When we hear Anthrax, we think invariably of the big four greats of thrash metal. Just a name that reminds of Slayer, Megadeth, and Metallica, Anthrax doesn’t get these days significant recognition. Except for the classic "Among the Living", the group isn’t evoked in tops or polls, being reduced just to the resonance of a singular masterwork.
I never regarded the band as a glorious metal act because its discography doesn't have any conceptual thread and the albums barely scratch the surface of the nervous thrash essence. On the other hand, the records are too strongly connected to classic heavy metal, suggesting that the group opted for a middle path that minimize the creative power of the first two albums. With "Among The Living", Anthrax abandoned the classic tones to create a violent work of art, but the band stuck to that generic sound forever after. Due to this idea, many heavy metal listeners find Anthrax to be just a decent band with one memorable album.
Contrary to some critical opinions, I was straightforwardly overwhelmed by "Spreading The Disease", the band’s second effort, an album that finds them as the keepers of great dynamism and compositional homogeneity. Without evading the classic heavy metal cliches, Anthrax gave a nostalgic work of thrash, which blends the Metallica-inspired approach with a more conventional interpretation a la Metal Church.
The result is a richly textured metal album that solidly unites the harsh sound with tender adolescent cliches in a wildly amusing fusion. From the cover representing a pulp painting of an electrical torture scene, the album refuses to relate to the more serious themes approached by Metallica (the socio-political commentary) or Megadeth (the nuclear cataclysm). The feeling emanated by the cover is that of a teenage horror fantasy, and the music fits appropriately with the inspired package. It’s the kind of record that our teenage egos would have been proud to put on the shelf, to scare the overtly protective parents, and this attitude makes a great deal of its appeal.
The music highlights the thrash metal's entertaining part without appealing to the gloomy harmonies. It stands on the line that separates the vivacious arrangements and the ridiculous lyrics, remaining from the first chords until the end a raw (but not exclusivist) fruit of passion that presents great instrumental skills, fast punctuated rhythms, and shiny vocals strongly inspired by the New Wave of English Heavy Metal. With this combination of Metallica’s fast rhythms, Motorhead’s masculine fantasy, and Iron Maiden’s war-themed imagery, Anthrax deliver a thrash-metal blend that is almost instantly recognizable but does not trace the contours of a classic stylistic approach.
In the end, we are left with the feeling that "Spreading The Disease" is a fulfilled work, both musically and conceptually, but we cannot classify it among the genre’s milestones because it sums up a plethora of different styles and sonorities that are seen today as widely incompatible. The composition drags too many references from the 80s metal scene without making a clear distinction between the styles approached and the themes included... and the listener often says "no" to such a hybrid of sonorities. Even if the album remains widely entertaining and full of energy and fury, in the end we reach the conclusion that is just a great work and nothing more.
"Spreading the Disease" is not a masterwork, but it remains a powerful release constituting a youthful parade made from the clenched fists of youth obsessions. Even if it raises eventual questions about the authenticity of Anthrax's inclusion in the Big Four and is everything but pure thrash metal, the record is worth multiple spins because it captures in a lively way the joyful noise, the rapid rhythms, and the blessed madness that contributed to the metal’s entertaining value, a concept that doesn’t get too much recognition nowadays.
