By STEVE MASCORD
DRUMMER Charlie Benante has revealed the precise reason for Anthrax’s latest album being delayed until September – and it’s not creative.
Anthrax are currently on tour in Australia and in a round of interviews to promote the tour, Benante revealed the thrash titans’ first album since 2016’s For All Kings – produced by Jay Ruston and finished in November – had been delayed. He told one outlet “we just had to do a couple of other things to it”,
But speaking to Hot Metal, Benante said the delay was directly related to Anthrax signing with the company that represents Pantera, of which he is also a member, IAG.
“It’s been pushed back because we recently changed the team, management and stuff like that,” he said.
“We wanted the new people coming in, the new team coming in, (to) really know what’s going on, just kinda have more of a strategic plan.”
Pollstar reported on March 12 that Anthrax would receive worldwide representation via IAG’s Peter Pappalardo and Nick Storch.
Asked if the link to IAG had come through his involvement in rebooted Pantera, Benante said: “Yeah, maybe it’s a little bit of a link – all in a good way.”
Discussing the new single – unnamed and out in May – and album, Benante said: “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?
“There’s elements of the (album) that are very abrasive. There’s elements of the record that … wow, we haven’t gone in this area. And a lot of it, it’’s a more grownup 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 going to 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.
“There will be three songs that come out before the record comes out. So you will get samples of what this record is before it comes out … I really think the Megadeth thing, having a number one record, I think was a great thing.”
Remaining Australian Anthrax dates
March 26: Festival Hall, Melbourne
March 28: Enmore Theatre, Sydney
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