Anthrax Plan Special Set for Mayhem 2012 Festival

When Anthrax was given the choice of playing this summer's Mayhem Main Stage or the festival's Jagermeister Stage, the band opted to headline the latter, and to do something special for the crowd.

Explained Anthrax's Charlie Benante, "We decided to pattern the Mayhem set on the kind of shows the Ramones used to do: a high-energy, non-stop barrage of hit, hit, hit, hit, hit. No lulls, no filler, totally in your face. We're going to be playing a supersonic-paced set loaded with the best of our best."

"We really like the idea of not 'playing to seats,'" added Scott Ian, "and we want our crowd to have the freedom to move around, to go crazy with us. Plus, we've been on the road together now for about two years, so we're tighter as a band than we've ever been. Our Mayhem set will be a fun, fast and furious 45-minutes, so they'd better have the EMTs on hand."

Since vocalist Joey Belladonna rejoined the Anthrax line up a little more than a year ago, Anthrax has made one of the most impressive comebacks in metal. As one of The Big Four, the original architects of speed and thrash-metal, Anthrax joined Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth during the summer of 2010 on a series of Big Four shows in ten European cities, followed by a Big Four show outside of Los Angeles at the Coachella site (April 2011), and the big "homecoming" event for the New York-born-and-bred band members at Yankee Stadium last September.

The band released Worship Music on September 13, 2011, its first new album in eight years and the first with Belladonna on vocals in twenty years. The album debuted at #12 Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart, received stellar reviews that included being named one of the best albums of the year in media outlets such as Revolver, Guitar World, SPIN, Metal Assault, Metal Sucks, the UK's Classic Rock and Metal Hammer, Canada's Lithium, Lou Brutus' HardDrive, Eddie Trunk/VH1's "That Metal Show," and SiriusXM's Jose Mangin.

Dates for this summer's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival are below; Main Stage artists include Slipknot, Slayer, Motorhead, and a rotation of The Devil Wears Prada, As I Lay Dying and Asking Alexandria.

Jun 30 San Manuel Amphitheater San Bernardino, CA

Jul 01 Shoreline Amphitheatre Mountain View, CA

Jul 03 White River Amphitheatre Auburn, WA

Jul 04 TBD Boise, ID

Jul 06 Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion Phoenix, AZ

Jul 07 Hard Rock Pavilion Albuquerque, NM

Jul 08 Comfort Dental Amphitheatre Englewood, CO

Jul 10 Gexa Energy Pavilion Dallas, TX

Jul 11 The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Spring, TX

Jul 13 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre At the Florida State Fairgrounds Tampa, FL

Jul 14 Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood Atlanta, GA

Jul 15 Klipsch Music Center Noblesville, IN

Jul 18 TBD Oklahoma City, OK

Jul 20 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Maryland Heights, MO

Jul 21 First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre Tinley Park, IL

Jul 22 DTE Energy Music Theatre Clarkston, MI

Jul 24 Riverbend Music Center Cincinnati, OH

Jul 25 Blossom Music Center Cuyahoga Falls, OH

Jul 27 Susquehanna Bank Center Camden, NJ

Jul 28 First Niagara Pavilion Burgettstown, PA

Jul 29 Jiffy Lube Live Bristow, VA

Jul 31 Saratoga Performing Arts Center Saratoga Springs, NY

Aug 01 Darien Lake Performing Arts Center Darien Center, NY

Aug 03 Comcast Center Mansfield, MA

Aug 04 Toyota Pavilion At Montage Mountain Moosic, PA

Aug 05 Comcast Theatre Hartford, CT