.: FuryRocks :: live_review :: Anthrax_singer_Dan_Nelson__What_a_throat

Published: 08 Juli 2009

Anthrax singer Dan Nelson - What a throat!

Anthrax finally hits the Dutch shores again and this time, it’s with the new singer Dan Nelson, who is just about unknown to many people. The bill also contains a few of the more popular modern metal bands. In that case, you just won’t mind the ridiculous starting time of six o’ clock.

Not everyone of course. Singer Jake Luhrs of August Burns Red hits the stage with the very fitting ‘Good evening, all seven of you’. However, the people who weren’t there haven’t missed too much. August Burns Red is a very sympathetic band, but with just that, you just can’t make it. The Americans play metalcore according to the (very) trusted recipe. The result often sounds like this: a certain riff on a certain tempo, short moment of silence, a different riff on a different tempo, another short silence and so on. Too bad, because during some of the Shadows Fall-ish parts, the band members – and especially lead guitarist JB Brubaker – show that they can in fact play. And for a band with a christian background, I think front man Luhrs recalls certain scenes from Jesus Christ Superstar a bit too much. I didn’t feel tempted to run to the merch booth for a cd of these guys.

I was in fact very curious about the show of God Forbid. The band recently released one of the best albums of the year so far in the shape of Earthsblood, but on the other hand, original guitarist Dallas Coyle recently left the band quite surprisingly. In addition, he didn’t only play guitar, but he also sang the best parts of God Forbid’s songs. His replacement Kris Norris doesn’t sing (he plays guitar fine though), so Coyle’s older, guitar slinging brother Doc takes that part now. He does that decently, but by far not as good as Dallas. Luckily they took that into account with compiling the – way too short – set. There were no songs that were heavily leaning on Dallas Coyle’s vocals, so no The Lonely Dead tonight, too bad.

What we do get, however, are other highlights from the band’s carreer, such as Antihero and the amazing The End Of The World. From Earthsblood, the recent video War Of Attrition and the awesome Empire Of The Gone get played. Frontman Byron Davis knows how to grab the audience and the music is still powerful enough. Technically, there is nothing to complain about for this show, but God Forbid does miss an important link of their sound in Dallas Coyle. Once again, no disrespect to Kris Norris, his playing is very good, but I miss something. But as long as the riffs remain as good as on the last three albums, there’s not much damage done.

What follows is a ridiculously long break until the next band starts. After asking around, it seems there’s some kind of parade in Amsterdam, which forces the concert to be put to rest for an hour and a half. Of course, things like that may never happen. Unless, as a programmer, you really want your audience to just walk away.

But they didn’t. Many (mostly young) audience members came to the Melkweg specifically for DevilDriver. Those of them without any historical knowledge didn’t even understand why DevilDriver wasn’t headlining, but I’ll forgive them for this one time. As for myself, I don’t really understand the fuss around the formation around singer Dez Fafara, who was singing for the horrible Coal Chamber in a previous life. I really want to like it tonight, but I just can’t do it. Okay, in the beginning the sound didn’t really treat them well either. It sounded muffled, as if I was listening to the show with a blanket around my head or something. Dez Fafara is a killer frontman and DevilDriver is absolutely a millian times better than Coal Chamber, if not more. It’s not like it was bad, it just doesn’t do anything for me. The audience visibly disagrees with me, they sing along to songs like I Could Care Less, Not All Who Wander Are Lost, Hold Back The Day and End Of The Line with conviction. I personally constantly have the idea that I’m listening to something Machine Head did much better the whole time. Plus, the contrast between the hyperactive Fafara and the quite stoic rest of the band is a bit too big. I’m sorry, I really did the best I could to like this, but I couln’t succeed.

The complete front row has changed after Devil Driver. Make way for fans of old thrash. And among these fans, there’s an important question: would that new singer of Anthrax be as good as Joey Belladonna or John Bush? Of course, I can’t speak for everyone, but as soon as the New York band kicks off with the brilliant classic Indians, one thing is for sure: Dan Nelson can really sing! What a throat! His vocals are closer to John Bush’s than to Joey Belladonna’s, which is fine for me, but he adds an enormous amount of charisma to that. This guy really blew me away. You really don’t have the idea that he’s only been a part of Anthrax for a little while, he is one of the best front men I have ever seen. In addition, the rest of the band is in great shape as well.

I haven’t seen Anthrax this good in ages. Guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Frankie Bello are of course the hyperactive eye catchers of the band, the sound is crystal clear and the setlist is very impressive. It’s an anthology of the best work of the time with Belladonna (Madhouse, on which Nelson really shows what he’s made of, and Caught In A Mosh) and Bush (Room For One More, the beautiful Safe Home and an incredibly beautiful version of Only; intense and powerful). Of course, the standard sing along covers Got The Time (Joe Jackson) and Antisocial (Trust) are there as well.

More surprising is the cover New Noise from the hardcore band Refused and although I’m not a hardcore fan, it sounded killer. Apparently, the song is on the upcoming album Worship Music. Also from that album is the brand new Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t. It appears to be a dark thrasher, it sounds a little like Nevermore covering In My World, but then with a typically Anthrax-ish uptempo part. Very impressive, I can’t wait to hear the complete album. Apart from that, the set was quite predictable, but that was completely made up for by the quality of the show and the fantastic atmosphere inside the venue. After slightly over an hour, the band leaves the stage, but of course there is an encore. This time it’s a killer version of What Doesn’t Die, which kicks ass anyway, and of course, the inevitable I Am The Law. The band leaves the stage for a roaring crowd and that is completely justified, considering the amazing show.

Dan Nelson appears to have succeeded in something many Anthrax fans considered impossible: combining the voice of John Bush (I’m sorry, old schoolers, but I always thought Bush was the better singer) with the charisma of Joey Belladonna. Whether it’s because of Nelson or not, Anthrax has put down one of the best and especially most inspiring gigs I’ve seen recently. It’s too bad that the public transportation wanted to fuck that up so badly at the end of the evening, but I’m still enjoying it.