POP MUSIC REVIEW : Anthrax Turns Show Into Slam Dance Pit

Anthrax is the speed-metal band your parents might not mind your listening to, a bunch of regular guys who wear jams, read Mad and watch “Yo! MTV Raps” just like any other teen-age kids, guys who write songs about Indian rights and the homeless instead of about Satan or sexist love. They’re not half so into the apocalypse as other headbangers--and their audiences tend to slam-dance instead of brood.

Anthrax, in town to record their fourth album, played a show at the Troubadour Friday to test some new songs in front of a live audience. Anthrax usually plays arenas; to speed-metal fans, scamming a ticket to the last-minute gig was like their parents’ getting in to see Springsteen at the Roxy.

It’s less accurate to say that a slam pit formed than that the entire club turned into a slam pit, bodies thrashing, one small fellow turning repeated back-flips off the stage, a sump of sweat and beer. Half the audience hummed the guitar leads, chanted along with the words, even on Anthrax’s rap song, “I Am the Man,” which never made it onto an album. It was strictly unnecessary for the rest of the band to join in on the choruses. The audience participation was less on the new songs--Joey Belladonna constantly apologized for them. “Yo. I promise. When it’s on the album, you’ll like it,” he said.