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.

UMUR "Sound of White Noise" is the 6th full-length studio album by US metal act Anthrax. The album was released through Elektra Records in May 1993. It´s Anthrax first album on the label, after their deal with Island Records ended. That´s not the only change that happened in the years between "Persistence Of Time (1990)" and "Sound of White Noise" though as lead vocalist Joey Belladonna was fired in 1992 and replaced by former Armored Saint vocalist John Bush.

But as if two major changes weren´t enough, Anthrax also changed their music style dramatically on "Sound of White Noise". The album features a mainstream rock oriented heavy metal style, which is almost completely removed from their thrash metal past. While the music on "Sound of White Noise" are not nearly as melancholic/depressive in nature as the music by Alice in Chains, I hear several nods toward that sound. There are still heavy riffs on the album but they are more groove oriented/melodic and less aggressive than on preceding releases. John Bush turns out to be a great replacement for Joey Belladonna and his strong and warm voice suits the new musical direction very well. He is the kind of vocalist able to put melody into vocal lines that aren´t necessarily that melodic and thereby ensure memorability.

There are several highlights on the album like "Potter´s Field", the major hit "Only", "Room for One More", "Packaged Rebellion" and the Twin Peaks tribute "Black Lodge" (which features contributions from Angelo Badalamenti himself), but even the tracks I don´t mention here are either very strong or at least of good quality. In other words "Sound of White Noise" is a consistently great album.

The band are as always well playing (Dan Spitz are not allowed to play as many guitar solos as he has on preceding releases though) and the album is well produced too, so all in all "Sound of White Noise" is a great album by Anthrax. It´s potentially dangerous business changing your lead vocalist, when you are an established artist. The switch from Neil Turbin (Lead vocalist on Anthrax´s debut album "Fistful of Metal (1984)") to Joey Belladonna went well, probably as a result of the lead vocalist change happening in the early stages of the band´s career, but Joey Belladonna had been the lead vocalist on four consecutively successful album releases by Anthrax and was generally loved by the fans. "Sound of White Noise" is the proof that the change on the lead vocalist spot worked artistically well for Anthrax, and they were commercially successful too in this period of their career. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Stooge Roth vs. Hagar. Di Anno vs. Dickinson vs. Blaze. Halford vs. Ripper. These are just a few examples of established rock/metal bands that have made singer changes, which often both divides a band’s fan base and helps establish the different eras of a band. On Anthrax’s sixth studio album, Sound Of White Noise, we have exactly that division created. It’s perfectly acceptable to like both eras and vocalists, but there is most certainly the tendency to lean in favor of one over another. That being said, I’m a Bush man.

The first 5 tracks on this album are truly remarkable. “Potter’s Field” right off the bat lets the listener know that this is not the Anthrax they are used to. The band has gone in a heavier, slightly grungy direction, and has a new singer (John Bush) whose voice is a better fit for their new sound. Three of the first five tracks, “Only”, “Room For One More”, and “Hy Pro Glo” went on to be singles. Metallica’s James Hetfield accurately described “Only” as a “perfect song” in an interview, and the other two tracks are highlighted by strong choruses and, in the case of “Room For One More”, a crushing guitar riff. The fifth song, “Packaged Rebellion”, is an overlooked song in Anthrax’s catalogue. John Bush gives one of his best vocals on the album on this track.

“Invisible” is a solid tune with another catchy chorus and more solid riffing by Scott Ian. It doesn’t quite stand up with the opening five songs, but still pretty good. “1000 Points of Hate” is driven by a strong, chugging guitar riff throughout the verse that is doubled on bass to great effect, but it’s a somewhat jagged song structurally in compared to some of the other songs.

“Black Lodge” is a great song that sets a dark and eerie atmosphere. The harmony guitar parts that come in mid song (with drummer Charlie Benante taking on additional guitar duties) are very memorable. Along with “Potter’s Field” and only, “Black Lodge” is one of my favorite cuts off Sound Of White Noise.

“Sodium Pentathol”, “Burst”, and “This Is Not An Exit” are the three tracks that round off the album. I’m somewhat under-whelmed by these three songs, though there are some cool riffs in the mix.

One thing I’ll say about this album is that I’m impressed with (even on the weaker tracks) is in both the poetic nature of the written lyrics, and the solid vocal melodies which support them. I usually find it rather corny for an album to contain mostly rhyming lyrics, but on this album, I don’t mind at all.

Despite ridding themselves of a popular member of the band (Joey Belladonna), Anthrax produced one of the top albums of their career with Sound Of White Noise. The few songs that I find somewhat to be sub-par keep me from bumping this album into essential territory, but I would still highly recommend this album. Sound Of White Noise is a great example of when a band makes a fairly drastic change in sound and comes out sounding better.

Time Signature Room for one more...

Genre: alternative metal / groove metal

A departure from Anthrax' thrash metal style, "Sound of White Noise" was one out of many releases by thrash metal bands in the 90s who started to gravitate towards a grunge and alternative rock inspired type of groovy metal. Some succeeded while others failed completely and ended up totally alienating their fans.

I think Anthrax were among those who succeeded (although they must surely have alienated a bunch of hardcore thrash metal fans on the way) with "Sound of White Noise", which I think contains several interesting elements and different, but catchy riffs. Especially the melodic "Only" and the heavy and groovy "Room For One More" are extremely catchy tracks (and it's not a coincidence that they were the songs chosen to promote the album.

If you like thrash metal, you will probably be sorely disappointed, as there are very few thrash elements on this album. There are some in "Potters Field" and some of the other songs, but in general this album is much more oriented towards groove and 90s alternative metal than towards all out thrash metal.