The Devil You Know Single, 2011

"The melodic thrasher 'Fight 'em till You Can't' from the forthcoming "Worship Music" album seemed to indicate that Anthrax had returned to form. The second single off that album "The Devil You Know" further suggests that Anthrax has returned to the style known from albums like Spreading the Disease", "Among the Living", and "State of Euphoria".

Now, "The Devil You Know" is not as thrashy as "Fight 'em till You Can't", and is more of a traditional heavy metal affair with a set of solid rock-ish verses and a simple 3 chord chorus plus a groovy bridge with a some rock 'n' roll-ish lead guitar leads every now and then. And, of course, Belladonna's vocals are just the way they should be.

Now, before you start griping about this not being a thrash song as such, please remember that back in the day, Anthrax typically included a couple of more melodic and less thrashy tracks on their albums, so this track just seems to be another indicator that Anthrax have returned to the style and format that I, at least, prefer: thrash plus a bit of traditional metal.

Although a solid heavy metal track (commercial though it might be), which I definitely like, I do prefer the more thrashy "Fight 'em till You Can't" (hoping that ther will be more "Fight 'em"-like tracks than "Devil"-like thracks). Still, "The Decil You Know" has further whetted my appetite, and I most certainly will invest in "Worship Music" when it comes out.

(review originally posted at metalmusicarchives.com)"