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Anthrax > Sound of White Noise > Reviews
Anthrax - Sound of White Noise

Zeitgeist versus quality - 74%

Felix 1666, October 13th, 2023

It has already been said a lot of times, the early nineties brought a time of reorientation for the old thrash heroes. The new shit from Seattle made an impact, but was this really reason enough to deny the own roots? Anyway, the great names of the past were not fainting. Anthrax, for example, had a budget great enough to produce an excellent sound. Right from the beginning, “Potter’s Field” achieves a magnificent result in terms of depth, multidimensionality and raw precision. The “Sound of White Noise” makes fun, it’s so powerful yet smooth and very close to perfection.

And in terms of music, Anthrax also showed their teeth. John Bush’s natural voice is much more metal than that of Joey Belladonna. He gives the songs a very male and vigorous touch. He strikes every tone perfectly and enriches the material by his performance significantly. I don’t say that Belladonna is the worse singer, but I cannot imagine the here presented songs with his vocals. They are tailored to Bush’s voice and he makes the very best out of this situation. Naturally, you cannot turn shit into gold just by a good vocal performance. But don’t worry, sometimes the white noise is much better than its reputation.

Anthrax start with a powerful triple strike. The shredding of “Potter’s Field”, the smoothly flowing “Only” with its characteristic drum intro and the mega-catchy chorus and the somewhat inconspicuous but very well done “Room for One More” make fun. It’s no thrash, at least not in its pure form, but the muscular compositions are clearly based on a very stable fundament. Anthrax play an authentic form of metal. They do not whine to the mainstream for attention. Even “Black Lodge” doesn’t do this. Yes, it is a calm number with a certain Metallica-affinity, but it is free from schmaltz. Moreover, it holds emotional harmonies and is cleverly arranged. I don’t say that I am listening to a masterpiece when it comes to this semi-ballad, but it definitely does not annoy the audience with embarrassing details. And, of course, it sets the stage for the power riffs that open the next track “C11 H17 and the rest I have forgotten” (my old chemistry teacher isn’t surprised). It’s a decent track, but the following neckbreaker “Burst” comes much closer to the real thing. Especially its nervous lines at the beginning as well as its explosiveness are impressive.

Unfortunately, some tracks fall short of expectations “Packaged Rebellion” is acceptable, but it stands in the shadow of the opener or “Only”. “Hy Pro Glo” sees Bush doing the Ozzy (which is always a bad idea) and when it comes to “1000 Points of Hate”, I am still undecided: is it pretty cool or just noisy mediocrity? And yes, it is not just the closer (with a great, intense ending) that reveals their newly found weakness for zeitgeist inspired harmonies that made Alice in Chains famous. Either way, those of you who do not always look for the pure dogma, can lend an ear to the album. 30 years after its release, “Sound of White Noise” can be an interesting and good historic document. The spirit of the time could not significantly hurt the quality of the songs.

Fueled by Hatred, Happy as a Stuck Pig - 85%

Twisted_Psychology, August 22nd, 2023
Written based on this version: 1993, CD, Elektra Records

Despite the changes that have taken place in three years time, Anthrax didn’t become a completely different band overnight. There are enough commonalities that link Sound of White Noise to Persistence of Time as the mood is still dark and plenty of songs still go fast even with the grungy overcast and slight Pantera-isms. It’s probably a stretch to say but I can still imagine Belladonna singing on some of these just as easily as Bush on some of his.

Speaking of which, Armored Saint’s John Bush certainly makes a strong first impression as the new guy. Once courted as a potential lead singer in Metallica’s early days and counting Layne Staley as one of his most prominent acolytes, his signature mid-range yarl comes with a sharper bite than his predecessor while still maintaining a careful ear for melodic hooks. He’s a natural fit for the album’s contemporary style without playing up a character and seeing the band accommodate a lower-pitched singer is enough to make one wonder what if Maiden had tuned down for Blaze Bayley…

And like the lead singers switches of albums past, the other musicians’ performances have adjusted accordingly. Of course, that might be more informed by the trends of the time, most notably with Dirt producer Dave Jerden at the helm. The sound is noticeably muddier than before with the rhythm section often getting caught up in it while the guitars have a crispy yet almost wooden tone. The performances are still top notch as always though I can’t help but feel they don’t have as much personality behind them.

I must also admit that the album is more or less anchored by two songs, but they also happen to be among Anthrax’s absolute best of any era. “Only” is the most unashamed grunge-metal marriage with busy rhythms riding along a catchy mid-tempo groove and infectious vocal lines that feel a step removed from Eddie Vedder in the best way. “Room For One More” is a hard-hitting anthem that features their classic style given a Pantera twist with hook after hook structuring and the most venomous lyrics since “Imitation of Life.”

Fortunately, the other songs have enough going on to keep the filler ratio from falling into State of Euphoria territory. Some of the faster tracks can admittedly run together but “Packaged Rebellion” and “Invisible” put in some particularly memorable executions. “Black Lodge” is also a cool outlier unlike anything the band had done before, dipping into more atmospheric territory somewhere between “This Love” and one of Nirvana’s murkier numbers complemented by the Twin Peaks-inspired lyrics.

Sound of White Noise isn’t quite the big burst forward that Spreading the Disease had been but it’s certainly a commendable step forward. Anthrax seemed to weather the changing climate better than most of their peers, smoothly integrating those grunge and groove influences as well as getting in a new vocalist that better fit what they were going for. It might’ve benefitted from a clearer production job and a couple trimmed songs, but it’s held up well with time and easy to see why so many folks gravitated to it more.

