to life on your sound system. The actual 5.1 imaging is limited, but the depth, clarity, and loudness is unmatched. Especially satisfying is Charlie Benante’s drumming and Frank Bello’s bass. I hear a lot of concerts on DVD with lackluster bass, but MUSIC OF MASS DESTRUCTION should be a lesson to those other audio engineers on how to have tight, powerful bass.

From the Special Features menu, you can select from a bevy of extras. There are what I like to call ‘tweener segments’; that is the activities of the band and the audience between songs, before the show, backstage after the show, etc. So you get lots of footage of people smokin; drinkin,’ and letting loose. Then there are the 10 minute segments on each member of ANTHRAX who give you a glimpse inside their lives. For instance, John Bush takes you into the basement of his home and extols the virtue of mantown while serving drinks at his private bar. The other members of the band do a similar gig and lots of laffs are to be had in the immaturity level of these rock n roll veterans. Without a doubt, the best features on here are the two bonus clips for Fuelled and Metal Thrashing Mad. These 2 live songs are filmed with multiple cameras, and using the technology on this DVD, you get to be the director. You get to choose which angle to view. This is really an excellent use of DVD’s multi-angle feature. This would have totally rocked if the entire show had this feature! (but it must be terribly expensive.)

So although we are a little disappointed at the band’s current creative direction, ANTHRAX and their record label have gone all out for their fans. This is one of the better sounding concert DVDs of the year, and technically, this disc looks and sounds flawless. There some striking animated menus and extras that will entertain their fans and silence their critics. The package also includes a live CD of this concert. The only weak spots of this DVD package are a lack of a DTS track and only one song from their early albums (where’s Madhouse and Howling Furies?)