Editing Among the Living (section)

==Recording==
[[Image: Kramer with Rice.jpg|thumb|Producer and engineer Eddie Kramer explained how he accepted the work with Anthrax: "Their manager, [[Jon Zazula|Johnny Z]], said to me, ‘I’ve got this band, Anthrax. They like the sounds you get – would you like to work with them?’ That's what started it. We went to Florida and took over a small studio for about a month."{{Sfn|Bosso|2013}}]]
The band wanted a producer who could capture the energy of their live show and requested [[Eddie Kramer]] for the task.{{Sfn|Ian|Wiederhorn|2015|p=121}} Kramer was a famous producer and engineer who had worked with [[Jimi Hendrix]], [[Led Zeppelin]] and [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]], among others.{{Sfn|AllMusic staff|n.d. (b)}} The live sound that Kramer had captured in the Kiss album ''[[Alive! (Kiss album)|Alive!]]'' (1975) had especially impressed Ian and Benante when they were young.<ref>{{harvnb|Ian|Wiederhorn|2015|pp=14–15}}; {{harvnb|Benante|2016}}</ref> "When Eddie said yes to us, it was a total headfuck," guitarist Scott Ian recalled.{{Sfn|Ling|2017}}

The band recorded the new songs in about six weeks at Quadradial Studios in Miami, Florida.{{Sfn|Dome|2006}} It was difficult at the time to record the sound of overdriven guitars, typical of thrash metal bands such as Anthrax, and manage to distinguish it from the bass guitar and the bass drum.{{Sfn|Syrjala|2006}} As Kramer recalled: "I'd never recorded anything quite like it. I wasn't sure of what they were looking for initially. And it was a challenge to figure out ways to record heavy guitars with heavy drums – it was just a different process."{{Sfn|Bosso|2013}} Kramer set up the recording sessions as group live performances,{{Sfn|Dome|2006}} and the band members were enthusiastic regarding the atmosphere and the sound produced.{{Sfn|Ian|Wiederhorn|2015|p=122}} "We always felt like when we were in a room rehearsing, we were at our best," Ian said. "We were killing it, and we had all the confidence in the world."{{Sfn|Wiederhorn|2020}} The production then moved for retouching and mixing of the tracks to [[Compass Point Studios]] in [[Nassau, Bahamas]], a facility owned by [[Chris Blackwell]], the president of Anthrax's record label Island Records.{{Sfn|Ian|Wiederhorn|2015|p=122}} Ian had suggested that recording studio only because Iron Maiden had been working there since 1983.{{Sfn|Ling|2017}}

In Nassau, Kramer created a first mix full of sound effects and reverb and claimed to have done a "modern mixing", similar to producer [[Robert John "Mutt" Lange]]'s work for [[Def Leppard]]'s best-selling album ''[[Pyromania (album)|Pyromania]]''.{{Sfn|Ian|Wiederhorn|2015|pp=122–123}} The band members were dissatisfied with the mix and rejected it, arguing with Kramer to return to a clean, dry sound as close to the original live recording as possible.<ref>{{harvnb|Dome|2006}}; {{harvnb|Ian|Wiederhorn|2015|p=123}}</ref> In a 2013 interview, Kramer remarked how "... the guys had a totally different attitude, a totally different way of thinking, and I remember it being contentious during the mixing."{{Sfn|Bosso|2013}} Pressed by the possibility of being fired, Kramer relented to the band members' request and wrapped up the mixing process in less than two weeks.<ref>{{harvnb|Dome|2006}}; {{harvnb|Ian|Wiederhorn|2015|p=124}}</ref>