Sound Of White Bois - 85%

Sweetie, January 10th, 2023

Heading into the decade that saw thrash go underground, Anthrax made dynamic changes with every step through the genre’s revival nearly two-decades later. Swinging off the progressive leaning direction that Persistence Of Time hinted at, new frontman John Bush would skew the band’s sound into the grunge/metal territory. Without lifting away the thrash metal bottom, Sound Of White Noise sees the longer structures of its predecessor pass through a ‘90s gradient with heavy metal roots that don’t go away. While a potential tough sell on paper, I find this to be incredibly serviceable.

Elements of all three remnants can be found everywhere one way or another. Despite John Bush being known for singing traditional heavy metal, he had an easy time blending into the time due to his snarly style and slight rasp that came through as early as March Of The Saint. It would be a stretch to say that Sound Of White Noise does much in the realm of advanced writing, but they certainly have the proper use of repetition down. As redundant as the grungier “Only” may sound, its blend of melodies mixed into slower riffs and a drawn out choruses work wonders. It’s also impossible to overlook the Alice In Chains influence on “Hy Pro Glo” not only in the dreary layers, but the depression progression and obvious vocal nods.

Most importantly, Anthrax don’t let go of any of the attitude that they displayed previously. “Packaged Rebellion” uses a solid, bass-heavy suspense intro to work towards an angrier call of bluff in the descending chorus/riff structure. This is more groove metal oriented due to the start/stop leanings, but it’s not gruff in the Pantera way. “Black Lodge” continues the cinema theme, this one being a soft and somber ode to Twin Peaks. “1000 Points Of Hate” rides on some incredible percussion with a doomier bridge between otherwise pummeling rhythms. Truly the entire record has a lot of weight in these combos, giving Dan Spitz the chance to exit the band on a bang.

Despite being a time where Anthrax’s brand would have lost popularity, they did an incredible job at not only selling new ideas, but letting them flow wonderfully together. Could a bit of fat have been trimmed from this? Probably. Coming in at nearly an hour in length, I always thought the opener “Potters Field” was a weak start, and maybe some others go on just a hair too much, but it’s hardly a big deal when so much is performed wonderfully. Many thrashers of this time were scramming to fit in; some were disastrous, others felt natural. This is an example of the latter.

Originally written for ToothAndNailed95.blogspot.com

Anthrax in Chains - 44%

aidane154, February 15th, 2022

Sound of White Noise is, according to some, when Anthrax "matured". Replacing Joey Belladonna on vocals is the Layne Staley-like vocalist from Armored Saint, John Bush. There are many problems with this album, but John Bush isn't one of them. He's actually a great vocalist, but his tenure with the band marked a significant shift in not only style, but also quality. Sound of White Noise contains the last vestiges of what Anthrax used to be, as there are still thrash-like sections, but they are heavily neutered, becoming groovier and decidedly more rock-oriented. This album was the band's attempt at making their own Metallica black album, but it's also trying very hard to be Alice in Chains as well. Just listen to the funky riffs and look at that cover art, it all screams of Facelift to me. Anthrax tried to chase trends instead of doing what they're good at, that being intense, punky thrash.

All that being said, is it bad? No. Is it good? Also no. This album is, to me, simply mediocre on a whole. The band is so focused on making accessible music here by ironing out any sort of extremity that what we're left with is a bit of a mishmash of both bad and good, which boils down to a painfully average listening experience. It's such a simplified version of their thrash sound which often sounds like a very early template for nu metal. What really sucks about all this is that Anthrax is capable of so much more than what they do here. Persistence of Time saw them experiment with slower thrash, and that's one of their best albums. Instead of sticking to that winning hand, they folded all their cards for groovy pop metal! What a shame!

I like some tracks on here, such as Room for One More, Potter's Field, Invisible, and Burst, but even this album's best stuff could have been so much better, had they just stuck to their guns instead of trying to be something they're not. Why go groovegrunge of all things? Money and record executive meddling? Probably. Every big four band tried something like this in the early 90s, but Anthrax only got it right once before descending into pure shit. At least the early '90s Metallica and Megadeth albums are enjoyable, but Sound of White Noise biggest sin is that it's quite forgettable because the band plays it so damn safe. So many sections of this album seem to be building towards a pummeling Among The Living apex, but it ultimately fizzles out time after time, with the band indulging in almost Incubus-like, by the numbers groove rock. I'm not mad at this album, I'm just thoroughly disappointed and unconvinced by it.

A change occured... - 82%

Lane, February 11th, 2022

Guitarist Scott Ian got fed up with vocalist Joey Belladonna during the recordings of previous album 'Persistence of Time' (1990); Scott didn't find Joey's style suitable for his angry lyrics. No matter how good the band was doing (pretty damn good, actually!), in 1992 Joey got kicked out. Scott wanted to move Anthrax forward.

Everybody gets older and wants to try out something new. Understandable. Maybe to conquer new land and find new fans, maybe for money, but some just do not want to stagnate, simple as that. And the stagnation was a big enemy for Anthrax. Their style hadn't changed much at all since 1987's classic thrash metal album 'Among the Living'; even though they surely got way heavier and very much serious with 'Persistence of Time'. However, what was to come three years later, I don't believe anybody could have guessed how it went.

