Tangra Mega RockВ has previously reported on rumours of a reuniuon, with John (Armored Saint) Bush increasingly disinclined to commit full-time to the band.

However, Anthrax have now officially announced that the man who fronted the band during their most successful era (1984-1992) will be back for the upcoming Sonisphere Festival tour around Europe, when Anthrax are to be on the bill with fellow ‘Big Four Of Thrash’ members Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth.

We’ll be able to see the new/old Anthrax when they appear on the Sonipshere bill in Sofia, Bulgaria on June 22.

“I am super-excited about this,” says guitarist Scott Ian. “Joey and the rest of the band came to see me play at a club in New York, I hadn’t seen Joey for years, since the end of the reunion tour. Joey taps me on the shoulder, instant big hug, it felt like no time had gone by.

“The band dynamic is an interesting one – in Anthrax, Joey and I spent so many years of our lives together, we grew up together, we know each other so well, so it was like no time was lost.”

Belladonna did get back together with Anthrax for a high-profile reunion tour form 2005-7, but then left as the band seemed determined to move forward. He now completes a line-up also featuring (apart from Ian) bassist Frank Bello, drummer Charlie Benante and guitarist Rob Caggianio.

Right after the tour, the band intend to start work on a new album, now due out in 2011. What happens now to the one they recorded with former singer Dan Nelson remains to be seen.