Scottish website EspyRock recently caught up with ANTHRAX vocalist Joey Belladonna to talk about his return to the fold and their new album Worship Music. They also discuss the Big 4, his favourite songs by METALLICA, SLAYER and MEGADETH, Belladonna's solo work, and his failed attempt to collaborate with Megadeth. An excerpt is available below:

Q: Do you think that Worship Music picks off from where you left off with Persistence Of Time, or were you looking at this as a new evolved era of Anthrax so it stands apart?

Belladonna: "I think the band has evolved especially with their writing style so there are some interesting riffs that are now coming up that we probably wouldn’t have had before. I don’t think I approached it any differently but it does appear to sound different. I guess you could say that it does sound like were we left off and technically it does keep some of that feeling from then but it’s just a new record, I never approached it with the thought of what I did back then before I left, right here and right now is where I’m at."

Q: Before the reunion last year and after you parted ways with the band in 2007 did you ever see yourself getting back together with the band or did you think that your time was over?

Belladonna: "I guess it was a case of never say never because there were lot of things going on in the band and a lot of moments were it could have been possible. I thought there might a shot to do it all again someday, and then of course the reunion came along [in 2005] which was more a case of let’s just go out and do some shows and not take anything too seriously. I always remember the words 'baby steps' being said and that we shouldn’t get too excited about being a band again, as we’ve got to go through all of the motions; let’s just go out and have some fun, and whatever it was at the time, I just rolled with it. I thought they were looking for me to stay but I don’t think they ever wanted to fully open the door to me so there was no way for me to get in there and stay there. Then I read online that they have got another singer and I didn’t even hear anything about it until I saw that, so I was never on the cards to come back, and apparently I was never on the cards to come back this time either. If John had stayed then they probably wouldn’t have been bothered to think about me."

Go to this location for the complete in-depth interview.

Anthrax will release Worship Music, on September 13th in North America via Megaforce Records and September 14th in Europe via Nuclear Blast Records.

Worship Music will be available as a regular CD, CD digi, vinyl and MP3 download. Nuclear Blast Germany is also offering the album as a mail-order edition with 7" (featuring the REFUSED cover song 'New Noise') and two different double-LPs: splatter and orange vinyl.

Worship Music will be released in Japan on September 14th via Victor Records. This edition will include a remix of the album track 'Crawl' as a bonus track.

Check out audio samples from the entire album at this location. Check out a brand new BraveWords.com review of Worship Music here.

US fans can pre-order Worship Music from Bestbuy.com here and gain entry into a free exclusive Anthrax show; then go to Freesecretshow.com and enter your Best Buy 12 digit order number to get your free ticket. The show will be at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square NYC on Monday September, 12th at 8 PM. Bring your ticket, bestbuy.com receipt, and photo ID the night of September 12th to get into the show.

On Wednesday, September 7th, Anthrax will perform on NBC's Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. The show technically airs on Thursday morning (September 8th at 12:35 AM, ET/PT).