New winds were blowing in the world of heavy music at the time, and the biggest "thanks" goes to grunge. That said, I'd like to point out that Anthrax did not go grunge, but they certainly changed. The band's musical horizon was expanded with more rocking and catchier songwriting and the sound got less metal, but they still kept their other feet in thrash metal, at least their toes. But: Anthrax sounded new Anthrax, and many didn't like the changes that took place; not back in the day, not even today. Just like many a metal band prior to them, Anthrax downsized their sound and compositions. Think about Metallica after '...And Justice for All' (1988), Iron Maiden after 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' (1988) and Queensrÿche after 'Operation: Mindcrime' (1988). There was no way the bands wanted to go even bigger with their sound. 'Persistence...' was so huge, with both the compositions and the sound. It was surely a surprise, but I didn't get heart attack. That's because there had been transitions before, for Anthrax and for many, many other bands I listened to, and I never was a purity freak: "They can't change! They are not doing it for their fans!" They cannot grow up? They cannot try a new sound? They have to stagnate and be totally pale imitation of themselves?

So, Anthrax's sound got stripped down a bit even though there never was anything else, or more, but just the band, really. The songs also got shorter, but not into S.O.D. lengths; the shortest one's 3:42, and the most being on both sides of 5 minutes, plus still we got three songs that went over 6-minute mark. They still had thrash metal, but the band brought back heavy metal (1985's 'Spreading the Disease' was hefty on that department, too) and presented rock into their sound. Still, it is not Judas Priest or Iron Maiden type heavy metal, but more US-styled, like it was tilted towards the rock department, and especially the groove factor that got introduced with this album. It was an unique-sounding mixture, for sure, and very much a baffling one at that for them poor old fans.

The first single cut, 'Hy Pro Glo' is a groovier number, which surely baffled people. It contains good vocal lines, but the band's thrash tightness had turned into looser groove. It is still tight as heck in rocking way, though. The next single was 'Only' (released after the album), which is straight song, and great at that. However, it was too straight for many. While there are heavier and thrashier songs like the opener 'Potter Field', '1000 Point of Hate' and 'Burst', they all have looser vibe to them, especially through the vocals, which also bring in melodiousness. 'Persistence of Time' was such a dark album, the band didn't probably want to dive than far into the abyss this time around. 'Room for One More' is this album's 'Indians' in a way, being one of the closest links to the band's past stylings. The third single, 'Black Lodge' certainly murdered the shreds of expectations of those who hadn't picked up the album with its Twin Peaks vibe. Angelo Badalamenti provided his instrumental expertise into this dark and brooding piece, which contains absolutely great feely vocal lines.

The rhythm section is as unique and adventurous as before, and even further; they really have an inimitable style and they are everywhere, all the time, really. Charlie Benante came up with new beats and bassist Frank Bello is on the loose and wild here. I've always appreciated them very high, and more so than anything else about the band, to tell the truth. The guitars aren't about Scott Ian's sharp-as-fuck riffing anymore, as there's lots of punky and rocking strumming now. Dan Spitz still had some shots left when he created those memorable solos, mostly pretty shredding, but at times, bluesy.

Angrier vocalist was found in Armored Saint frontman John Bush. His raspy and dry-ish, very much belligerent style of singing was indeed perfect for the new sound of Anthrax. His voice was more about rock than metal, and a tad punk-ish. When needed, he did some ample metal singing (e.g. '1000 Points of Hate'). And to fuck things up a bit more, he sounds like rougher Layne Staley (Alice In Chains) every now and then here! Still, that does not make this grunge. Mr. Bush had at least some kind of range in his voice, but it was nothing compared to Joey's. So, he had a range and the skills, but also rather unique voice. He did fit to the band's sound perfectly. A lot of songs carry the topic of rotten relationship, and other topic are criminal minds, religious hypocrisy and other human weaknesses.

The album was produced by Dave Jerden, formerly known with his work with Jane's Addiction, Alice In Chains, and... surprise, surprise; Armored Saint! However, Alice In Chains were absolutely huge, and I guess that fact put that grunge stamp on this album. The guitar sound is dry and buzzing, non-thrash smaller than previously. Actually, the guitars sound non-metal, except during heavier riffing. But again, it does not make this album grunge. They are somewhat muddy and are drowned into everything else. The guitar production is a sort of a failure, for sure. The drums sound powerful as always, as does the pulsating bass guitar.

When I got this album, on its release day, I remember liking it partly. It felt like a small failure. However, it did not take very long for me to start appreciating it as a whole. This is a solid album, period. It's not the biggest side step ever in metal music or for the band: This is a very tight album when compared to the band's lowest point, 'Volume 8 - The Threat Is Real' from 1998, where the band had totally lost the red thread. This sounds different to anything else the band had put out earlier, but I also feel they needed to take a side step from 'Among the Living' / State of Euphoria' (1988) / 'Persistence of Time' triplet, since it could have become totally stagnated. Well, they went further with their simplifying later on...

(Originally written for ArchaicMetallurgy.com)

Deafening sounds ringing through jaded ears. - 41%

hells_unicorn, July 17th, 2021
Written based on this version: 1993, CD, Elektra Records

Change can be beneficial or destructive, though it can be stipulated that inorganic change has a greater tendency towards the latter, at least in terms of evolution within a band's signature sound. Though few bands attempt to disguise a shift in direction, there are some that are just so clumsy in their delivery of a new sound that it literally screams desperate sellout right in your face. If there is one album that stands above the rest in how blatantly it conveys this lack of artistic integrity, it's the often dismissed but occasional defended sixth LP in Anthrax's discography Sound Of White Noise. Originally hitting the market in the still grunge-dominated landscape of 1993, it embodies one of the most bizarre compromises between the band's thrash metal past and the flavor of the moment, splashing a gallon of Seattle-colored paint on top of a canvass that still comes off as within the parameters of a New York thrash album. In some sense, it could be seen as an innovative step in metal's forward progression, but not long into its presentation it reveals itself to be one of many dead-ends in the faltering metal scene of the mid-1990s.

