Ultimate-Guitar.com recently caught up with Anthrax bassist Frank Bello for an in-depth career-spanning interview. An excerpt is available below:

UG: Any musician in this business needs a ton of luck and Anthrax has had their share. But along the way, the band has written great songs and that's really where the success comes from.

Bello: "Thank you. The whole thing is you can't phone this stuff in. Look - we're fans. We're fans of this music and we cannot phone this stuff in nor who would want to phone anything in? I wanna write a riff that's gonna f--kin' hooky, heavy, all of the above. Just makes it stay with you. We're all looking for that heaviest riff of all time because we're all Sabbath fans, right? I love this music - it's part of my life that's been really good to me and it gets a lot of my inner angst out. I think we were all drawn to this music but for a reason. We all have this thing inside we have to get out and I think this music helps us get along with it. That's the best way I can describe it."

UG: What you've just explained is certainly one of the main elements that has pushed the Big Four bands for so many years.

Bello: "My thing is why the Big Four is still around is number one - it's a movement we all started way back that is still relevant. Again it all gets at something inside of us we all have and those songs you relate to them. That's the great thing about going forward to recreate and pushing it to the next level."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Bello and Megadeth bassist David Ellefson have joined forces to form Altitudes & Attitude, a new hard rock power group with Ellefson handling bass duties and Bello on guitar and vocals.

Ellefson and Bello began writing music together while traveling the world during clinics now known as Metal Masters.

“What started out as simple bass ideas quickly developed into some really great songs together,” says Ellefson. “Our fans would probably never suspect that a couple of metal bass players would have songs like these inside of us. It’s exciting to write melody with diversity while still pushing the limits of lead-bass playing. Frank’s singing, and both of us playing guitars and other instruments, gave us a whole new dimension for creative opportunities.”

“We thought it would be cool to let fans hear something they wouldn't expect from us- which is what Altitudes & Attitude is,” adds Bello.

Tracklisting:

'Booze & Cigarettes'

'Tell The World'

'Here Again'

Listen to an advanced preview at this location.

Altitudes & Attitude EP credits:

Frank Bello - lead vocals, electric guitar, 8 string bass guitar

David Ellefson - 4, 5 and 8 string bass guitars, rhythm guitars

Jeff Friedl (A PERFECT CIRCLE) - drums and percussion

Special guest: Gus G. - lead guitar on 'Here Again'.