Volume 8: The Threat Is Real

Volume 8: The Threat Is Real is the eighth studio album by American heavy metal band Anthrax. The album was released on July 21, 1998, by Ignition Records and debuted at number 118 on the Billboard 200 chart. The record was produced by the band and Paul Crook. It features the song "Crush", which appeared in the video game ATV Offroad Fury for PlayStation 2 and in the game's soundtrack. Other released singles from the album were "Inside Out", "Piss N Vinegar" and "Born Again Idiot".

Volume 8: The Threat Is Real
Studio album by
Anthrax
ReleasedJuly 21, 1998
Recorded1998
StudioKrusty's Fun House, Yonkers, New York
Genre
Length63:37
Label
Producer
Anthrax chronology
Stomp 442
(1995)		 Volume 8: The Threat Is Real
(1998)		 We've Come for You All
(2003)
Singles from Volume 8: The Threat Is Real
  1. "Inside Out"
    Released: 1998
  2. "Crush"
    Released: 1998
  3. "Piss N Vinegar"
    Released: 1998
  4. "Born Again Idiot"
    Released: 1998

"Pieces", the hidden track at the end of the album, was written by bassist Frank Bello as a tribute to his brother Anthony who was murdered outside his girlfriend's home in the Bronx on March 25, 1996, by an unidentified assailant. The track features Bello on vocals.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The A.V. Clubunfavorable[4]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal7/10[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[6]
Rock Hard9.0/10[7]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, in a mixed review for AllMusic, wrote that the album is a continuation of the band's "writing slump" which started with 1993's Sound of White Noise. He said that there aren't many "memorable songs" on the record, and went to call it "transitional album" leading the band to "new, uncharted territory".[3] Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club found the album to be "aggressive to the point of being exhausting".[4] Martin Popoff in his Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal remarks how the band put a bit of everything in the songs, including multiple speeds, "humor scattered here and there", "big grungy guitars", "meat and potatoes riffing and roaring vocals from Bush", while "experimenting with some different textures and dynamics". The result is not just "an accessible thrash metal record", as is typical with Anthrax.[5]

In his 2014 autobiography I'm the Man: The Story of that Guy from Anthrax, Scott Ian said "I'm still proud of the songs we wrote for Volume 8: The Threat is Real. They were really diverse and heavy, modern sounding with a crushing metal groove. 1998 is the year nu metal took over but we were definitely not a part of that scene. If anything we were old metal, so getting anyone to support us was proving difficult."[8]

Track listing

All lyrics written by John Bush and Scott Ian; all music by Charlie Benante, except where noted.

No.TitleMusicLength
1."Crush" 4:21
2."Catharsis"Benante, Frank Bello4:53
3."Inside Out" 5:31
4."Piss N Vinegar" 3:12
5."604"Benante, Ian0:35
6."Toast to the Extras" 4:24
7."Born Again Idiot" 4:17
8."Killing Box" 3:37
9."Harms Way"Benante, Ian5:13
10."Hog Tied" 4:36
11."Big Fat"Benante, Ian6:01
12."Cupajoe"Benante, Ian0:46
13."Alpha Male" 3:05
14."Stealing from a Thief" (ends at 5:33, hidden track "Pieces" begins at 8:03 after 2:30 of silence)Bello ("Pieces")13:06
Total length:63:37
Bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Giving the Horns" 3:34
16."The Bends" (Radiohead cover)Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway, Thom Yorke3:52
17."Snap/I'd Rather Be Sleeping" (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles cover)Kurt Brecht, Spike Cassidy, John Menor, Eric Brecht2:17
Total length:73:20

Credits
Anthrax
Guests
  • Phil Anselmo - backing vocals on "Killing Box"
  • Dimebag Darrell - guitar solos on "Inside Out" and "Born Again Idiot"
  • Paul Crook - guitar solos on "Killing Box", "Hog Tied", "Big Fat", "Stealing from a Thief"
Production

Charts
Chart (1998) Peak

position

German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] 43
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[12] 38
UK Albums (OCC)[13] 73
US Billboard 200[14] 118

References
  1. Balazs, Nick (August 24, 2021). "Brave Album Ranks – ANTHRAX". BraveWords. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  2. Weingarten, Christopher R. (September 14, 2011). "Anthrax and Joey Belladonna Keep It In the Family". The Village Voice. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Anthrax — Volume 8: The Threat Is Real". AllMusic. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  4. Thompson, Stephen (April 19, 2002). "Anthrax — Volume 8: The Threat is Real". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
  5. Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  6. Larkin, Colin (2011). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. p. 2006. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  7. Kupfer, Thomas (July 29, 1998). "ANTHRAX - Volume 8: The Threat Is Real". Rock Hard. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  8. Ian, Scott. I'm the Man: The Story of That Guy from Anthrax. Hachette UK.
  9. "Anthrax – Volume 8 - the Threat is Real (1998, CD)". Discogs. 1998.
  10. Volume 8: The Threat Is Real! back panel. Ignition Records. 1998.
  11. "Offiziellecharts.de – Anthrax – Volume 8 - The Threat Is Real!" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  12. "Anthrax: Volume 8 - The Threat Is Real!" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  13. "Anthrax | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  14. "Anthrax Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
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