UMUR "Persistence Of Time" is the 5th full-length studio album by US, New York based thrash/heavy metal act Anthrax. The album was released through Megaforce Worldwide/Island Records in August 1990. It´s the successor to "State Of Euphoria" from 1988 and features the exact same lineup who recorded the predecessor and the band also again opted to hire producer Mark Dodson, in spite of the sound production on "State Of Euphoria (1988)" often being criticized. It would be the last Anthrax album to feature lead vocalist Joey Belladonna in the lineup (he would return to Anthrax in 2010), as he was subsequently fired and replaced by Armored Saint singer John Bush.

Stylistically Anthrax take a darker and heavier turn on "Persistence Of Time", and more or less leave the humour of the early releases behind (the cover of Joe Jackson´s "Got The Time" is an exception and a light moment on an otherwise relatively dark album). Dodson has created a powerful and heavy sounding production, which is a perfect fit for the material. The album features several strong tracks, and nothing is sub par or unremarkable. Even tracks like "H8 Red" and "Discharge", which aren´t often mentioned, are quality material.

"Persistence Of Time" features high level musicianship on all posts. The band are a strong unit delivering sharp rhythms and riffs, blistering guitar solos, and Joey Belladonna´s distinct sounding voice and vocals in front. It´s not always easy to write vocal melody lines on top of aggressive and heavy music, but Belladonna manages to incorporate enough melody and catchy phrases to make the music memorable, but not too much to make it less thrashy and raw. Upon conclusion "Persistence Of Time" is a high quality thrash metal release by Anthrax and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "State Of Euphoria" is the 4th full-length studio album by US, New York based thrash/heavy metal act Anthrax. The album was released through Megaforce Worldwide/Island Records in September 1988. The album release was preceded and followed up by a heavy touring schedule for the band, who toured almost constantly for a year, supporting artists like Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, and Metallica, in addition to headlining a couple of their own tours. So it was indeed busy times for Anthrax, who understood the importance of riding the wave of success they achieved with the release of "Among The Living (1987)". The heavy touring activity in the wake of "Among The Living (1987)", meant the band didn´t have much time to write and rehearse the material for "State Of Euphoria", and they have often since expressed regrets that they let the label rush them into the recording studio, when they didn´t feel ready.

Other than a slightly weak production job (which you get used to quickly while listening to the album), "State Of Euphoria" doesn´t sound rushed to my ears though. Stylistically Anthrax pretty much continue the groove laden thrash/heavy metal style of "Among The Living (1987)", and while there aren´t as many standout tracks featured on "State Of Euphoria" compared to the material on the predecessor, there are still many powerful and memorable tracks featured on the album. The most well known track off the album is probably "Antisocial", which is a cover of French hard rock act Trust, but with English language lyrics replacing the original French lyrics. But tracks like "Be All, End All", "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind", "Now It's Dark", "Misery Loves Company", and "Finale" also deserve a mention. The overall quality of the tracks is high throughout though.

As mentioned above the sound production could have been of a much better quality and it´s a clear downgrade compared to the production job on the predecessor. Once the album gets going, it´s of lesser importance, but it´s not something which speaks in the album´s favor. The musicianship is as usual on a high level from all involved. Powerful groove laden rhythm work, sharp riffs, and a Joey Belladonna in great vocal form, delivering relatively melodic vocal lines, over music that isn´t necessarily easy to create melodic vocal parts for. So while "State Of Euphoria" doesn´t exactly reach the heights of "Among The Living (1987)", it´s still a high quality release by Anthrax and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Among The Living" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US, New York based thrash/heavy metal act Anthrax. The album was released through Megaforce Worldwide/Island Records in March 1987. It´s the successor to "Spreading The Disease" from 1985 and features the same lineup who recorded the predecessor. "Among The Living" was produced by prolific producer Eddie Kramer, who among other things had worked as producer on some of Kiss mid-70s releases. One of the artists that Anthrax have often cited as a great influence on their music.

Hiring an elite level producer has payed off big-time, as "Among The Living" features an incredibly well sounding production, which provides the material with the best possible opportunity to shine. It´s hard-edged, powerful, and organic sounding, and it´s one of those rare cases where there is a perfect symbiosis between the material and the sound production. Considering that "Among The Living" is an early 1987 thrash metal release, it´s quite the achievement.

So with a sound production like that there are no excuses not to deliver amazing musical performances and intriguing songwriting, and thankfully that´s exactly what Anthrax do on "Among The Living". While the band maintain a melodic heavy metal element on most tracks (which is in large part due to Joey Belladonna´s voice and singing style), which was also present on the two preceding album releases, they turn up the thrash metal elements on this album. It´s both much faster, more raw, and more aggressive than anything featured on the early releases by Anthrax. When that is said Anthrax aren´t exactly "lords of darkness", although many of the tracks feature dark subject lyrics. Both the title track and "A Skeleton In The Closet" for example feature lyrics inspired by novels by horror author Stephen King ("The Stand" and "Apt Pupil" respectfully). "I Am The Law" features lyrics inspired by the dark comic Judge Dread, while "Indians" deal with the native American issue. "Caught in a Mosh" pull in a more light topic direction though, and it is basically an ode to moshing (not completely unlike "Toxic Waltz" by Exodus).

The musical performances are on a high level on all posts. The playing is tight, raw, and powerful and Belladonna delivers a strong and distinct sounding vocal performance, which is a major part of the identity of the band´s sound. He has a tendency to sound a little strained, and his voice is probably a bit of an aquired taste considering the raw staccatto singing style of a lot of other contemporary thrash metal vocalists, but he has a pretty unique vocal style, which arguably sets Anthrax apart from the crowd. Belladonna is complimented throughout the album by "riot gang" backing vocals/choirs delivered by guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Frank Bello. That part of the band´s sound works really well, and provides the vocal part of the album with good variation and a powerful crossover edge (or a hardcore influence if you will).

