Prevented from touring by ongoing pandemic restrictions, the Ramones of thrash metal instead elected to mark their 40th anniversary with this marathon two-hour livestream show. Shot in an anonymous LA soundstage by director Jack Bennett, the overall package is a pretty straight no-frills performance capturing the black-clad metalpunk New Yorkers on high-energy form as they hurtle from meatgrinder guitar-scorchers like Caught In A Mosh to the clobbering psychodrama of Be All, End All.
Anthrax never quite transcended the vocabulary of thrash like their more feted “Big Four” peers, so this career-spanning set becomes a little samey in places, but they arguably remain closer to their gritty garage rock roots as a result. Their piledriver 1991 reboot of Public Enemy’s Bring the Noise, here performed with Chuck D himself, still feels like an exhilarating rapmetal milestone.