Anthrax member Scott Ian recently talked about the first impression of meeting Metallica back in the early ’80s. He went on to describe that they almost instantly struck a brotherly relationship.
Scott Ian shares his thoughts on meeting Metallica
Scott Ian had formed Anthrax in 1981 and he couldn’t possibly know that some other bands that shared the same philosophy were taking root right across the country. “There was no scene”, recalls Scott Ian in a recent interview with Revolver. It is quite understandable why he and his bandmates were thrilled when they discovered their Los Angeles colleagues’ “No Life ‘Til Leather” demo one year later.
It is quite clear as to why Ian took to Metallica as “brothers that you didn’t even know you had,” right from the get-go. He was asked to describe what Lars Ulrich & Co. were like in person during those early days, Ian replied:
“In those early days, they were guys just like us. When I first heard their ‘No life ‘Til Leather’ demo, and I was blown away by it. I just immediately felt a kinship with guys I hadn’t met yet – just based on the fact that I was like, ‘Wow, they sound like what we’re trying to be, and they must listen to the same bands.’
“There was nothing going on in New York. We didn’t have any fellow guys in other bands, there was no scene. And now, suddenly, there’s a band from 2700 miles away that we could tell they’re listening to the same music, trying to do the same thing we are.
“So, when they came to New York, and we met, I realized, ‘Well, I was correct in my thought.’ Because, we immediately hit it off, and they were just a bunch of dudes just like us. Just loved music, loved comics, loved horror.
“I got along with all of them. But I kind of gravitated more towards Cliff in the early days, just because he was into reading horror and stuff, and so we had that to talk about outside of music and band stuff. And then, when Kirk came, he was even more of a nerd than I was. It was just so cool to find your brothers that you didn’t even know you had.”
The Anthrax guitarist further noted that Metallica had a reputation for partying hard in those early days but this was not all there in the band:
“I don’t know if people have an image in their mind because [of] the pictures in the magazines in the early days, and ‘Alcohollica,’ and all that. And, of course, those guys partied, but that’s not all it was. They were very much just kind of regular dudes, who are just really, really good at writing riffs and being in a band together, too. [laughs]”
It has been noted that Anthrax will kick off its 40th-anniversary tour later this July 26, alongside Black Label Society and special guests Hatebreed.
