Anthrax is a metal band formed in New York in 1981 by Scott Ian Rosenfeld (the only founding member still playing in the band today) and Dan Lilker. Alongside Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer, Anthrax is one of the so-called "Big Four" of thrash metal.

Initially still clearly influenced by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal or by the varieties of power metal and speed metal influenced by this, Anthrax was significantly involved in the development of thrash metal. The first album Fistful of Metal and the following EP Armed and Dangerous is still somewhat inconsistent in style, but the second album Spreading the Disease is already an almost pure Thrash album.

In the course of the band's history, the band also increasingly opened up to other styles of music. Anthrax is considered to be one of the bands that were largely responsible for the merging of rock and rap into a crossover, mainly thanks to the EP I'm the Man, released in 1987, and Bring the Noise, which was released in 1992 and recorded together with Public Enemy. Later, influences from classic rock and alternative metal were added. Recently there was a return to Thrash Metal. (Source: Wikipedia.de)