The mystique regarding how grunge rose from a backwater fad in the Pacific Northwest to commercial hegemony is largely dispelled when looking at the concurrent/convenient disintegration of the classic lineups of several metal mainstays such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. Nevertheless, the exodus of Joey Belladonna from the fold in 1992 alone doesn't account for this auditory failure, in fact, Belladonna would have been equally up to the task of singing on a grunge album as his replacement when looking at his subsequent solo work. Likewise, while former Armored Saint front man John Bush's punishingly unoriginal amalgam of Layne Staley and Scott Weiland that graces this album reeks of a corporate boardroom decree, his performance is reasonably adequate for what it is and doesn't really serve as a detriment to the album. The true culprit behind this farce of an LP is Scott Ian, or to be more specific, his desire not to lose major label backing, which results in the construction of an album that betrays a band trying to be something that they're not, namely an Alice In Chains knockoff.

From the very beginning of things, it's pretty clear that Anthrax was acting under some level of duress, because they display zero competency in emulating the style they are attempting to appropriate. Following just under a minute of ambient noise that is about as pleasant as a dozen tigers clawing mercilessly at a giant chalkboard, the opening riff work of "Potters Field" comes blaring in like a lost B-side from the Persistence Of Time recording sessions. Despite taking its time to get going, this song ends up raging with almost the same ferocity as something heard out of Cyclone Temple, though the whole thing is dreadfully hamstrung by an extremely fuzzy, muffled production that could best described as a bad attempt at aping Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger sound. It's a crying shame because this otherwise competent, albeit measured thrasher, alongside "Room For One More", and most of what occurs from "Invisible" until the end of the album could have culminated in the best thrash metal album of 1993 had it gotten a meatier drum mix and a more forceful guitar tone.

Yet when putting aside the horrendous production job that should have resulted in Dave Jerden and his entire crew being keelhauled alongside the jerkoffs running Electra Records, there are some objectively bad offerings on here that point towards the sad state that Anthrax would find themselves in when Stomp 442's proto-Limp Bizkit rubbish came to light. The clunky mid-paced mess that is "Only" is a full on Dirt ripoff, complete with Bush trying (and failing) to emulate Staley and Cantrell's signature chorus harmonies via overdubs, while the goofy rap metal joke "Hy Pro Glo" is so cringe-inducing that only the most insatiable of masochists need try to resist the urge to slam the skip button. "Black Lodge" also borrows pretty heavily from the Alice In Chains playbook with some occasional hints of STP's Core emerging here and there, and basically amounts to a 5 minutes plus snooze-fest of a ballad with Dan Spitz occasionally trying to brighten things with some minimalist lead harmonies. But the worst offender of the bunch is the lame groove metal closer "This Is Not An Exit", which is about 3 minutes too long and is so needlessly repetitive that it hurts.

Despite how lackluster and disappointing the actual contents of this album are, it's understandable why it still has a contingent of defenders, as this was likely the most metal thing to come out of '93 that wasn't Cannibal Corpse yet was about as visible. The entire metal scene in America was basically being held hostage by a hostile recording industry and a belligerent musical competitor that had little to no respect for anything that wasn't from their depressing corner of the country. Nevertheless, there is a reason why almost none of the songs featured on this album or any other subsequent album with John Bush at the helm have been featured live since Anthrax's classic lineup reunited in 2005. It's too much of a product of its time, and that time is one that the vast majority of the metal world would rather forget, and for very good reason. Somewhere within this awkward 57 minute long album is a 38 minute long thrash metal beast trying to get out, but it's been so hopelessly muffled that absent the band rerecording this album and dropping 3 or 4 of the songs in favor of better material, it can't really be appreciated as such. Thrash metal fans who have never heard this would do well not to bother with it, while those who have would be best served by forgetting it along with everything that followed up until 2005.

A new Anthrax unveils a new sound with undeniable results - 80%

DerekB2323, January 9th, 2021

In the wake of Metallica's game-changing "Black Album," virtually every major thrash band toned down their music and adopted new styles, hoping to maintain relevance in a post-Sandman metal world. Megadeth conjured Countdown to Extinction, Testament practiced The Ritual, Exodus delivered us Force of Habit and the list goes on and on and on.

For some bands, the change was a disaster.

For Anthrax, it was a triumph.

Sound of White Noise was a pivotal record for Anthrax. Not only was it their Black Album, it was also their first album with their new singer, Armored Saint's John Bush. A transitional album is one thing, but a transitional album with a new singer? There was every chance this album would be a wreck, and for thrash purists, it was. But for those open to a band trying new things, Sound of White Noise was a creative rebirth and revitalization with songs that are just too good to deny.

The album starts with—what else—but some white noise and a voice preparing you for "a journey into sound." The static breaks with Charlie Benante's snare as the band launches into "Potters Field," and the tone is immediately set. This song has an infectious, stomping post-thrash riff that, while slower than the band's prior work, somehow sounds exactly like Anthrax. The "darker" vibe of Persistence of Time has also been maintained, as John Bush laments that while he "was born to save you," he was also "born to die."

