Listen to Anthrax's New Single, 'Evil Twin'

Anthrax are warming up for their upcoming 11th album, due early next year, with the new single "Evil Twin."

According to a press release, the song "points the finger at those who have contributed to today's religious and political barbaric extremism," and as you can see and hear in the lyric video above, "Evil Twin" is a suitably angry piece of work.

"Yeah, that opening riff is really evil," laughs drummer Charlie Benante. "We had done a lot of touring with Death Angel and Exodus, so I was in a really thrashy state of mind when I started writing the riffs for that song." Crediting vocalist Scott Ian's lyrics and bassist Frank Bello's melodies with putting the song over the top, he added, "We came up with a really great, old-school thrash metal feel."

"I was very affected by the Charlie Hebdo massacre, as I have been with all of the shootings that have taken place at schools and movie theaters," notes Ian. "I can't figure out what would cause someone to think that was the right thing to do. 'I'll show the world, I'll make my God happy.' It's just such bulls---. I'm not bagging on religion, that's not my intent, but people who go to that extreme, who feel they have become judge, jury and executioner over their fellow man because you or I don't believe the same thing they do, I think that's the 'Evil Twin' of humanity. Writing words about that is my only catharsis."

In the works since last fall, the new Anthrax record has developed slowly in the studio, with the band ultimately tracking 20 new songs before winnowing down the material that will end up on the LP. "We have this heavy, thrashy music and [Joey Belladonna's] powerful and melodic vocals," muses Bello. "I love heavy music, but I also love melody, so the challenge is to blend them together so they sound like Anthrax. I think we've done a really good job of that on the new album."

Bello describes "Evil Twin" as "a song that begs to be played live," and the band will get its chance over the coming weeks with a series of tour dates that will see them traveling throughout Europe with fellow Big Four metal vets Slayer. Check out the new single, and read through the complete list of upcoming shows below.

Anthrax Tour Dates
10/25 - Tilburg, Netherlands**
10/26 - Paris, France**
10/28 - Clermont-Ferrand, France
10/30 - Bilbao, Spain**
10/31 - La Coruna, Spain**
11/01 - Madrid, Spain**
11/03 - Barcelona, Spain**
11/05 - Milano, Italy**
11/07 - Vienna, Austria**
11/08 - Leipzig, Germany**
11/10 - Munich, Germany**
11/12 - Berlin, Germany**
11/13 - Bochum, Germany**
11/14 - Ludwigsburg, Germany
11/16 - Frankfurt, Germany**
11/17 - Brussels, Belgium**
11/19 - Esch Sur Alzette, Luxembourg
11/21 - Newport, UK**
11/22 - Plymouth, UK**
11/24 - Manchester, UK**
11/25 - Glasgow, UK**
11/27 - Birmingham, UK**
11/28 - Leeds, UK**
11/30 - Brixton, UK**
12/03 - Helsinger, Denmark**
12/04 - Oslo, Norway**
12/05 - Goteborg, Sweden**
12/09 - Moscow, Russia**
(** = featuring Slayer)