ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian is featured in a new interview with News.Radio.com discussing the band's new cover EP, Anthems. An excerpt from the story is available below:

Anthems' release is timely, as RUSH will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next month. They’ve been eligible for well over a decade, and Ian says he’s not surprised that they are finally getting their due. "People take Rush seriously, they’re not everyone’s cup of tea, but everyone has a respect for that band whether you like them or not."

Although he’s quick to note that he doesn’t pay too much attention to the Rock Hall, he gets a bit more passionate when talking about another band that has been ignored by the voters: “A lot people have a problem with KISS. KISS is just as important as AEROSMITH and LED ZEPPELIN. The people who vote on these kinds of things – I don’t know who these people are – I think they’re the kind of people who never, ever liked KISS. If you like ALICE COOPER, you should like KISS. But a lot of people didn’t take them seriously as a songwriting entity. I feel like they’re never gonna let KISS in, which is pretty f****** lame when you consider what they’ve accomplished.”

He continues, “I was reading an interview with someone from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and he said that one of the main criteria to be considered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is, what influence have they had on music? KISS has influenced bands that are already in the Hall of Fame! They’re one of the most influential bands of the last forty years!”

Go to this location for the complete story.

Anthrax recently released a stream of their cover of BOSTON's 'Smokin'', included on the the band's new Anthems EP.

On '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."

Listen to 'Smokin'', below:

The track is featured on the upcoming special edition of the band's last album, Worship Music. The special edition will contain both the regular album as well as the brand new Anthems EP. Anthems' tracklisting features RUSH's 'Anthem', THIN LIZZY's 'Jailbreak', 'T.N.T.' 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 Worship Music.

Anthems will also be released separately on CD and vinyl and will be exclusively available at the Nuclear Blast Mailorder, here.

Worship Music“ Special Edition / Anthems will be released in North America on March 19th (MRI/Megaforce) and March 22nd in Europe (Nuclear Blast).

Streaming below are Anthrax's covers of Cheap Trick's 'Big Eyes', Thin Lizzy's 'Jailbreak', Rush's 'Anthem', and AC/DC's 'T.N.T.':

In addition to Anthems' cover art, drummer Charlie 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. Check Benante holding the six covers below:

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!"