Anthems, ANTHRAX's long-awaited, eight-track EP that pays tribute to the classic songs by some of Anthrax's favorite bands from the 1970s, will be released in North America on March 19th (MRI/Megaforce), and on March 22nd in Europe (Nuclear Blast). Guitarist Scott Ian recently spoke with MTV Hive about the new EP. An excerpt from the interview is available below:

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Q: How did you pick the six tracks on Anthems?

Ian: "We’ve been doing cover songs since 1985 on our Armed and Dangerous EP. They’re songs we’ve been playing since we were kids. They were all written before we were even a band. When it comes to doing stuff like these covers, I’ll do ‘em all day long. For me, it’s just fun to play these songs."

Q: What was the hardest song to play?

Ian: "For me, personally, it was the RUSH song. I knew the song going in, but I had never played 'Anthem' before literally tracking the rhythm guitars on it. I listened to the Rush live version a bunch, just over and over again, and went in and basically just threw it down. I had never actually played the JOURNEY song ('Keep On Runnin') either, but it’s an easier song riff-wise.

Q: This is the last release you recorded with guitarist Rob Caggiano. Was his departure a surprise?

Ian: "We didn’t know he was planning on leaving while we were tracking this. He was literally finishing solos in Berlin on the last days of the tour. It wasn’t until after the tour ended and we started having conversations, and just to put it in a nutshell, he just needs to do his own thing at this point in time. We knew he had a record that he was going to be doing possibly. We had already told him, if you need to take a hiatus, that’s fine. The best thing I can say is that he’s on a mission to do his own thing at this point. And I’m certainly not going to stand in his way."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Anthems's tracklisting features RUSH's 'Anthem', THIN LIZZY's 'Jailbreak', 'TNT' by AC/DC, BOSTON's 'Smokin'', 'Big Eyes' by CHEAP TRICK, JOURNEY's 'Keep On Runnin', as well as the album version and a special remix of Anthrax's 'Crawl', from the band's critically-acclaimed 2011 album, Worship Music. Listen to the cover of Rush's 'Anthem' now at this location.

Said the band's vocalist Joey Belladonna, "These are all bands I grew up with and have listened to forever. It's just great music. I had fun singing these songs and I was happy recording together with Anthrax, doing classic rock songs. Fun stuff!"

On Boston's 'Smokin'', Anthrax brought in a special guest to play keyboards - Fred Mandel, who has played with ALICE COOPER, QUEEN, ELTON JOHN, Cheap Trick, SUPERTRAMP and on PINK FLOYD's The Wall.

About the track, drummer Charlie Benante said, "If ever there were a perfect first album, it's Boston's first album. The harmony leads they did would later be heard by IRON MAIDEN, which of course would lead to thrash metal."

The EP will be available on CD as well as digitally via iTunes and other online retailers. In addition to Anthems' cover art (above), Benante and artist Stephen Thompson have subtly redesigned each track's original album cover art to "Anthrax" it. The Anthems EP will first be housed in one of the "re-imagined" digipak covers, and then inserted inside the main CD cover sleeve. The main cover sleeve has been designed in such a way so fans will be able to see which one of the six "re-imagined" covers is inside.

Anthems was produced by Anthrax, Jay Ruston and Rob Caggiano, and recorded for the most part throughout 2012 literally all over the world: at Benante's home studio, in Ruston's New York studio, on the band's tour bus while on last summer's Mayhem Tour, in hotel rooms, and backstage at their Berlin show last December.

The Grammy-nominated Anthrax - Belladonna, Benate/drums, Scott Ian/guitar and Frank Bello/bass - will hit the road in support Anthems on February 16th with dates in India and Australia, and then return to North America to headline the Metal Alliance Tour that kicks off March 22nd. For all of these dates, Anthrax will be joined by SHADOWS FALL guitarist Jon Donais.