Mark Morton at the Heavy Metal Examiner recently caught up with ANTHRAX frontman Joey Belladonna. An excerpt from the interview is available below:

MM: The press has overwhelmingly embraced Worship Music as one of the pinnacle albums of 2011. Do you think that has something to do with your contribution or do you chalk it up to the evolution of the band?

Belladonna: "I just think we came up with a good record that people dig. I don’t know if it’s because of me or not. I thought we were doing fine before I left. I just shrug my shoulders thinking that all that time, I thought everything was cool. I know that not many people want to look back with the 'we coulda, we shoulda' business, but it seems to have worked out in the end, fortunately."

MM: Well, I’m sure there is a school of fans out there that feel the same way; who fell off when you left and came back with you.

Belladonna: "I think a lot of people were cool with everything. What are you going to do? I wasn’t able to be there in the band anymore, so what else could I do? I’m just glad that people dug what I did and are happy that I’m back in the band. And even if they like someone else’s singing, I think I can wind it all up into something bigger and better; which is what we’re doing right now anyhow. I’m not here to compare; I just do what I do and hope for the best. I don’t look around to find people to try to impress. It’s just nice to have an original sound and be able to achieve that and have people like it."

MM: Well, you do have one of those iconic voices where a part of the Anthrax element was lost when you left.

Belladonna: "That’s how I feel, too. And that’s what I think people were missing. And regardless if Anthrax (the band) thought that I wasn’t 'the guy' for them, I know it’s all a matter of opinion. But yeah, I think I have a distinctive sound. I remember listening to Spreading The Disease going 'Wow, this is how I sound?' I never anticipated that, but that’s how things flowed. And now, I think I have more accessibility to be able to sing different styles of music; I’m very versatile. And I think that comes through on Worship Music. You just have to keep it real, and that’s what I try to do every day. You just know when you hear it."

Click here for the complete interview.