Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian admits he was nervous about writing lyrics for their track Blood Eagle Wings.
But he believes the result was worth the effort – and he’s described it as the “centrepiece” of latest album For All Kings.
The band released an eight-minute torture-themed video for the song last week.
Ian tells Louder Noise: “The working title was Epic because it just had a feeling about it. It took a long time – it’s one of the last songs that got finished. It carried over for months and months. It deserved that.”
He adds: “Lyrically it was the hardest for me to write. I was so nervous to do justice to the arrangement. I didn’t know what I was going to say. Somehow I cracked that nut.”
He previously summed up the lyrical content by saying: “Any great city, whether it’s London, Rome, Paris, New York, Los Angeles – these cities are alive because of how many people were killed to make them what they are. How much blood was spilled over time.”
Director Jack Bennett said the video “serves this concept that progress is brutal. Civilisations progress in a way that is violent.”
For All Kings was released last month. Anthrax are currently touring South America with Iron Maiden.
