GET YOUR LATTER DAY JOHN BUSH FIX
Amidst all this talk of Joey Belladonna bending over and taking it from Anthrax, it’s been easy to lose site of the fact that Armored Saint released a pretty decent comeback album this year in La Raza. I was never as big of a Saint fan as I was of Anthrax, but there’s been enough cross-polination between the members that the presence of Bush’s voice on top of La Raza‘s already good songs almost makes it sound as if you’re listening to a Bush-era Anthrax record… almost. “Little Monkey” is my favorite track on the album and in my opinion the most Anthrax-y, both musically and lyrically. Check it out above and pick up La Raza here from Metal Blade if you like.
I also completely forgot about John Bush’s guest appearance on the Nuclear Blast All-Stars Out of the Dark project in 2007 helmed by ex-[at the time]-Soilwork guitarist Peter Wichers. The album was incredibly solid through and through, and “Paper Trail” was one of the bestest songs on it. I find it fascinating that Wichers took on the task of writing a more “rock” oriented song, did a fantastic job with it, and how Bush’s voice really brought it home.
What can I say… I love John Bush’s voice. Enjoysies.
-VN
October, 2007 will go down as an interesting month for Gothenburg metal; we’ve effectively seen the release of two Soilwork albums. One, which bears the Soilwork namesake, is the first album written and recorded by the band without ex-guitarist and primary songwriter Peter Wichers. The second is essentially a Peter Wichers solo album released under the Nuclear Blast All Stars moniker — Wichers wrote, produced and played guitar and had a host of other musicians contribute their duties, including an A-list roster of singers, one for each song. Anders Friden (In Flames), Peter Tagtgren (Hypocrisy), John Bush (Anthrax), and Bjorn “Speed” Strid (Soilwork) all contribute vocals. Out of the Dark ends up being a solid listen, if not so much a proper album as a collection of songs. Nuclear Assault has drawn on their rich history to assemble a disc that’s a much more interesting — at least to these ears — version of the Roadrunner United compilation put out a couple of years back.
