Anthrax are moving forward after the exit of guitarist Rob Caggiano earlier this year, but bassist Frank Bello says there's still quite a bit of love in the band for their former axeman.

When asked by the New York Metal Music Examiner whether or not the band would invite him back to produce their record or to potentially play with them again, Bello explained, "I can’t tell you what we’re doing right now because we haven’t talked about it and I haven’t heard the songs we’re going to write, but I’m open to it. I know we’re going to write a record this year, but after that, I have no idea what we're going to do. I know we’re really happy with what we’ve done with Rob in the past. I love Rob. We all love Rob and we know he’s a producer, that’s his love. He’s still my friend and lives only fifteen minutes from me so I’ll still see him."

Meanwhile, the band has secured Shadows Fall's Jon Donais in the interim to fill their guitarist vacancy. Donais will play with the band on their Metal Alliance tour here in the U.S., during which the group will celebrate the anniversary of their 'Among the Living' album.

Bello says, "It's crazy. I've got to start learning those songs again. We've got Jon doing the whole leg. The great thing about this kind of stuff is it's an easy call. Jon's a great player, he knows all the songs well, and we get to hang with a good guy."

Even though Dan Spitz played on the 'Among the Living' album, Bello says that Donais was their first call. "We had a couple of other people in mind that we wanted to talk to, but Jon made the most sense," says Bello. "We love Danny, but it made sense for us to get Jon. There's no bitterness toward Danny. We're all friends. He just sent me a Christmas card."

In addition to the 'Among the Living' performances, Anthrax will be promoting their 'Anthems' covers EP, which is due out March 19. The band recently debuted their cover of AC/DC's 'T.N.T.' here at Loudwire and their take on Thin Lizzy's 'Jailbreak' just went up at Noisecreep. The disc is available for pre-order here.

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