ANTHRAX - AMONG THE LIVING ALBUM REVIEW

 

One of the best thrash metal albums EVER! - 100%

Chopped_in_Half, November 27th, 2010

his album came out at the height of the thrash metal movement in the 1980's, alongside bands like Testament, Overkill and others, but Anthrax were surely different from the likes, injecting more of a punk sound, don't get me wrong, all metal is punk influenced, but Anthrax really showed it more.

This masterpiece opens with the title track 'Among the Living' beginning with a creepy acoustic lead which works it's way into a heavy as fuck sludgy riff, not headbanging is NOT an option, and then, man this thing speeds up, you might as well set your neck on auto-pilot here, because the riffs, the drumming, the vocals just make you thrash around, cool lyrics, and an awesome solo too 'Caught in a Mosh' is next, and opens with a catchy mid-paced riff, then a nice little bass solo leading into a main riff that just beckons thrash, this song is really catchy, featuring a great pre-chorus 'can't stand it for another day, I ain't gonna live my life this way, cold sweat, my fists are clenching, stomp stomp stomp the idiot convention!' Yes, Anthrax tells it like it is, and don't give a fuck.

'I Am The Law' follows, and slows the album down to a bludgeoning pace, this song is so slow and heavy that it could break glass, with a main riff that is really fun, and the lyrics are fun as well, all you have to do is listen to them, that is another fact about this album, Joey Belladonna's vocals are precise, understandable, but not weak, a little less powerful than it's predecessor 'Spreading the Disease' but the band matured in the couple years in between, Anthrax? mature? well you know what I mean.

I'm going to skip down to 'Indians' which is one of Anthrax's most popular along with Caught in a Mosh, and with good reason, this song is AWESOME, opening with a nifty Iron Maiden-esque riff, moving into a total thrasher, awesome verse, awesome pre-chorus, awesome chorus, yeah, it all works, and then you get to the break, oh man, the break, which slows it down to a stomping halt with Belladonna saying "WARDANCE", man this sure is mosh worthy to the fullest, so fucking heavy and intense, this song features more great vocals by Belladonna too, sometimes sounding a bit like Bruce Dickinson, no problem here, throw in an excellent solo, and you have one of the best thrash songs ever.

'One World' follows, this song is really catchy, and it will grow on you, it may not sound good at first listen, but keep on listening, because it's a full speed thrasher that will be stuck in your head after a while, trust me, I didn't like it at first, but it grew on me, the same is true for the next track which is 'A.D.I./Horror of it All' which begins with a beautiful acoustic intro, and then the guitar fades it's way into a stomping sludgy riff and then goes into a nice mid-paced song with catchy vocal lines and catchy riffs all throughout, I believe this to be a very underrated song in the Anthrax catalog.

The album closes with 'Imitation of Life' which is another mid-paced number pretty much, but closes the album off in a strong way, it does speed up at times as well, but this is certainly the way to close off a great album, not much else to say about it though.

This is the album that got me into Anthrax, I was weary because of the rap-metal thing, but this was before all that, and I'm glad I didn't hold the rap-metal thing against them, because all their stuff before that is pure unadulterated thrash metal, so in the end, if you're a thrasher, you NEED this album or should already have it, so take your head out from your ass (that was from another song from a different album) and get this album!

Track List  :

1. Among the Living

2. Caught in a Mosh

3. I Am the Law

4. Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)

5. A Skeleton in the Closet

6. Indians

7. One World

8. A.D.I. / Horror of It All

9. Imitation of Life

***Disclaimer*** 

I do not own any copyright for any of this material!

Copyright belongs to Anthrax  and Megaforce Recordings! 

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ANTHRAX - AMONG THE LIVING FULL ALBUM 

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