Anthrax - Stomp 442
On October 24, 1995, "Stomp 442", the seventh studio album by the band "Anthrax", was released.
The mid-1990s were a time of upheaval and dramatic changes of direction for the American thrash metal giants. After "Anthrax", one of the genre's big four alongside Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer, had dominated the 1980s with classic masterpieces like 1985's Spreading the Disease, 1987's Among the Living and 1990's Persistence of Time, they made a bold change at the start of the new decade. In 1992, the band parted ways with melodic vocalist Joey Belladonna and added the rugged and powerful singer John Bush from Armored Saint to their ranks. Together with him, the band released "Sound of White Noise" in 1993, a dark, tight, and modern album that achieved impressive commercial success, reaching number seven on the American Billboard chart and proving that the New York band was capable of reinventing itself in the era of grunge and alternative metal.
But just when it seemed that the road to success was paved, "Anthrax" faced two significant crises in 1995. The first occurred internally, when veteran lead guitarist Dan Spitz, who had played on all of the band's albums for more than a decade, lost interest in the music world and left the band to study luxury watchmaking in Switzerland. For the first time in its history, the band found itself functioning as an official quartet, including rhythm guitarist and lyricist Scott Ian, drummer and main composer Charlie Benante, bassist Frank Bello, and vocalist John Bush. The second crisis came from the direction of the record company "Elektra Records", to which the band had moved under a huge contract. A change of power at the top of the label and the entry of the new chairwoman Sylvia Rhone led to the dismissal of the team that had signed the band and an alienated attitude towards heavy rock and metal, which left the new album with almost no marketing support.
Rather than hastily look for a permanent replacement, the four band members decided to tighten their ranks and record the album at Studio 4 in the town of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, with local producers Phil Nicolo and Joe Nicolo, known as The Butcher Brothers. The mastering was entrusted to the legendary Bob Ludwig. In Spitz's absence, Benante, who had always composed most of the band's riffs on guitar, took on some of the lead guitar duties in the studio, and a fascinating trio of guests was recruited alongside him. The first was Paul Crook, who served as Spitz's guitar technician, who surprised with a virtuoso solo on four tracks and later became the band's touring guitarist for years. The second was Mike Tempesta, Ian's guitar technician and later guitarist for the band "Powerman 5000." The third and most exciting of all was the band members' close friend, Texas guitar hero Dimebag Darrell from the band "Pantera", who came to the studio and contributed two tremendous solos that began a tradition of collaborations between him and the band, until Bello later crowned him as the sixth member of "Anthrax".
Musically, "Stomp 442" is an uncompromising, direct, muscular, and dry-sounding album. If its predecessor excelled in polished and expansive production, here the band and the Nicolo brothers have opted for a raw, organic, and aggressive sound that puts Benante and Bello's crushing rhythm section at the forefront, which also makes use of a high-volume twelve-string bass on the album, alongside Scott Ian's famous right hand that cuts the air with surgical precision. The combination of rough New York thrash metal, heavy metal groove, and hardcore and alternative rock influences created an album full of explosive energy, in which Bush's warm, rough, and deep voice sounds more confident and natural than ever.
The album opens without any unnecessary introductions with "Random Acts of Senseless Violence", which begins with Benante playing Morse code on the guitar before a storm of heavy drums and riffs erupts in full force. The lyrics by John Bush and Scott Ian sharply criticize the random violence and social apathy on the streets of 1990s America, and Crook closes the song with a dizzying guitar solo that makes it clear that the band has lost none of its firepower. Immediately after it lands the first and most recognizable single from the album, "Fueled", an addictive groove-thrash anthem that opens with a rhythmic and driving riff, is fueled by Benante's tight double bass drumming and rises to a sweeping chorus in which Bush demonstrates tremendous vocal control.
The third and fourth tracks showcase the historic connection with Dimebag Darrell. The song "King Size" is written around a heavy, slow, and dirty groove that fits like a glove with the "Pantera" guitarist's Texan style, which enters midway through the song with a searing guitar solo, loaded with harmonic whistles and string tension that are recognizable from afar. The celebration continues immediately with "Riding Shotgun", a fast, kicky section in which Crook and Dimebag Darrell trade lead guitar roles in a fiery electric duel over Bush's powerful vocals.
At the center of the album, the band displays impressive rhythmic diversity. "Perpetual Motion" surges forward with a speed and thrash energy that recalls the band's 1980s roots within a modern, heavy soundscape, while "In a Zone" slows down in favor of a mesmerizing, heavy groove where Bello's dominant bass and Benante's precise drumming build a somber tension that is resolved by Crook's melodic and impressive solo. It is immediately followed by the second single from the album, "Nothing", one of the most melodic and moving songs of the John Bush era. The song, composed by Benante and accompanied by a music video directed by Marcos Siega, moves between restrained and charged verses and a larger-than-life emotional chorus that highlights Bush's unique vocal tone.
The last part of the album maintains a high level of tension and surprises with its conclusion. "American Pompeii" is a heavy and menacing five and a half minute epic, gradually building around a monumental riff and featuring an excellent guest appearance by Mike Tempesta on guitar solo. It is followed by "Drop the Ball", where Ian also plays the floor tom drum to create a heavy, tribal rhythm, and the rhythmic and biting "Tester". The album closes with one of the biggest surprises in the band's history, the song "Bare", a bare, gloomy and completely distortion-free acoustic ballad, in which "Anthrax" dives into the intimate realms of the Seattle scene and allows Bush to deliver a chilling and touching vocal performance that seals the piece with a contemplative atmosphere.
The album's title and cover have a fascinating story in themselves. The word Stomp refers to the band's old trademark and the heavy march of their music, while the number 442 is a tribute to the classic American muscle car Oldsmobile 442 that drummer Charlie Benante owned and cared for. The band enlisted legendary cover designer Storm Thorgerson, founder of the design group "Hipgnosis" and who has designed visual masterpieces for "Pink Floyd", "Led Zeppelin" and "Black Sabbath", to design the cover. Thorgerson and his partner Peter Curzon created a powerful surreal image in which a huge sphere built from scrap metal towers over a human figure in a barren landscape, an image that became an ironic symbol of the band's relationship with its record label that year.
Upon its release, "Stomp 442" reached number 47 on the US Billboard charts, a fine achievement for a mid-1990s metal album that was released with almost no promotion from "Elektra Records". The members of "Anthrax" refused to give up, embarked on an intensive world tour and managed to free themselves from the restrictive contract to continue their independent path. In the test of time, thirty-one years after its release, "Stomp 442" stands as one of the band's most honest, powerful and cohesive albums of the John Bush era, a show of strength by four musicians who refused to bow to the dictates of the market and proved that even when the ground trembles, the hammer of "Anthrax" continues to strike with full force.
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