So upon conclusion "Among The Living" is a high quality release by Anthrax, which shows great development on all parameters. Powerful and memorable material, a well sounding production, and a band on fire, delivering intense musical performances like there´s no tomorrow. "Among The Living" is simply THE Anthrax album I would direct uninitiated listeners to and if not THE, then at least one of the peaks of their career. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.

Unitron Talk about an album that hits you like a ton of bricks. Whenever a band loses a key member, you never know how'll they adapt with a new addition. Anthrax adapted like no other band has, and showed that no matter it be Belladonna or Bush, they'll bring thrash like no other band.

Despite John Bush coming from the fantastic classic heavy metal band Armored Saint, Bush made the perfect transition to thrash. He has the great melodies that Anthrax's always had, but adds a new gruff aggression in the vocal department. I've always felt that Phil Anselmo, Matt Holt, John Bush, and John Tardy are legends in the way of purest displays of anger and rage in metal, and Bush is amazing in the way he combines it with his skill for melody perfectly.

It's one of those albums that just gets me pumped, and Hy Pro Glo has to be my top pick from this album. It's got such a slamming riff and some of the best lyrical flow in thrash, syncopating perfectly with the guitar. 1000 Points of Hate shows off the rhythm section, with Benante and Bello standing out, those thumping drums in the chorus making me want to play some Road Rash. Benante knows how to open up a song amazingly as well, heard in C11 H17 N2 O2 S Na. Burst is a bass crazy rebellious anthem and this album's all out thrasher, and This is Not an Exit is a perfect closer and a close second favorite song. It's got such thunderous riffing and melodies and climaxes into an aggressive intensity that only Anthrax can nail with chaotic drumming and noise.

A fantastic start to the Bush-era Anthrax albums.

Unitron Persistence of Time, the last Anthrax album to feature Joey Belladonna until 2011's Worship Music, is a great closer to the band's classic lineup. It takes the best of both the all out thrashing of Among the Living and the groovier hooks of State of Euphoria to create a groovy thrash classic.

The Joe Jackson cover Got the Time is probably the biggest hit from the album, and for great reason. It epitomizes the incredibly fun side of Anthrax, often expressed in their covers, and Got the Time almost sounds like a skate punk take on thrash. Belly of the Beast also has a similar vibe, though it's contrasted with a great melodic instrumental Intro to Reality. Blood is some pure groove, and even shows some of the band's influence from hip hop, with my favorite part of the song sounding influenced by the syncopated rhythms and vocal flow of the classics. H8 Red and Keep it in the Family are a couple more of my favorites, melodic, thrashing, and grooving.

Thrash bands would often close their albums with a slower or moodier song, like Metallica with Call of Ktulu of Slayer with Seasons in the Abyss. Anthrax is the opposite, they close the album with the high octane speed of Discharge. While not quite to the whiplash levels of Spreading the Disease's Gung-Ho, it's not far off.

After this, the band would get Armored Saint's John Bush on vocals, and start another row of classic albums and deliver some of the best thrash of the 90's.

Kingcrimsonprog This DVD is an absolute must have for any fan of Thrash Metal. Anthrax put on one hell of a performance, playing music from their classic 85-91 period with Joey Belladonna back behind the mic and Dan Spitz on lead guitar for the first time in many years.

The performance is amazing, the music sounds fresh and very heavy; the crowd are enthusiastic and the audio and video quality are top notch.

This is one of the most enjoyable thrash DVDs on the market; the band are so energetic and really get into the spirit of things and give it everything they’ve got.

On top of the amazing dvd, this set also comes with a cd of the majority of the concert so you can listen to it in the car.

Songs like ‘Time,’ ‘Medusa,’ and ‘Lone Justice,’ are great to hear live, and on top of that all the fan favorites you’d expect from ‘Madhouse,’ to ‘Caught in a Mosh,’ are present and accounted for, with extra little breakdowns and flourishes added to spice things up. The band even throw in a furious performance of ‘Death Rider,’ which Joey makes his own.

If you like Anthrax you really ought to get this, and if you’re new to the band this is a fantastic place to start; a great set list, a tonne of energy and great production… what more could you want ?

abdulbashur There are not so many live videos of the first Belladonna era, and this one is OK as a testimony of the POT tour, but does not work as a good introduction to the incredible live power of Anthrax for several reasons: 1) The sound quality is awful. Does not include a 5.1 mixing, and the actual mixing presented, hence appear as carried out by Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero.... Is not good... 2) The video edition seems OK. It is clear that the filmation was executed with more than 5 cameras, and was supported by Island records, but for unknown reasons, the final product was not sold. I suppose because the poor production. 3) The running time is less that 60 minutes, that is too short for a real Anthrax average performance. 4) There are several suspicious situations during the video that makes me doubt about the crowd interest in the concert: there are 1000s of chicks in the middle of the people, something that is not normal for a thrash metal concert. There is also a camera between the mosh pit, and the worst.... There is a group similar to the 90210 look alike cast, headbanging, without anyone around.... Weird or what?? What it is good?? The Anthrax performance, the Public Enemy & Ice T participation. I enjoyed very much the jam session. I always wanted to see bring the noise live with Public Enemy, and this is the only video where you can see it.

Conclusion: Only for fans and collectors. as a live introduction I prefer Oidivnikufesin or Music of Mass Destruction....