ANTHRAX – Scott Ian Responds To Dan Nelson’s Comments

“We stand by every word in our official statement. Because all we’ve done is make public exactly what Dan told us. He certainly was not fired – he quit the band, and we accepted his resignation. As for those comments about being fit to go on the road, and that we pulled the tour for other reasons…since Charlie (Benante, drums) join us in 1983, we’ve only ever cancelled one gig. That was in Düsseldorf in 1987, when Charlie was running a really high fever, and we had to send him to London for treatment. When we didn’t make it onto the plane to go to Sweden recently, to start our European run of dates, it went against every molecule in my body, and the same goes for the rest of the band.

“As a band, we learnt a long time ago that in these situations, it’s always best to tell the truth, If you lie, then it comes back to bite you in the ass. That’s why we were careful at every step to put things exactly the way Dan had told them to us. Why has he changed his story now? I can only assume it’s to save his own skin, and to avoid being seen as the bad guy. I can’t say that I blame him. But we have absolutely been completely truthful.”

Ed Trunk, the rotund DJ on New Radio station Q104.3 and apparent longtime friend of the band, pointed out two days back that any person who had actually seen Anthrax perform at the Rocklahoma Festival on July 9th couldn’t help but notice there was an uneasiness onstage between the band and Nelson. Ian adds:

“Ed’s been a friend of ours for 25 years; there are few people closer to Anthrax. So when he says he could spot problems…well, I can’t deny it. In fact, things were weird between Dan and us from December. I’d love to say a lot more, and I will as soon as I’m able, but right now, I just cannot go into any further detail.”
With the exception of one show, the band have now pulled all their European commitments, and also the Summer American tour planned with Slipknot and The Black Dahlia Murder. The sole remaining date is at the Sonisphere Festival, Knebworth Park on August 1. For this event, Anthrax will be joined by John Bush, the vocalist who spent 12 years with them from 1992, in what is being billed as a one-off performance.

“We were hoping to do the Wacken Festival in Germany the previous day as well, but the scheduling didn’t work out. As it is, John’s had to change a lot of things around in his life to get to Sonisphere, and we’re very grateful to him.

“He was the first guy we called when the whole thing went down with Dan. And all of us are delighted that he can do this gig – it’ll be great fun. Obviously, our set will be different to the one we’d worked out with Dan. It’ll be more oriented towards the Bush era, although still concentrating on our most popular songs. That’s what a festival crowd expects.”

So, in the back of his mind, is Ian hoping that this show might lead to something more permanent with Bush?

“It’s not in the back of my mind – it’s right at the front of it. When our reunion tour with Joe Belladonna and Dan Spitz finished in 2007, we (Ian, Benante and bassist Frank Bello) wanted both John and (guitarist) Rob Caggiano to come back. Well, Rob returned but not John. Now, though, we’ve Sonisphere to look forward to with him.

“I love working with John, and I know I speak for everyone involved with Anthrax – the band and the fans – when I say that the best thing for us would for this to turn into a long-term relationship. But I don’t want to jump the gun. Let’s see how things go at Sonisphere, and take it from there.”

Anthrax, of course, have a new album virtually finished and ready to go. Or, at least they did have. Worship Music was due out at the end of October on Nuclear Blast. But now, everything’s back in the melting pot.

“Until we have a new singer, I can’t tell you what will happen to the record. We’ll probably change a few things on it, including the vocals. However, nothing’s been decided, expect that the release date will go back, possibly to next year. All I can say in conclusion is that it’s been a really interesting time to be in Anthrax!”

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