"Anthrax" (1981) Band Description:

Anthrax didn’t “emerge” so much as show up like a noisy problem in Queens. July 18, 1981: Scott Ian and Dan Lilker start this thing, with Dave Weiss behind the kit, and the name pulled from a biology book because it sounded evil enough to deserve a denim jacket.

Early on it’s chaos, the normal kind: people in and out, roles shifting, everybody trying to find the version of the band that actually punches. You can almost see it: kids hunched over cheap gear, trading tapes at school, that little lunch-table scene where the “normal” students pretend not to stare. It’s not mythology. It’s just how bands like this start: too much energy, not enough money, and zero interest in sounding polite.

By the time "Fistful of Metal" finally drops in January 1984, it’s not some dreamy debut statement. It’s a shove. A record made by people who sound like they’ve been rehearsing with the goal of making the room smaller. Neil Turbin’s on vocals for that one, Dan Lilker’s still around for the album, and Charlie Benante is already the engine room, the kind of drummer who doesn’t just keep time, he starts arguments with it.

Then 1987 hits and "Among the Living" shows up like a streetlight turning on over a mosh pit. March 16, 1987 (US release): the riffs get tighter, the bounce gets meaner, and the whole thing feels like it was written to make bodies move whether they wanted to or not. It later goes Gold in the US (RIAA) on July 31, 1990, which is funny because the record always sounded like it didn’t care about trophies, just velocity.

And yeah, the “Anthrax thing” isn’t just thrash. It’s the punk DNA showing through the seams, the sense of humor, the willingness to be loud and a little stupid on purpose. That’s why the rap-metal talk keeps circling back to them: the "I’m the Man" EP lands in late 1987 and it’s basically them clowning around while accidentally kicking a door open. Not every “pioneer” moment looks noble in the mirror. Sometimes it looks like your buddy grabbing the mic and doing something that shouldn’t work... and then it does.

If you want “most successful,” pick your poison. "State of Euphoria" goes Gold first (Feb 8, 1989), "Among the Living" goes Gold later, and "Sound of White Noise" is their biggest US chart peak at No. 7 and goes Gold in 1993 (RIAA date: July 13, 1993). But if you’re asking which era people still argue about like it’s personal? You already know the answer.

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