Speaking of which, John Bush sounds phenomenal on this record. Personally, I'm a much bigger fan of the Belladonna Era, but Bush's thicker, grittier voice is a perfect match for the tone Anthrax is going for on Sound of White Noise.

"Potters Field" goes right into "Only," which Metallica's James Hetfield has described as a "perfect song." It's an absolute heavy metal anthem, its driving riff giving way to one of the band's most memorable choruses. And again, as much as I love Joey Belladonna, it's hard to imagine his over-the-top voice working as well on a song as serious and heartfelt as "Only." John Bush really shines here, erasing any doubts new listeners might've had about the new guy.

"Room for One More" kicks in next, giving Sound of White Noise a nearly flawless 1-2-3 punch. And from there, the album just keeps hammering you with hook after hook. "Hy Pro Glo" has a fun start/stop riff that builds up to a chugging break, before "1000 Points of Hate" comes in with a riff that wouldn't sound out of place on Persistence of Time. This underscores something that's often overlooked about Sound of White Noise—yes, it's a different sound, but it's a fairly faithful evolution of what they'd been doing for years. It's an evolved sound, but not a changed sound.

Well, except for "Black Lodge."

Another one of the album's highlights, this is a dark, somber ballad with a beautiful vocal performance from Bush, gradually escalating to a crescendo of chugging riffs and guitar harmonies. This is exactly the kind of material Anthrax could never pull off in the past, as their good-time thrash didn't translate to darker melodies as well as their peers. Just a beautiful song, and it's brilliantly followed by the album's fastest track in "Burst," an apparent peace offering to the thrashers.

Sound of White Noise is a divisive album among metal fans, as most of these pseudo-Black albums are. If you're a thrash fan who only wants to hear thrash from thrash bands, you're going to hate Sound of White Noise and that's cool. You might not like the style personally, but to deny its craftsmanship would frankly be disingenuous. The songs are honed to perfection, the performances are flawless and unlike the next few Anthrax albums, the stylistic change is clearly inspired. As a mainstream heavy metal album, this is almost as good as it gets.

So jump on the Sound of White Noise bandwagon. There's always room for one more.

Songs to check out: Potters Field, Only, Room for One More

The Sound of Conformity, The End of Persistence - 81%

bayern, July 26th, 2017

With Anthrax being my favourite act of the Big Four, I have to admit I was a bit apprehended about the album reviewed here. The wave of adjustment efforts which The Black Album unleashed in 1991 was a hit-and-miss affair with some supposed highs (Kreator, Flotsam & Jetsam, Xentrix) and some undisputable lows (Overkill, Exodus, Testament,) all released in 1992, seeing the old timers trying to adapt to the new vogues any which they seemed fit, sacrificing a lot of their previous swagger and quite a bit of their principles and values. Anthrax were wise to wait a bit, and see how this whole aggro/groovy/post-thrashy carnival would turn out; besides, they also had to deal with the blow that was Joey Belladonna’s departure, and although Armored Saint’s John Bush seemed like an able replacement, no one knew how the audience would react to the loss of such an emblematic figure…

well, the audience reacted quite positively, to be honest, and this opus is one of the very few that managed to ensure another resounding, both commercial and critical, success for its creators although the numbers achieved by the Metallica black saga remained a very wishful thinking. I’m sure the Anthrax team never wasted precious time in such illusions to begin with, and this is the reason why they managed one more fairly decent showing before sinking…

sinking is not on the list here, though, and “Potters Field” is a squashing steam-roller, after overcoming the static white noise at the beginning, which even holds a few surprises for the headbangers with impetuous speedy escapades. Bush acquits himself in a splendid way holding his melodic, not very attached clean timbre unerringly throughout, taking the lead on the more laid-back material (“Only”, “Room for One More”), and not only because of the memorable choruses on those. The post-thrashy fiesta is in full swing here, but the guys still manage to pull it off in their own way like on the more engaging, more versatile progressiver “Packaged Rebellion” which would make the B-side of “Persistence of Time” any time, and a template the band still follow as evident from a couple of tracks after Belladonna’s return. Pleasant groovy fillers are mandatory if a band wanted to gain the audience’s attention during those times, and “Hy Pro Glo” can pass for one with its friendly bouncy rhythm and the relatively more relaxed attitude although more than just a few will jump around on the jarring hectic riffage.

“Invisible” epitomizes the groove whole-heartedly stretching it to over 6-min without doing much with it except leadening the environment to doomy proportions. “1000 Points of Hate” could be considered a revelation with its livelier thrashy guitars, dramatic accumulations and more dynamic leaps and bounds, arguably the highlight here. “Black Lodge” is a perfectly acceptable ballad with a great chorus and a few edgier moments the latter increased exponentially for “C11 H17…” where more aggressive proto-thrashing “fights” with abrasive groovy additives. The thrashing eventually lives to see its day in the form of “Burst”, a very appropriately-titled piece, a momentary dash of old school speed/thrash, the needed doze of vitality before the sombre clumsy groover that is “This is Not an Exit”. Well, it’s an exit, actually, but not the most dignified one…

the American scene invented the groove, and it subjected the majority of its practitioners to it, the latter more or less willingly following down this new, but hardly more exciting path. Although Megadeth, and later Slayer, showed their middle finger to it, keeping it raised for another couple of years, the others surrendered to the “adapt or die” setting largely in order to mimic Metallica’s success. Again, the album reviewed here came the closest to it, and kept the Anthrax name unstained…

well, not for long. I’ve listened to “Stomp 442” and “Load” back to back several times, and haven’t been able to figure why the former sounds so much worse than the latter; I by no means like “Load”; in fact, I consider it the lowest point in Metallica’s career, way lower than “St. Anger” even… it’s just that this “stomp” is so awful by any conceivable criterion that it can’t help but easily find its rightful pace beside the biggest flops in metal history like Helloween’s “Chameleon”, Megadeth’s “Risk”, Celtic Frost’s “Cold Lake”, Destruction’s mid-90’s period, and Kreator’s “Endorama”. I naturally lost interest in any subsequent effort the band made, and only started paying attention to the guys’ endeavours after Belladonna rejoined the team. The music on the last two has come close to worshipping on the best moments, but the sound of this white noise made in the distant 1993 still makes the rounds more convincingly, if only as a capable adaptation stint.

