Dan Spitz — born in the United States on 28 January 1963 — was Anthrax's lead guitarist in the classic line-up, between 1983 and 1995. His function in the band complemented Scott Ian's: while Ian hammered rhythm riffs with almost mechanical precision, Spitz played the solos, with fast, high phrasing inherited from traditional heavy metal. He is on Spreading the Disease (1985), Among the Living (1987), State of Euphoria (1988), Persistence of Time (1990) and Sound of White Noise (1993) — that is, across the whole period that established Anthrax among the four great names of American thrash. What makes his path singular comes afterwards. On leaving the band in 1995 he abandoned music and went to study watchmaking in Switzerland, qualifying in high mechanical horology and working professionally on movements for luxury brands. It is a craft of millimetric precision, at the opposite extreme from the stage, and he practised it for years before reappearing sporadically at band reunions.
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