Scott Ian Opens Up About ‘Worship Music’ and New Vocalist

The burning question on the minds of many Anthrax fans is 'Where the hell did the band find new vocalist Dan Nelson?' Truth is, guitarist and producer Rob Caggiano had worked with Nelson on a prior project and thought Nelson had a great set of pipes and the rest, as they say, is metal history.

While the members of Anthrax give Nelson two enthusiastic thumbs up, Nelson's fate rests in the court of fan appeal when 'Worship Music' hits stores later this summer. "The shows have been amazing," says guitarist Scott Ian to Noisecreep about the early fan reaction to (and acceptance of) Nelson. "I see no problems. We were opening for Iron Maiden, headlining in Japan and Korea and did shows in Chicago and New York and the fans were amazing. So it feels good."

Ian also believes that 'Worship Music' is on par with the band's last record, 'We've Come For You All,' an album considered one of the best in the later years of the band's career. Ian reveals that asking themselves if they could top that record was a huge question posed by himself and longtime band mates Charlie Benante and Frank Bello. "I just want to keep moving forward," Ian told Noisecreep. "For me, personally, if I wasn't moving forward, I would stop. Things like making records and touring, if I didn't want to do that within the context of Anthrax, I would stop doing it."

Lucky for metal fans, Ian and crew still want to tour and make records. Ian continues, "We went through enough hassles. If it wasn't for these songs, the band would have been over. We kept coming back to these songs, thinking, 'There is no way we cannot put these songs out.' The strength of the music on this album kept us together for album number 10!" Ironically, album #10 is coming out on Megaforce, the label that gave the band its initial liftoff.