I’ve interviewed Anthrax’s Frank Bello many times over the past decade and a half. And aside from the obligatory and symbiotic nature of discussing details about the next Anthrax album or tour, Frank is always relaxed and personable – like sitting down with an old friend to reconnect. But regardless of whether he’s amped about the band’s upcoming release or sounding fatigued after several solid months of touring, he still manages to interface with honesty and humility.
Written in an easy conversational tone, Bello’s memoir, Fathers, Brothers, and Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, and Anthrax, allows any reader to feel as if they are the friend who’s sitting down with him to catch up on life, only better. This isn’t a cache of rock and roll bragging rights about things like platinum records, globe trotting concert tours, and gold-plated Ferraris. Although, Anthrax has certainly racked up a slew of stellar accomplishments over their 40-year career and it would be well within Bello’s right if he did want to highlight those achievements. But instead Bello speaks candidly and with utter honesty about every aspect of his life including the grief he’s endured having been abandoned by his father as a young man and coping with the unsolved murder of his brother, as well as facing his own character flaws and how he still struggles with some of them to this day. And – well, feelings. It’s unfortunate how many stereotypes exist in the world regarding men not being able to express their feelings – – – let alone a ‘metal guy’ showing any sort of a ‘softer’ side! But Bello is as multifaceted as anyone – and he owns it.
And yes, of course there are plenty of Anthrax stories and insights throughout the pages of this book, how could there not be? But at the heart of this personal account is – as the title implies – Frank Bello the father, the brother, the son, and the man, and all of the real things both good and bad that he’s been though in his life. The real person – not a personification of the ultimate rock star, but someone that every one of us can relate to.
