Out of every one of the Big 4 of thrash, Anthrax has probably survived the most member change adversity. Even if they have had one of the more Spinal Tap-esque lineups throughout their career with different revolving singers, the core of Charlie Benante and Scott Ian have made for some of the greatest thrash metal of the past many years.
They have had some great players come through their ranks, but one of the recently departed has started to open up about exactly why he left.
In a new interview, Rob Caggiano addressed some of the hangups that he had in Anthrax before deciding to hang it up, saying:
“At that point I had been in the band for a long time, and I kind of felt like my role in the band ran its course, so to speak. And I just kind of felt like I was hitting my head up against a glass ceiling for a long time. And it just felt like I needed a change.”
It’s not like Rob didn’t land on his feet or anything, joining Volbeat right after and bringing a healthy dose of chops into their brand of hard rock. Even during the transition though, Rob said he didn’t harbor any ill will towards the guys in Anthrax, saying:
“I wasn’t feeling inspired. Don’t get me wrong — I love those guys and I loved every minute of my time with them. It was such an amazing, wild ride. But I just felt like I needed to do something else at that time. And the Volbeat thing just happened, and it was organic, and it felt right.”
This wasn’t just a fly-by-night kind of guy either. Over the course of the ‘00s, Rob was a consistent rock throughout Anthrax, steering them through both the John Bush and Joey Belladonna eras of the band and having a hand in production as well.
Anthrax didn’t even begin to slow down picking up the slack, bringing in Jonathan Donais for their next album For All Kings.
Seeing how the last album that Rob worked on was the massive comeback Worship Music though, it’s safe to say that he at least went out on a high note.