Review Summary: A failed experiment of sorts. Anthrax gets a rather weak start.
An Anthrax Story:
Episode I: Fistful of Metal
Anthrax. The name reminds us of that bacterial infection researched by Robert Koch. Funny I should mention this, because founder Scott Ian himself commented that they found the band's name "in a biology book". And the name somewhat resembles the band itself, in the sense that they have been somewhat of a little brother compared to the million-record selling Metallica, the technically renowned Megadeth, and the hardcore metalhead favourite Slayer. The truth is, Anthrax has always been looked down upon when compared to other greats in the genre.
The band was heavily influenced by pretty much the same bands that influenced everyone else who was making metal music at the time: Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Venom, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Ramones, etc. Being from New York and not from San Francisco, it's understandable how the band would develop a style that would be more reminiscent of punk rock (New York had had a major punk rock scene in the 70's).
So, by the time the band gets together to record their first album, the line-up is:
Scott Ian: Rythm Guitar
Dan Spitz: Lead Guitar
Danny Lilker: Bass
Charlie Benante: Drums
Neil Turbin: Vocals
One can imagine the enthusiasm behind making this first record, especially since it was hard at the time to make one in this style (thrash metal was constrained to underground distribution at the time). One can imagine the hard work the band must have gotten into to produce this record. In the end, however, results are not always as one would like.
Despite the band's efforts, Fistful of Metal proves to be a rather lackluster record. The lack of production quality sevely hampers it, and it doesn't help that the band still seems at this time to be at a musically primitive state. Unlike other well-known thrash debuts (such as Metallica's Kill Em' All and Megadeth's Killing is My Business... And Business is Good!), this album isn't raw in an exciting way, it's raw in a dull way. Pretty much, once you get past
Deathrider, there is really little to say about the rest, since it's all a boring ride in general.
While Anthrax is a very talented band, they weren't really in their groove at this time. The riffs simply don't deliver, the solos are barely audible, and the rythm sections don't give the necessary feeling. In short: talented band, messy album.
In other words, this album will only interest either a)those hardcore fans of the band who can handle anything they've released; b) people who are only interested in this album by the band from the outset; or c) people who have a strong interest for everything that marked early thrash. It will very likely be of little interest to anyone else however.
The good thing is that at least Anthrax would make major changes in production following this blown-up experiment. This would, of course, lead them on to greener pastures. Once the band made the necessary changes, it would make thrash history.
Next up:
Episode II: Spreading the Disease