The sound of '90s commercial carnage - 45%

Napalm_Satan, April 21st, 2015

Sound of White Noise is a classic example of what happened to so many fantastic '80s metal bands by start of the '90s - they lost all of their identity and were swallowed into the corporate machinery of commercial rock. Some bands managed a weakened but still decent effort that signalled their entry into the decade, but others fell completely flat, and few bands fell harder than Anthrax. Their work from the era was marked by the perpetual stench of mediocrity as they traded in any and all artistic principle in the name of monetary gain. While this particular album isn't quite as awful as what would follow it is still a weak effort, either when viewed as an individual piece or when compared to other albums of its type from the period.

By far the most baffling thing about this album is its sound; it is for all intents and purposes a grunge album. The biggest influence on the guitar work is Stone Temple Pilots, whose muddy guitar tone and hard rock tendencies have had a profound influence on this album's riffs, particularly the highly simplistic numbers such as 'Hy Pro Glo' or '1000 Points of Hate'. There are also a few nods to Alice in Chains, or at least some attempts to interpret grunge through a heavy metal lens, which leads to the slower, more doom-infused numbers such as 'This Is Not an Exit'. In spite of the overt grunge/alt rock tendencies of the album however it still carries a strong influence from Pantera and perhaps even Helmet, which takes the form of very simplistic and repetitious groove metal riffing that occasionally arises between the more rock influenced riffs.

In spite of the simplification from previous efforts the band were drawing from good influences - the problem is simply that the riffs are woefully uninspired. The music is very generic, and it isn't even a very remarkable or interesting take on the standard grunge template. It's what happens when a band suddenly changes style after developing a previous sound, where they don't do enough to put their own spin on an established set of tropes because the style wasn't their own to begin with. This shows, as virtually none of the riffing on this album is particularly memorable or inspiring. The more metallic moments see the band return to something a little more familiar and hence they pull it off better but for the most part the band don't really do a whole lot to develop the sounds or ideas they employ, being quite content to play a dull and unmemorable groove/grunge hybrid. Sure the drumming can be a bit overactive and the lead work can actually be quite impressive - but for every aggressive drum pattern or excellent bit of shredding there's a boring straight beat or a dry, short solo, and good drumming or lead guitar work can't make up for lazy riffs.

This era of Anthrax's output coincided with John Bush's stint with the band, and his performance borders on being terrible, as well as disappointing given his work with Armored Saint. He spends most of his time badly copying tortured croons of Layne Staley, and he's also taken on a substantial gravelly rock inflection akin to Eddie Vedder and Scott Weiland. While there are worse vocalists he could have copied the same problem as the music applies here - he's not putting his own memorable spin on the style and instead reverts to a weak take on genre tropes. He can't really carry a tune and several of the vocal lines and hooks are flat and unmemorable, while others are tuneless and grating. He generally sounds bad in one way or another, especially when he tries yelling and simply sounds weak.

The structuring of the songs is incredibly flat and redundant. None of the progressive writing from the last two albums is present, as the band elect to stick to very basic verse-hook structures that never excite or interest. Riffs are run into the ground, ruining the energy of potentially decent songs such as 'Room for One More' with their surprisingly solid main riffs. Songs don't vary in terms of energy or tempo, though there are a few faster sections such as the ending of 'This Is Not an Exit' or the entirety of 'Burst' - these tend to be the exception rather than the rule though, with most songs sticking to an upper mid-tempo and not doing enough to keep the listener interested in general. Overlong songs such as 'Packaged Rebellion' are incredibly dull; as the band doesn’t have enough ideas to keep a 6 minute song interesting beyond a solo. As a result of these issues few winners emerge from this album - the main one is ‘Only’ with its simple but memorable melodies and catchy vocal lines, as well as its relatively aggressive verse riff. The laid back keyboard piece ‘Black Lodge’ is another highlight, largely due to the more inspired music and its flowing nature, as well as the fact that there is a discernible melody to John Bush’s singing. ‘Sodium Pentathol’, 'Potters Field' and ‘Burst’ represent more aggressive groove metal infused takes on the grunge sound, moving along at a reasonable pace and staying short and to the point, and packing solid riffs all around.

However, 5 out of 11 is an incredibly poor hit rate regardless of the band, made even worse when you consider who is behind this. This is an incredibly uninspired, dull and in some cases downright bad effort from a band that were out of their depth. They didn’t try to make it interesting, instead choosing to ride on the coattails of much better artists from the time in order to push more albums. The band would somehow get worse as they weathered the decade, and this is blatantly the start of that tragic decline. Needless to say, don't seek this out; its highlights aren't enough to make up for the rest of the album or what it represents for the band.

