In a recent interview with Erin Greatrix of “This Day In Metal“, Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante opened up about the band’s highly anticipated twelfth studio album, Cursum Perficio. Set to arrive on September 18 via Megaforce Records in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast in Europe, the record marks the thrash metal pioneers’ first full-length release since 2016’s For All Kings, which debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. The upcoming album’s Latin title translates to phrases such as “My journey has come to an end,” “My journey is over,” or “I complete my journey.”
When discussing the sonic direction of the new LP, Benante explained that the record encapsulates the band’s extensive history.
“I think the direction is a direction that we felt… Over the years our fans got to know different aspects of Anthrax, different sounds, different styles, different singers. And I think we basically took a lot of that and put it into this record. So it’s a culmination of different eras, different moods, different ideas,” Charlie Benante stated.
The drummer also touched on the significance of the album’s lead single, “It’s For The Kids“.
“The first song that we released, which was ‘It’s For The Kids‘, we wanted to put something out first that really represented how we felt, how we sounded, and almost like, ‘This is for you. This is for the fans.’ And that was our mindset, really,” he explained.
Addressing the long wait between For All Kings and Cursum Perficio, the musician noted that he subtracts the pandemic years from the timeline and explained his need for genuine inspiration before writing.
“I know everybody says, ‘Why 10 years?’ I almost said ‘seven years’, because I don’t count the pandemic. It just took that long because I really didn’t have anything inside, me personally, I didn’t have anything to say. I wasn’t interested in making new music at that point. I wanted to have something that really expressed where we are, and all that time just created different things — took from this, took from that, and it’s a culmination of all those years, and that’s what this record basically represents, all those years of different things coming inside.”
Despite a career spanning over four decades, Benante‘s passion for the creative process remains a primary driving force.
“I love it. I love the band. I love the music. My favorite thing is creating. If I could do that 24/7, I would do that 24/7. That’s the place where I love the most — in the studio just creating stuff. So for me to get back on that horse and start writing again, that was a very exciting point. It’s, like, ‘Yes, here we go again.’ So I welcomed it, and I just welcomed anything that was gonna come into my head. Wherever the songs come from, just let it come,” he stated.
He further revealed that the new album blends fresh material with older ideas that were left unused, some dating back nearly a decade. He credited Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian with uncovering some of the hidden tracks.
He explained: “What had happened, there’s, like, two songs that were from 2015 — not that old, but definitely it wasn’t 2021, ’22. But those songs were really strong, and those riffs were really strong, and they made their way into the album. And then some of the songs were written… Like, I would do a bunch of demos, and I would just throw them in a Dropbox. And then Scott hit me up one day, and he’s, like, ‘I didn’t know about this song. I didn’t know about that song.’ And I’m, like, ‘Yeah, I just did it and threw it in the Dropbox.’ So they were just sitting there, and one of those songs turned out to be ‘It’s For The Kids‘.”
Anthrax recently debuted “It’s For The Kids” live on May 26 at Vasil Levski Stadium in Sofia, Bulgaria, while acting as the support act for Iron Maiden. Benante detailed the complex transition from recording a track to performing it on stage.
“Well, we’ve been attempting to play it out here on some of these shows, and the first time we played it, it was about 85% good. 15% we were a little shaky. And then the next time we played it, it went up to 93%. And then the last time we played it, it was fine. I don’t know if other bands go through this, but when you record a song, you’re not thinking about performing it,” Benante continued. “You’re just thinking about recording it and getting it right and everything. And then there comes a time when it’s, like, ‘Now I have to perform this song. How am I gonna pull this off?’ So you gotta play it until that muscle memory comes, and you just play it like you’ve been playing it forever. Plus, we’ve been playing it in front of Iron Maiden fans, which is a great test, ’cause it goes over very well. So, yeah, we’re just kind of getting to play these songs. And every time you play a new song live, it takes on that live atmosphere, and then you may change a thing here or there. You know how it evolves. It’s the way it is. Playing a song live, it evolves.”
Finally, the drummer discussed how his current stint touring with Pantera has elevated his songwriting approach for Anthrax, directly inspiring a new track that pays homage to late Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott.
“I think it’s made me better, actually. If I’m writing a riff and it’s, like, ‘This is not good. I would never show this to the guys,’ I throw it away or save it. But doing the Pantera stuff, it’s, it’s been very helpful to me, actually, to play those songs and live with those songs, and it definitely inspired one of the songs on this new record, a song called ‘Watch It Go‘, which is — it has a Dimebag feel to it. And ‘Watch It Go’, the title, was something that he would say all the time. He’d go, ‘Watch it go,’ and he just had these Dime phrases that he would use. And for me it’s like having him somewhere on the record because if he was alive, he’d probably be on the record featured somewhere,” he concluded.
For the new album, Anthrax once again teamed up with veteran producer Jay Ruston, who previously helmed both For All Kings and 2011’s Worship Music. Portions of the recording and mixing sessions took place at Dave Grohl‘s renowned Studio 606 in Northridge, California.
Cursum Perficio track listing:
- “Persistence of Memory“
- “The Long Goodbye“
- “It’s for the Kids“
- “Everybody’s Got a Plan“
- “The Edge of Perfection“
- “Infectious“
- “NYC 93“
- “Cursum Perficio“
- “T.O.M.B.“
- “Watch It Go“
- “My Victory“
