August 07th 1990
I was tired of the standard radio fair of Glam rock style, and the ever always last gasps of the Arena rock era. Anthrax was the first metal band I was introduced to in the fall of 1990 by a high school student whom let me borrow his cassette tape version.
While I had an already indirect connection to the modern music era which was already in the downward slide by the early 90s. In a very strange occurrence Anthrax was that band which opened the door to other more interesting musical sounds I eventually found in my journey.
The presentation or drive, and power was something I was unprepared for and yet it clicked instantly. I fell in love with the production of Mark Dodson, partly because at that time there wasn't that many records who used a kind of 'deadening imperfect sound'. There are hallmarks of perfected performances, as I could follow to a certain degree Charlie Benante's impeccable drumming. Whereas their lone cover of Joe Jackson's Got The Time cemented them as super cool.
Persistence Of Time is a record filled with apt rhythm bass/guitar, drumming, and a whole lot tunneled punch. The one quibble I felt about Persistence was Joey's vocals, his performance relied more on his frontal arch of prior records like State Of Euphoria, Among The Living, and Spreading The Disease, with this record he was aptly subdued, letting the musicians poke, and prod forth.
I kind of wondered and sensed the players of Scott Ian, Dan Spitz, and Frank Bello were more influenced by Metallica's ...And Justice For All construction, because that production carried over with Persistence Of Time recording sessions. Because this record to me had that very deliberate intention or vibe, but still having a distinct Anthrax staple.
This record was my first introduction to the metal music style. The early fall of 1990 really opened my listening experiences up more, and this band was my go to with branching out further into the metal arena.
I was excited, and curious to find what else was out there that I had been unaware of. For that Persistence is and will be that first 'holy shit' record that opened my ears to a more harsher, grittier, and pummeling sound.
*8/21/19 Update* https://loudwire.com/anthrax-persistence-of-time-album-anniversary/
I happened to traverse this article from Loudwire about the making of this record, and the general thought was frustration with trying to find a way to make Persistence sound much darker in tone and theme. The levied complaint was more directed at Joey Belladonna (which I think tends to be a cop out, rather than address the underlying problem which was ...And Justice For All made this sound more appealing). It doesn't help the fact that so much of what Mr Ian is presenting here leans more on the popularity of Alice in Chains whom they toured with in 1991 with Clash of The Titans, this to me gives a little more validity to the thought process he was thinking of going into, and Joey was the fodder to that whim.
I am confident in my assessment because at that time I felt this record awoke something within my growing palate. While its been 29 years, the whole presentation still (to me) was a breath of fresh air. Its not a perfect record, some of songs lose its intensity as more prominent records came out changing the soundscape that much more. But there is no denying, Joey's departure was an odd thing to accept, and whence John Bush was introduced, 'Thrax went in a different direction altogether.
Thanks for reading.
B.
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