Volume 8: The Threat Is Real
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Volume 8: The Threat Is Real is the eighth studio album by American thrash metal band Anthrax. The album was released on July 21, 1998, by Ignition Records and debuted at number 118 on the Billboard 200 chart. The record was produced by the band and Paul Crook. It features the song "Crush", which appeared in the video game ATV Offroad Fury for PlayStation 2 and in the game's soundtrack. Other released singles from the album were "Inside Out", "Piss N Vinegar" and "Born Again Idiot".
"Pieces", the hidden track at the end of the album, was written by bassist Frank Bello as a tribute to his brother Anthony who was murdered outside his girlfriend's home in the Bronx on March 25, 1996, by an unidentified assailant. The track features Bello on vocals.
Reception
[edit]Template:Music ratings Stephen Thomas Erlewine, in a mixed review for AllMusic, wrote that the album is a continuation of the band's "writing slump" which started with 1993's Sound of White Noise. He said that there aren't many "memorable songs" on the record, and went to call it "transitional album" leading the band to "new, uncharted territory".<ref name=Allmusic/> Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club found the album to be "aggressive to the point of being exhausting".<ref name="AV"/> Martin Popoff in his Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal remarks how the band put a bit of everything in the songs, including multiple speeds, "humor scattered here and there", "big grungy guitars", "meat and potatoes riffing and roaring vocals from Bush", while "experimenting with some different textures and dynamics". The result is not just "an accessible thrash metal record", as is typical with Anthrax.<ref name="martin" />
In his 2014 autobiography I'm the Man: The Story of that Guy from Anthrax, Scott Ian said "I'm still proud of the songs we wrote for Volume 8: The Threat is Real. They were really diverse and heavy, modern sounding with a crushing metal groove. 1998 is the year nu metal took over but we were definitely not a part of that scene. If anything we were old metal, so getting anyone to support us was proving difficult."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Track listing
[edit]All lyrics written by John Bush and Scott Ian; all music by Charlie Benante, except where noted. Template:Track listing Template:Track listing
Credits
[edit]- Anthrax
- John Bush - vocals
- Scott Ian - guitars, vocals on "Cupajoe"
- Frank Bello - bass, vocals on "Pieces"
- Charlie Benante - drums, guitars, acoustic guitar, percussion
- Guests
- Phil Anselmo - backing vocals on "Killing Box"
- Dimebag Darrell - guitar solos on "Inside Out" and "Born Again Idiot"
- Paul Crook - guitar solos on "Killing Box", "Hog Tied", "Big Fat", "Stealing from a Thief"
- Production
- Produced by Anthrax<ref name=CDbackpanel>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Co-produced and engineered by Paul Crook<ref name=CDbackpanel/>
- Mixed by Chris Sheldon<ref name=CDbackpanel/>
Charts
[edit]| Chart (1998) | Peak
position |
|---|
References
[edit]External links
[edit]- Template:Discogs master
- Review in The Fulford and Tang Hall Curmudgeon #11