Anthrax have announced that Shadows Fall guitarist Jon Donais will step in for the departing Rob Caggiano. Donais will temporarily fill in for Anthrax’s upcoming tour dates in India, the series of Soundwave Festival shows in Australia, and the North American Metal Alliance Tour.

“Jon is a bro and he’s also a total f**king ripper,” said Scott Ian. “I’ve worked with him twice before on side projects and he tears it up. I’m excited to have him on my right burning up the stage with Anthrax. 13′s gonna be a good year.”

“I grew up on Anthrax, they’re the thrash scene, they’re one of The Big Four, I’d be crazy to not want to play with them,” said Donais. “Initially, Rob called and told me he was leaving the band, and asked if I’d be interested in filling in. Then Scott called me and everything fell into place. Rob and I are using Skype to work on solos and other guitar parts, so he’s being great. I also have to give special thanks to my band – Brian, Matt, Jason and Ed – who have been incredibly supportive and encouraged me to do this.

The surprise isn’t that Anthrax’s “I’m Alive” received a Grammy nomination last night for Best Rock/Metal Performance; the surprise is that it comes more than a year after the track’s September 13, 2011 release on the band’s critical smash, Worship Music, which was named was of the best metal albums of 2011 by numerous media outlets, and provided the band with the rock’n'roll comeback story of the year. This is the fourth Grammy nomination for Anthrax – Charlie Benante/drums, Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano/guitars, Frank Bello/bass, Joey Belladonna/vocals.

“I was watching The Dave Matthews Band perform when I received a text saying ‘Congrats on the Grammy nomination!’,” said Benante. “Huh? I had lost all hope of ever being nominated for another Grammy, but I guess I was wrong. We put so much hard work into ‘Worship Music,’ and I am so honored to be nominated with a group of bands that have also sustained the Test of Time like the legendary Maiden and Megadeth. Heavy Metal is a Force, it has fans that range from six to 66, and I’m so proud to be a part of this Force…it’s in all of us.”

Anthrax fans waited eight long years for Worship Music, the band’s first studio album since 2003′s We’ve Come For You All, that features the return of “classic era” vocalist Belladonna making his first Anthrax album in twenty years. Since its September 13 release and subsequent debut at #12 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart, Worship Music has received glowing praise from numerous critics and music tastemakers, including That Metal Show’s Eddie Trunk and Alexander Milas, editor of the UK’s Metal Hammer. Loudwire named it the #1 Metal Album of the Year.

The return of Belladonna and Anthrax’s remarkable renewal began in 2009 in a Cleveland hotel bar. Anthrax’s Benante and Ian, and Metallica’s Lars Ulrich were in town for the Rock’n'Roll Hall of Fame when Lars first brought up the idea of The Big Four – Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax, the four bands that served as the original architects for the “thrash/speed-metal” scene,” yet had never shared the same stage before. The first of (so far) fourteen Big Four events took place on June 16, 2010, culminating in what was Anthrax’s New York homecoming concert – The Big Four at Yankee Stadium on September 14, the day after Worship Music hit stores. “We came into The Big Four as the underdog,” said Benante. “We were the band that had the most to prove, and we’ve worked really, really hard to do that.”

Anthrax continues touring in support of Worship Music having just completed a European tour with Motorhead, and will be announcing North American plans for 2013 shortly.

To our Fans and everyone who has supported Anthrax and Worship Music:

It was a little more than a year ago – September 13, 2011 – that Worship Music was released, and all of us in Anthrax can’t believe how much has happened since then.

Our friends in the press gave the album great reviews, and so many writers singled it out as one of the best metal albums of the year. Our label just told us that Worship Music has just passed the 100,000 mark on albums sold. Since Worship Music’s release, we’ve played 107 concerts all over the world – in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia, South America, and the U.K. – we’ve gone home to New York to not only play Yankee Stadium as one of The Big Four, but had September 14 named “Anthrax Day” in The Bronx, where Charlie, Frankie and Rob grew up.

We’ve been so lucky as a band, and we know we’re able to do what we do because of you, our fans and all of our supporters in the press, at radio and retail, online, on the road, everywhere. We’ve had one of the best years of our career, and we share it all with you. So thank you for making the Anthrax’s “year of Worship Music” the best! More to come!

Frank, Scott, Charlie, Rob and Joey