A look on the early nieneties' cultural trends - 46%

kluseba, August 20th, 2011

As a big fan of the legendary and unforgettable Twin Peaks series by David Lynch, there were two main reasons why I wanted to check this album out. My first contact with Anthrax was in fact the video clip for "Only" where I recognized the actor Frank Silva which gave me a big jolt and made me remember my childhood nightmares and appreciation of the best evil personality ever portrayed on television which was BOB from Twin Peaks. When I further checked out this album, I learned that the band collaborated with the composer of the series' brilliant soundtrack which is Angelo Badalamenti fr the song "Black Lodge" which had another Twin Peaks' influenced title and clip. That's when I decided to check the entire album out.

What I quickly realized is that the two first songs I checked out are easily the best on the record. "Only" is described as the perfect song by Metallica's James Hetfield. I wouldn't go as far but it's a truly catchy track with great vocals, a dark grunge riff and a nice short and sweet guitar solo. "Black Lodge" is a smooth and experimental track that sounds very slow and lazy and needs some time to grow but it surely is an interesting experiment without having the magic of the composition that were made for Twin Peaks.

The rest of the record falls off the edge. Anthrax play mostly the same dark grunge riffs on the entire record and goes away from the thrash and heavy metal roots of the band. Tracks such as "Hy Pro Glo" or "Burst" remind of a weird mixture of influences such as White Zombie and Metallica with some Voivod, Alice In Chains Jam and Red Hot Chili Peppers sounds. The band even used the same producer as Alice In Chains did at the time. The final result is quite close to the grunge and crossover genre where only the dark vibes of some weird intros remind of a slightly progressive thrash style. As many big names of the metal industry, Anthrax also changed their style and tried out something new to go with the time and gather a certain popularity. Back in the years, Twin Peaks and grunge music were two important parts of a barnd new cultural phenomenon in the United States of America and Anthrax worked with them and used them. The band even went further. The bad single choice "Hy Pro Glo" is influenced by a television commercial and the experimental and slightly interesting album closer "This Is Not An Exit" is a tribute to the "American Psycho" novel that came out around the same time. That's maybe not extremely entertaining and courageous but it worked back then as the album got the highest American chart position ever for any Anthrax release.

The album didn’t age very well though and feels a little bit too nostalgic and assimilated to the trends of the early nineties today. Most of the songs sound worn out and closed minded today. I could only cite "Only" as a great song that still works well in the present time and one hit out of eleven tries is not a great average at all. Even if like Twin Peaks and crossover music, this album deserves a rather low rating from an objective point of view and is a popular and sad example for the downfall and the assimilation of the metal genre in the nineties.

The sound of grunge conformity - 58%

JamesIII, April 12th, 2010

One of the more visible and unfortunate shifts in mainstream music belongs squarely on the shoulders of the grunge movement. Grunge within itself is a wide assortment of musical styles ranging from the dark, Black Sabbath worship of bands Alice In Chains and Soundgarden to the muddy hard rock tendencies of Stone Temple Pilots. Although some of these bands were good, even exceptional in some cases, their rise to the limelight opened the floodgates for many respected 80's outfits to follow suit.

In the 1990's, just about all of America's more famous thrash acts began collapsing underneath their own weight of trying to keep up with modern times. Metallica is probably the most famous example of this, but even while that band was hell bent on destroying their credibility as a reliable metal outfit, Anthrax topped even them in this contest. Much of the crap this band released between the mid 90's to the end of the decade flirted dangerously with all out mallcore territory and bottom rung groove metal.

However, Anthrax's first conformity to mainstream trends wasn't quite as abominable, but I can't say it was delightfully good. "Sound of White Noise" was an album I picked up early on in my music purchasing days, and at the time I got immense enjoyment out of it. Needless to say, with age comes maturity and realization that conforming to trends in the name of survival as an artist is hardly a respectable reason for recording and promoting anything below what your band is capable of.

What we hear on "Sound of White Noise" is the sound of Anthrax abdicating their throne of 80's satrical thrash metal for darker pastures. The first recognizable new element to this group is John Bush, former Armored Saint frontman. Bush isn't a terrible vocalist for this style of music, coming out remarkably better than grunge's false icons like Eddie Vedder. Bush reminds me more of Scott Weiland off STP's earlier days, minus the horribly incoherent lyrics and with a more melodic tinge to his voice. Truth be told, I don't mind John Bush all that much on this release, but he's far from what he is capable of, as his pre-Anthrax contributions to music have proven.

Amongst this initiation into grunge discipleship, we have a one song that pass for decent. "Only" is probably the most notable song here, and honestly the only 90's Anthrax song I consider a keeper. It fuses what positive things Anthrax's new sound has going for it and creates a decent song. Beyond that, we have a collection of songs that try desperately to bring in some of the magic that Alice In Chains had going for them. This tends to fall flat, since Anthrax ends up emulating a variety of bands from the era particularly a muddier, heavier version of what was heard on "Core." If this weren't bad enough, Anthrax seems to have donned a Metallica attitude towards songwriting, in that they write songs that are far too long with ideas that are far too few to make those songs interesting. What you then end up with is a collection of grunge rock tributes with a halfway decent vocal job, but obviously nothing any 80's Anthrax fan should ever be caught with.

For what it is, a grunge rock record, "Sound of White Noise" comes out considerably well. Compared to previous material and heavy metal in general, this album succeeds on a few levels but misses out entirely on the more important ones. Ultimately, this album was the beginning of the slippery slope for Anthrax who, like Metallica, ended up ruining most of their credibility by the time the 90's ended. I can't really recommend this album to anyone except maybe grunge enthuaists, but for everyone else avoid it entirely or seek it out second hand.

