ANTHRAX Is Planning Expanded Reissue Of 'Persistence Of Time' Album, Says CHARLIE BENANTE

ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante has confirmed that the band will release a 30th-anniversary edition of the band's 1990 album "Persistence Of Time". Calling the disc "one of my favorite records to make," he told "Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon" that the upcoming reissue will include "a lot" of bonus material.

Benante said (hear audio below): 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 invididually 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?"

According to Charlie, it will be a while longer before the "Persistence Of Time" expanded reissue is ready for release. "I don't wanna put that out prematurely," he said. "I wanna definitely get the best of the best on that one and make it special."

The 30th-anniversary edition of "State Of Euphoria" was released in October through Island Records/UMe. The album was available as a 2-CD deluxe edition and as a 2-LP set on standard back vinyl or in limited-edition red and yellow colored vinyl.