ANTHRAX' Scott Ian has issued a new blog update. An excerpt follows:

"It’s December 5th, only 20 days left til Xmas and 26 til my birthday.

2011 really flew by. I can safely say it was the best year of my life. My son was born, Worship Music came out and we played Yankee Stadium. It’s been a great year and I plan to keep it going all month and into 2012.

Being home with the family after the amazing tour of the states we did has been great. Family, friends and parties all month, Santa help my liver."

Read more at this location.

Anthrax, TESTAMENT and DEATH ANGEL have announced the following shows in January/February:

January

22 - House of Blues - Las Vegas, NV
23 - House of Blues - Anaheim, CA
24 - Marquee Theatre - Tempe, AZ
27 - Egyptian Room @ Murat Center - Indianapolis, IN
28 - Piere's Entertainment Center - Fort Wayne, IN
29 - Expo Five - Louisville, KY
30 - The Orange Peel - Asheville, NC

February

2 - Tabernacle - Atlanta, GA
3 - Promowest Pavilion - Columbus, OH
6 - Crocodile Rock - Allentown, PA
7 - Rams Head Live! - Baltimore, MD
8 - Best Buy Theatre - New York, NY

Tickets go on sale this Friday, December 9th and Saturday, December 10th at 10 AM local time. For all details or to purchase tickets, log onto Anthrax.com, Testamentlegions.com or Deathangel.us. Can't wait until this weekend to grab tickets? Prior to the official on-sale dates in each city, Anthrax fans can head over to AnthraxArmy.com and Anthrax.com beginning today at 3 PM (ET), to purchase a special pre-sale ticket bundle featuring a Worship Music sticker, an official Anthrax Army sticker, and a limited edition collectible band-member fan laminate. These bundles are available for a limited time only. Additional details online.

"The first leg of the tour with Testament and Death Angel was an amazing way to end a great year for Anthrax," said Anthrax's Scott Ian, "and it went above and beyond my expectations! Sold out shows, raging crowds and EPIC war dances! So we figured what better way to start 2012 than to continue this thrash-fest into the new year!!! Thank you all for giving us this privilege to come and play for you. See you soon!"

Below is a list of future broadcast dates and times for Anthrax: Behind The Music Remastered, featured on VH1 Classic:

Wednesday, December 7th: 11:00pm – 12:00am

Thursday December 8th: 11:00am – 12:00pm

Thursday December 8th: 8:00pm – 9:00pm

Friday December 9th: 7:00pm – 8:00pm

Friday December 9th: 11:00pm – 12:00am

Saturday December 10th: 8:00am – 9:00am

As previously reported, Anthrax is the latest band to be featured as part of Universal Music Enterprises' ongoing Icon series of albums, which was kicked off on August 31st, 2010. It will be released on January 10th at a special price. Cover art can be viewed below:

The tracklist is as follows:

'Madhouse'

'A.I.R.'

'Armed And Dangerous'

'I Am The Law'

'Indians'

'Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)'

'Antisocial'

'Got The Time'

'Belly Of The Beast'

'Bring The Noise'

'I'm The Man 91'

Stay tuned for purchase details, to be issued closer to the release.

(Anthrax art credit: Stephen Thompson)