For the disease, see Anthrax.
Anthrax is a New York City-based thrash metal band, who released their first full-length album in 1984. Anthrax was one of the most popular bands from the thrash metal scene in the '80s and, possibly, the biggest band to come out of the East Coast thrash scene. The "big four" of thrash metal are invariably Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica, and Anthrax.
They have made several appearances on television shows such as Married... with Children, WWE RAW and NewsRadio and have appeared in movies such as Run Ronnie Run (performing as the fictional band Titannica) and Calendar Girls.
Anthrax was formed in the early 1980s by guitarist Scott Ian, drummer Charlie Benante, bassist Dan Lilker, guitarist Dan Spitz and vocalist Neil Turbin. After signing with Megaforce Records, they released their first full-length album, Fistful Of Metal, in 1984. This was an inauspicious debut for a band that would soon rise to the forefront of the thrash metal scene. By 1985 when Anthrax released their first classic album, Spreading the Disease, their lineup had solidified into a cohesive unit. The addition of vocalist Joey Belladonna and bassist Frank Bello brought a much improved sound to the band.
Almost immediately Anthrax morphed from a stereotypical Judas Priest knock-off to the thrash metal style that would garner them so much fame. Mixing equal doses of punk and speed metal along with a generous dose of humor quickly shot them to the forefront of the burgeoning thrash movement. While the other major thrash bands, Megadeth, Slayer and Metallica, were deadly serious, Anthrax wrote songs about comic books and Stephen King novels. Because of this Anthrax appealed to a more general audience even if they were never quite as popular as their contemporaries.