Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian has rejected claims that the band are left-wing, after some listeners labeled them that way over “It’s For The Kids“, a song about school shootings.
The track was the first single from Anthrax‘s 12th studio album, Cursum Perficio, released on September 18 through Megaforce in the US and Nuclear Blast in Europe.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times writer Jon Wiederhorn, who co-wrote Ian‘s 2014 autobiography “I’m The Man: The Story Of That Guy From Anthrax“, Ian said: “I’m not a liberal. I’m a centrist. I like skeet shooting and I enjoy going to a range and shooting at targets. But I believe in common sense. And no matter what your political leanings, I think everybody can agree that nobody wants to see an 8-year-old shot in the face, which happens all too often.”
Drummer Charlie Benante added: “I love this country. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have some problems with it…. The way we go about things in this country is just wrong, and it makes me frustrated to the point where I’m like, ‘F**k it. I’ll just put my head down and write a song.'”
Ian first spoke about the song in May, telling Allison Hagendorf that becoming a father had changed how he sees the world: “That’s how I deal with anger. As I’ve learned over the years, anger is fear-based, and certainly having a son has changed my… If it doesn’t change your outlook, there’s something wrong with you, if it doesn’t change the way you feel about things. And, yeah, in some ways, there’s more fear in my life because you have a child, and this world we live in has proven to be not a safe place for children anywhere — not just here in the United States. And I have a lot of fear about that, which then, of course, turns into anger about that because nobody does anything. Nobody does anything. Speaking specifically from my point of view as a tax-paying citizen of the United States, I can safely say that the administration in power does nothing to protect the children of this country and does harm to children of other countries all over the world. And if you disagree with that, you’re wrong. It’s not opinion, it’s fact. And the lyrics to this song are my feelings. And it’s me spewing anger so it doesn’t eat me up.”
He continued: “It’s always been a tool I’ve used since I was a kid, since I first wrote lyrics on an Anthrax record in 1985, it’s been a way for me to vent. And it’s very cathartic and it’s very therapeutic for me. And people say, ‘What do you have to be angry about?’ I’m, like, look out the window, dude. Yeah, I’m in a band. I f**king love what I do. I get to play guitar. It puts a smile on my face the same way it did when I was nine years old. But I’m a human being with normal human emotions and thoughts and maybe too smart for my own good.”
Cursum Perficio is Anthrax‘s first album since 2016’s For All Kings. The title is a Latin phrase usually translated as “I complete my journey” or “my journey is over”. Despite the title, Ian and Benante recently said the band have no plans to retire.
