Album Review: Anthrax - For All Kings

Considering the circumstances surrounding its gestation, 2011's Worship Music was vastly better than it had any real right to be, and in conjunction with lauded Big Four shows reinvigorated these veterans' flagging fortunes.

Merely following the Sound Of White Noise-inspired melodic metal blueprint of its predecessor would have spawned diminishing returns. Although certainly mining similar territory and not without filler or rehashed moments (Defend/Avenge), Anthrax more prominently flex their classic metal muscle (the anthemic title track's Dio-channeling vocals, Breathing Lightning's arena-sized hooks). Such fare meshes with occasional thrashers (Zero Tolerance) and absolute banger Evil Twin. To paraphrase Keith Richards, Anthrax still "mean it".