First and best album album with Bush - 70%

morbert, March 31st, 2008

Okay, so the album does have new vocalist, John Bush, and the album has some very 'soft' or over-melodic radio friendly sections, there is still plenty of material to be found here that is a logical follow up to "Persistence Of Time". Their last album with Joey Belladonna already was an album with not much fast or thrashing songs but still remakably excellent. And that line is proceeded right here.

If you listen to "Potters Field", "Room For One More" and "Burst" and try to image Joey Belladonna singing these songs it becomes obvious these songs are pretty much a continuation of the slower and dark style of their previous album "Persistence of Time". These songs would easily get 90-95 points from me. "Invisble" follows closely and is a pretty good song but is a further step away from their previous effort.

It's with songs like "HyProGlo", "1000 Points Of Hate" and especially "Packaged Rebellion" that the band starts to sound like a loud grunge collective playing along with John Bush instead of the mighty Anthrax with a new vocalist. Closing song "This Is Not An Exit" is simply extremely dull and has too much of a doomy Alice In Chains feeling surrounding it. Songs like these really damage the album. "Only" and "Sodium Pentathol" are better and build a bridge between the grungy songs and earlier Anthrax.

Then there is a personal favorite. Despite the fact that it didn't sound anything like Anthrax, the dark ballad "Black Lodge" simply is too good to be ignored here. As said it has the atmosphere of a ballad but the verses sound dark enough not to become cheesy. Furthermore the guitar harmony in the middle is beautiful.

So, apart from four bad songs and a production that should have been a lot heavier (especially guitarwise) there is still plenty quality stuff to be found here making it worth owning this album if you're an Anthrax fan.

Glorified Grunge - 45%

DawnoftheShred, November 28th, 2006

This is the first Anthrax album I'd ever listened to, and it would have been the last if I hadn't been informed that their older material was purist thrash metal. Basically, this album delayed my love of Anthrax's old albums by like two years and for that I can never forgive it. It sucks ass and should be avoided.

The first song is "Potter's Field." Before you even get to hear new singer John Bush, you get a solid minute of static for an intro, and then a cool riff. Unfortunately, that's pretty much the only cool riff on the entire album. Most of the riffs are midpaced and generic, as are most of the leads. Worse still is the guitar sound. Shitty production combined with a grungy ass tone makes for fucking bad guitar sound. All this is evident before you even hear Bush sing. Bush himself isn't a bad singer necessarily, but his style of singing only reinforces the impression that this is album is just heavy grunge. He sounds quite reminiscent of the guy from Stone Temple Pilots, if that helps cast some light on his voice.

Grungy vocals, grungy lyrics, grungy riffs, grungy guitar tone....the album is pretty much grunge. The only thing that keeps this remotely metal is the powerful (but poorly mixed) drumming and the occasional too heavy for grunge riffs. Seriously, this is basically STP Vol. 4 if it was heavier and had only one ballad. Alice in Chains kicks the shit out of this nonsense.

Other demerits are deserved for the stupid song title of "Sodium Pentathol," spelled out in its chemical formula. Okay, you guys looked up a little chemistry. Here's a gold star, but nobody gives a shit.

This might be the worst thing Anthrax has ever done, but I haven't listened to the other John Bush albums to compare. It's hard to believe this is the same band that recorded Fistful of Metal. This album makes Load and Reload look like Ride the Lightning. Shitty sell-out grunge metal. If you really like grunge, fine, you'll love this, but don't dare confuse this with real metal, it's not even close.

A very overlooked Anthrax album - 83%

Reaper, August 14th, 2004

This album kind of reminded me of Persistence of Time, not in the speed and intensity as much as in the melody. This album is filled with melodious tunes and I could swear that it also reminds me of Armored Saint’s Symbol of Salvation at times, especially the third track, “Room For One More.” This is a fine occurrence as I have enjoyed Armored Saint’s album very much. The characteristic, which is most similar to Armored Saint, is the vocals. They have almost a raspy sound in certain parts of the album. As opposed to some of the other albums by Anthrax where the music is heavy, while the vocals do not coincide very well with it, as they are sung in a very non-aggressive manner. The relatively aggressive sound of this album corresponds with the matching vocals very sufficiently.

The album offers some aggressive songs, with catchy and violent riffs, and some songs that are more melodic in nature. Some of the songs, such as the highlight, “Hy Pro Glo,” combine the two different styles to make one killer song. Going from more mellow vocals, to a full drum beat and vocal assault within a few seconds. I do not understand why people overlook this album, it offers such high-quality and head-banging songs, yet is an underrated album in the Anthrax discography.

Some of the tracks, such as “1000 Points of Hate” and “This is not an Exit,” do get a bit repetitive due to the non-changing riffs or bland choruses. These are the only songs that do not stand out on the album. Every other song stands out, since each one offers something new and exciting, such as “Black Lodge,” which is a softer song and uses a more melodic approach. Variety is almost excessive on this album, which is an excellent trait for an album to possess.

This album offers very memorable choruses and melodies, and is a sound addition in the Anthrax discography. Songs such as “C11 H17 N2 O2 S Na,” offer an aggressive drum and guitar solo approach, “Black Lodge.” offers a softer, more melodic approach, and “Hy Pro Glo,” mixes the two techniques to make this album well rounded. Sound of White Noise is a fine Traditional Melodic Thrash Metal album.