Anthrax and Megadeath fans prepare: two forces have collaborated for thrash-metal supergroup. Bassists Frank Bello and David Ellefson are joining to form Altitudes and Attitude, with an album set to release on January 16, 2019.
The album titled Get Out features songs that have been in the works for Bello and Ellefson for four years. “I’ve learned that writing songs is very cathartic,” says Bello. “A lot of these lyrics are about the inner struggles of my life, and about the rage that has built up from my life experiences—my brother’s murder; my father abandoning my family when we were young, leaving us with no funds to pay the bills. … The ups and downs of life in general. I’ve always had an anger inside that music really helps me deal with.”
Ellefson adds “The album has the perfect title. This is music that has been living inside of us for so long. There’s a big musical part of each of us that doesn’t get heard anywhere else.”
The pair initially collaborated in 2010 when they began touring together to lead bass clinics for amp manufacturer, Hartke. The began writing together, discovering and fueling a chemistry that worked. In early 2014 Altitudes and Attitude debuted a self-titled, three-song EP which received airplay on SiriusXM and earned them an appearance on VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show.
“A&A could have only happened at this moment in time” Ellefson explains. “When you’re still climbing up the hill, there’s no room for friendly competition. But once you’ve been to the top of the hill and you’ve seen the view… it’s OK to break bread, hang out, have a drink. To hear other sides of us as artists—not just as musicians and performers, but as artists.”
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