Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante recently revealed that the upcoming studio record, follow-up to 2016’s For All Kings, has been officially pushed back to September. However, the extended wait has nothing to do with writer’s block or creative differences in the studio.
While currently touring across Australia, the legendary percussionist spoke with Hot Metal to clarify the situation. The delay comes entirely from a recent shift in the band’s business representation, specifically their new worldwide partnership with Independent Artist Group. Building a cohesive release strategy with fresh faces simply takes time.
“It’s been pushed back because we recently changed the team, management and stuff like that. We wanted the new people coming in, the new team coming in, [to] really know what’s going on, just kinda of have more of a strategic plan,” Benante said.
Despite the album’s delayed arrival, the promotional rollout is just around the corner. A brand new single is scheduled to drop in May, and the drummer promises it will deliver exactly the kind of aggressive energy fans expect from the thrash metal pioneers.
“It’s a great song, that’s all I can say. We wanted the first song to come out to basically represent Anthrax in 2025/2006. So it’s basically a thrasher number, you know?”
Expanding on the overall sonic direction of the highly anticipated LP, Charlie Benante noted that the band is exploring fresh territory while maintaining their heavy foundation. The resulting music showcases a natural evolution of their songwriting abilities.
“There’s elements of the [album] that are very abrasive,” he explained. “There’s elements of the record that … wow, we haven’t gone in this area. And a lot of it, it’s a more grown-up kind of sound. I don’t mean that in a way where it sounds like a Little River Band or anything but it’s just we’re more mature now, and I think the writing shows it. It’s so good. And I’m not gonna say ‘it sounds like this’, ‘it sounds like that’. It’s just a collection of songs where each one stands up right next to the other one.”
Furthermore, listeners won’t have to wait until the fall to hear a significant chunk of the new project. The group plans to drop multiple tracks throughout the summer to build momentum.
“There will be three songs that come out before the record comes out,” he added. “So you will get samples of what this record is before it comes out.”
During a recent appearance on Australia’s “Everblack” podcast, Charlie said: “No, it doesn’t come out in May. We’re putting out our first song and video in May. The record is not coming out till September. We pushed it back a little bit. We just had to do a couple of other things to it. And then we had to, of course, get a release date set. So it got moved to September. And that’s it. It’s coming out in September, but the first song and video will be out in May.”
The forthcoming album will be distributed by Megaforce in North America and Nuclear Blast across Europe. To capture their evolving sound, Anthrax worked extensively at Studio 606 in Northridge, California, the renowned recording facility owned by Dave Grohl. Once again, the group enlisted the expertise of producer Jay Ruston, continuing a highly successful creative partnership that previously birthed their last two critically acclaimed studio efforts, 2011’s Worship Music and 2016’s For All Kings.
