Unfortunately their touring plans where shelved with the band releasing a statement via social media: “Sadly due to ongoing logistical issues and 2022 costs that are out of our control, we have no other option but to cancel the European leg of our upcoming 2022 tour. We will however be coming to the UK as scheduled. Tickets can be refunded at point of purchase”. You can see the post in full below.

As reported by music news outlet The Consequence of Sounds it was suggested by some fans that the cancellation was due to low ticket sales. However in response to a fan who pushed forward this thought via social media Anthrax replied: “Rest assured, there were zero issues with sales. Check out the news over there for a few minutes. We absolutely adore the European fans and love playing there and are very sad not to come. It doesn’t work ‘example’ when tour buses double and triple in cost.”

Anthrax have just completed their U.S. tour with Black Label Society. Both bands played headline sets alongside special guests HateBreed, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Perseverance album. The set list on the tour included the addition of the John Bush-era track “Only”, which has not been performed live since 2011. “Only” originally appeared on 1993’s Sound Of White Noise, one of four albums Bush recorded with Anthrax during his 13-year tenure with the band.

The New Yorkers latest album, For All Kings, which features current singer Joey Belladonna, came out in February 2016 via Nuclear Blast and they celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2021 with a number of special activities and events. Formed by Ian and bassist Dan Lilker in Queens, New York on July 18, 1981, Anthrax was one of the first thrash metal bands to emerge from the East Coast and quickly became regarded as a leader in the genre alongside giants of metal Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth.

Anthrax have been active for over five decades, and have toured the world since 1984 playing thousands of shows, including headlining Madison Square Garden and playing Yankee Stadium with the “Big Four”. They have released 11 studio albums as well as being awarded multiple gold and platinum certifications and receiving six Grammy nominations.  There are still some tickets available for the UK Dates which fans can purchase here.

It is more than ten years since the band last toured the UK, and guitarist Scott Ian has spoken, via Loudwire.com, of his excitement to be back, ‘Finally! We’ve been looking forward to headlining in the U.K. for so long!!! We have a killer set planned, new stuff, old faves, deep tracks and ‘Among The Living’ front to back. You’d better start getting in shape now for the epic wardance! See you soon my friends.’

Those ‘old faves’ will include tracks ‘Caught in a Mosh’, ‘I Am the Law’ and ‘Indians’, all of which feature on the album, ‘Among The Living.’ The tour will mark 30 years since the release of the album and the band have been reflecting on the making of the record. It was actually the band’s third album and marked a real shift for the band, with Guitarist Scott Ian commenting, per Team Rock, ‘It is a classic. Of course, I know what it meant to the scene – but more importantly, I appreciate what it did for us,’ and more forcefully, ‘What did the album mean to Anthrax? Everything. It wasn’t just an important moment in our career. It gave us a career!’ In Blabbermouth, Ian reflected on what made the album so special, concluding, ‘I feel like the energy just really jumps off that record; you fucking hear how pissed off we are playing our instruments on that record. There’s a brutality on that album that you don’t hear on the two records before ‘Among The Living’. It was just the record of its time; it really was.’ In fact, Ian seems to think the album could have been even better if the band had pushed themselves, stating, ‘I’m not criticising what’s on Among The Living, but we may have benefited from being a little less hasty in finishing up the writing side’ (per Team Rock).

As for the ‘new stuff’, this will presumably include tracks from the band’s latest album, ‘For All Kings’, which was released in February 2016 and was generally well reviewed as well as commercially successful, debuting at number 9 on the Billboard 200.

Anthrax will not be the only attraction for metal fans on this tour, as the band will be supported by English metal outfit, The Raven Age. The Raven Age were co-founded by George Harris, son of Iron Maiden bassist, Steve Harris. In a way, this will bring the band full circle as Scott Ian has previously remarked, via Team Rock, that, ‘Musically, of course, Anthrax owe a lot to Maiden.’ The Raven Age are primed to release their debut album ‘Darkness Will Rise’ in December 2016.

The UK tour will take in 8 cities and the full schedule can be found below:

09/02 – O2 Institute – Birmingham, UK

10/02 – O2 Forum Kentish Town – London, UK

11/02 – O2 Academy – Bristol, UK

13/02 – Rock City – Nottingham, UK

14/02 – Academy – Manchester, UK

15/02 – Barrowlands – Glasgow, UK

16/02 – Northumbria University – Newcastle, UK

17/02– UEA – Norwich, UK