Thrash metal icons, ANTHRAX have recently released ‘Evil Twin’ single, taken from their upcoming album which will be released for a first quarter 2016 . ‘Evil Twin’ is now available digitally, and can be purchased via iTunes and Amazon.

“Yeah, that opening riff is really evil,” laughed the band’s Charlie Benante. “We had done a lot of touring with DEATH ANGEL and EXODUS, so I was in a really thrashy state of mind when I starting writing the riffs for that song. I think along with Scott’s lyrics and Frank’s melodies, we came up with a really great, old school thrash metal feel.” 

As ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello put it, “it’s a song that begs to be played live.”

Lyrically, the track unapologetically denounces the self-righteous religious extremists who spread their bloody terror under the guise of a holy war.

You represent your discontent
Slaughtering the innocent
Insolence
You’re no martyrs

“I was very affected by the Charlie Hebdo massacre as I have been with all of the shootings that have taken place at schools and movie theatres,” said ANTHRAX‘s lyricist Scott Ian. “I can’t figure out what would cause someone to think that was the right thing to do. ‘I’ll show the world, I’ll make my God happy.’ It’s just such bullshit. I’m not bagging on religion, that’s not my intent, but people who go to that extreme, who feel they have become judge, jury and executioner over their fellow man because you or I don’t believe the same thing they do, I think that’s the ‘Evil Twin’ of humanity. Writing words about that is my only catharsis.”

Beginning in the fall of 2014, ANTHRAX – Benante (drums), Ian (rhythm guitar), Bello (bass), Joey Belladonna (vocals), and lead guitarist Jon Donais – took their time in the studio recording the follow up to their Grammy-nominated, critically-acclaimed 2011 album, Worship Music. The band recorded some 20 original songs, almost twice as many as they had ever brought into the studio in the past. In terms of how the new music sounds, Bello said, “The thing about ANTHRAX…we have this heavy, thrashy music and Joey’s powerful and melodic vocals. I love heavy music, but I also love melody, so the challenge is to blend them together so they sound like ANTHRAX. I think we’ve done a really good job of that on the new album.”

ANTHRAX are set to join their fellow Big Four comrades, SLAYER, on a seven-week European tour that kicks off this Sunday, October 25. The complete itinerary is below.

w/ SLAYER, KVELERTAK
24.10.  NL        Drachten – Poppodium Iduna*
25.10.  NL        Tilburg – 013
26.10.  F          Paris – Le Zenith
27.10.  CH       Zurich – Komplex
28.10.  F          Clermont-Ferrand – La Cooperative De Mai*
30.10.  E          Bilbao – Santana 27
31.10.  E          La Coruna – Coliseum
01.11.  E          Madrid – La Riviera
02.11.  E          Valencia – Sala Repvblicca*
03.11.  E          Barcelona – Razzmatazz
05.11.  I           Milan – Alcatraz
06.11.  I           Bologna – Zona Roveri*
07.11.  A          Vienna – Gasometer
08.11.  D         Leipzig – Haus Auensee
10.11.  D         Munich – Zenith
11.11.  CZ        Brno – Semilasso*
12.11.  D         Berlin – C-Halle
13.11.  D         Bochum – RuhrCongress
14.11.  D         Ludwigsburg – MHP Arena
16.11.  D         Frankfurt – Jahrhunderthalle
17.11.  B          Brussels – AB
18.11.  B          Ostend – De Zwerver*
19.11.  LUX      Luxembourg – Rockhal
21.11.  UK       Newport – Centre
22.11.  UK       Plymouth – Pavillion
24.11.  UK       Manchester – Apollo
25.11.  UK       Glasgow – Academy
26.11.  UK       Glasgow – Cathouse Rock Club*
27.11.  UK       Birmingham – Academy
28.11.  UK       Leeds – Academy
30.11.  UK       Brixton – Academy
01.12.  UK       Brighton – Concorde 2*
02.12.  NL        Amsterdam – Melkweg The Max*
03.12.  DK       Helsinger – Kulturvaerflet
04.12.  N         Oslo – Spektrum
05.12.  S          Gothenburg – Lisebergshallen
07.12.  FIN       Helsinki – Hartwall Arena
09.12.  RUS     Moscow – Stadium Live
* only ANTHRAX + support