ANTHRAX And DIXXON FLANNEL CO. Join Forces To Celebrate 'Persistence Of Time'

Dixxon Flannel Co., in collaboration with legendary metal band ANTHRAX, is celebrating 36 years of "Persistence Of Time" with a limited-edition bamboo inspired by the album. "Persistence Of Time"'s earthy album artwork is reworked into the plaid of the bamboo, and ANTHRAX's unmistakable black logo is displayed on the pocket and buttons in classic Dixxon style.

ANTHRAX, considered part of the "Big Four" heavy metal groups, is a pioneer of the genre. They defined the thrash metal scene of the 1980s and were pivotal in the growth of metal on the East Coast while on the way to six Grammy nominations. Their rebellious, authentic, do-it-yourself mentality continues to inspire Dixxon decades after their rise.

The "Persistence Of Time" bamboo is available one-time in a super-limited quantity on Thursday, August 20 at 5 p.m. and is expected to sell out. The flannel comes in men's and women's sizes for $59.99, and youth for $29.99.

In a 2018 interview, ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante called the 1990 album "one of my favorite records to make." He explained: "It was such a great time for the band and for music. We were, I felt, way more experienced. And even the bands that came up with us too had breaking moments at that point too; METALLICA were putting out the 'Black Album'. So things were totally changing. This was around 1990, and I think heavy metal was starting to become a different source for people."

He continued: "I think the 'Persistence' record and the vibe that was around it was so much more… We were so free at that point to do what we wanted, and we weren't worried like we were with the other ones. And the tone of it was just kind of darker, but I think that's because of what we dealt with the prior year or two. We also had a fire during that time [at the band's equipment storage space, destroying over $100,000 of their prized instruments and other gear]. So we were going through just life challenges as a band. And individually too, we were going through things. So I think that record is a complete reflection on us at that time."

"Persistence Of Time" arrived two years after "State Of Euphoria", which saw ANTHRAX radically departing from the "traditional" heavy metal look in favor of a brightly colored "surfer" jam shorts style of appearance. As a result, certain factions of the music media started tearing them down — particularly the notoriously fickle British press.

"I think some of that backlash that happened towards the end of the cycle of ['State Of Euphoria'] had a bit of an effect on us too, which in turn is why the record after that came out to be a bit darker than the 'State Of Euphoria' record," Benante said. "And I think during the 'State Of Euphoria' time, things were starting to get away from us and I think maybe some of us felt that this was kind of becoming a little bit of a… I don't know… We weren't comfortable with things anymore — almost like a parody of what we were starting out to do. And I just think we had to regroup and say, 'Enough. We did this. We wanna go back to the way we were,' in a sense. I think the shorts got out of hand, the goofiness got out of hand — everything was just a little bit blown up to the point where it just didn't feel that we were in control anymore. And like I said, we just needed to kind of regroup. And I think every band goes through a period like that too, where it kind of gets away from you for a little bit. And you just have to be aware enough to know that, 'All right. Let's pull this back a bit.' You know what I mean?"

Photo credit: Dixxon