One of The Big Four turns the big 4-0 this year, and are celebrating with a number of special activities and events to honour the landmark anniversary. Formed by guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Dan Lilker in Queens, NY on July 18th 1981, Anthrax were one of the first thrash metal bands to emerge from the East Coast and quickly became regarded as a leader in the genre alongside Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth.