"Anthems", Anthrax's long-awaited, eight-track Ep that pays tribute to the classic songs by some of the band's favorite acts from the 1970s, will be released in North America on March 19 (Mri/Megaforce), and on March 22 in Europe (Nuclear Blast).

"Anthems" track listing

01. Anthem (Rush cover)
02. Jailbreak (Thin Lizzy cover)
03. Tnt (Ac/Dc cover)
04. Smokin' (Boston cover)
05. Big Eyes (Cheap Trick cover)
06. Keep On Runnin' (Journey cover)
07. Crawl (album version)
08. Crawl (special remix)

Anthrax's cover of Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak" can be streamed below.

Speaking to Music Radar, Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante stated about the decision to cover "Jailbreak": ""Like Boston, they had the twin-harmony guitars. That kind of approach influenced Iron Maiden, and then Maiden influenced us and the whole thrash metal thing. That's why I went back to Thin Lizzy and Boston — if it weren't for them, you might not have had Iron Maiden and all the bands that came after them.

"Phil Lynott is one of those people who is a god in the U.K. and Europe, but I don't know if he's fully appreciated in the rest of the world like he should be. Some artists just don't get their due.

"I don't know how you can begin to pick between Thin Lizzy songs. 'Jailbreak' is probably an obvious choice for a cover. I might have gone for something more obscure, but when I hear the lyrics to this one — 'Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak somewhere in this town' — I can't deny how cool they are."

The "Anthems" Ep will be available on Cd as well as digitally via iTunes and other online retailers. In addition to "Anthems"' cover art, Benante and artist Stephen Thompson have subtly redesigned each track's original album cover art to "Anthrax" it. The "Anthems" Ep will first be housed in one of the "re-imagined" digipak covers, and then inserted inside the main Cd cover sleeve. The main cover sleeve has been designed in such a way so fans will be able to see which one of the six "re-imagined" covers is inside.

"Anthems" was produced by Anthrax, Jay Ruston and Rob Caggiano and recorded for the most part throughout 2012 literally all over the world: at Benante's home studio, in Ruston's New York studio, on the band's tour bus while on last summer's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, in hotel rooms, and backstage at their Berlin show last December.

The Grammy-nominated Anthrax has just hit the road in support "Anthems" with dates in Australia, and will return to North America to headline the Metal Alliance Tour that kicks off March 22. For all of these dates, Anthrax is being joined by Shadows Fall guitarist Jon Donais.