We`ve always wanted to come to India: Anthrax band member

New Delhi: American rock band Anthrax is the last of the "big four" of thrash metal to be coming to India. Its bass guitarist Frank Bello says though they have been willing to perform in India for years, they got an opportunity only now.

The band, which shot to fame in the 80s and were dubbed one of the "big four" of thrash metal alongside Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer, will enthral their Indian fans for the first time at the FLY Music festival to be held in Delhi NCR & Bengaluru on February 16 and 17. "We hadn`t got the opportunity to come to India until now. We have been asking about performing in India, but we didn`t know it was ready. But I guess now it is Anthrax time. "We wanted to come to India for a long time. We have been travelling the world for years, why not India? I guess now is the right time, which is great," Bello told PTI over the telephone from New York. Organised by Percept Live, the music fest will have international acts such as Limp Bizkit, The Wailers (Original band of Bob Marley), Ray Manzarek & Robby Krieger of The Doors, artists like KT Tunstall, Dub Pistols, The Cuban Brothers and others besides Anthrax going on stage. "I guess the promoters feel good about including an international act like us in their show and we`ve been told that we have a lot of fans in India. We want to believe that and play," said Bello. The 47-year-old guitarist, who has been with Anthrax off and on since their second album `Spreading the Disease` (1985), said their Indian concerts will be power-packed and full of energy. "What we do at every Anthrax show is put in a lot of energy. Our shows are 110 per cent non-stop metal. We give it all. Every night is a lot of energy, crazy things going on onstage. It`s a really powerful show that we put on," he said. Some of the band`s hit songs include `Indians`, `Madhouse`, `Got The Time`, `Antisocial` and `Lone Justice`. Though Bello admitted he had little idea about the rock culture in India, he is confident that concert-goers will be fully satisfied with Anthrax`s performance. "All I know is that I`ll find out (about India`s rock culture) when I reach there. I am sure the fans are really hungry for us, that`s what matters actually. "I can say Anthrax has never disappointed. I am very confident about our musicality. It will be the best of Anthrax. We are very excited about playing songs that haven`t been heard live over there," he said. After performing in India, Anthrax is all set to re-unite with their "good buddies" Metallica and Slayer at the Soundwave music festival in Australia. "After India we are going to the Soundwave festival in Australia where we will be playing with Metallica and Slayer, our good buddies. Getting back together, we are going to have a good time. It`s not really a `big four` thing, it`s just old friends hanging out and playing good music together." Anthrax is also coming up with a new album comprising cover versions of one of their songs and six others from various other bands. "We are going to release a record comprising cover versions of 8 songs in March, called `Anthem`. It has two versions of our own song `Crawl` and six others are songs of other bands like Rush, Journey and ACDC... Stuff that we grew up with. I think everybody is going to really like that," said Bello. PTI