ANTHRAX Recruits RAVEN/Ex-FEAR FACTORY Drummer MIKE HELLER As Last-Minute Fill-In For CHARLIE BENANTE In San Antonio

ANTHRAX recruited former FEAR FACTORY and current RAVEN drummer Mike Heller to sit behind the kit for the New York thrash metal legends' September 29 concert at Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas as the support act for IRON MAIDEN and MEGADETH. Heller, who resides in San Antinio, filled in for ANTHRAX's longtime drummer Charlie Benante, who was unable to make the gig for reasons which were not disclosed.

Shortly after the concert, Heller took to his social media to write: "So I woke up today thinking that I was gonna spend a nice day with my cats and my drumpad… then out of absolutely nowhere at 2:00pm I get a call from my buddy Dirk Verbeuren [MEGADETH drummer]… he asks me if I'm in town tonight, and if I might know any ANTHRAX songs, and if I can fill in for Charlie Benante at 6:30pm tonight on the MAIDEN / MEGADETH / ANTHRAX tour…. Well… I didn't know any ANTHRAX songs on the drums, but I quickly charted two out, raced down to the Alamodome… sat in traffic and got thrown to the wrong place to park.. finally got inside, sat down with the guys in ANTHRAX for less than an hour… charted the other songs as they told me how the versions they play live are different from the album… and then went on stage in front of 56,000 people or whatever, and did my best... Holy crap! How the HELL did I get here?!?!

"I have to thank Jon Donais, Frank Bello, Scott Ian, Joey Belladonna, Armando Aguirre, Paul Collis and all the ANTHRAX crew for having faith in me to be able to pull this off… and of course Dirk and Chris Jericho for vouching for me!!

"I still have no idea what happened! Next time, I hope I get more than a few hours to try to learn the songs… and hopefully I would actually be able to move the drums into a comfortable playing position for me… but this is a night I will never forget!"

Fan-filmed video of ANTHRAX's performance with Heller can be seen below.

Beginning around 2012, Benante missed certain shows on ANTHRAX's tours due to his long-running battle with carpal tunnel syndrome, a repetitive stress condition that happens when a person does repeated movements with the hand and wrist. More recently, he missed ANTHRAX dates due to his touring commitments with the reformed PANTERA, with whom he has been performing live since late 2022.

A few years ago, Charlie told San Antonio Metal Music Examiner about his inability to make all the dates on ANTHRAX's tours: "Unfortunately, we're like athletes, and like athletes, they suffer from certain things. I suffer from carpal tunnel problems. But I try and do as much as I could when I can. So we still wanna keep the band… We don't wanna disappoint people. So that's why we do it that way."

Back in 2021, Benante spoke to the "Drum For The Song" podcast about how he was finally able to overcome his battle with carpal tunnel syndrome. He said: "I was suffering so much from it because I would go out and start playing the show, and then, by the fifth song, my hand would just go numb; I couldn't feel the stick. I tried so many different things, from acupuncture to physical therapy. I even had a can of the spray air that when you turn it upside down, it gets really cold — I would do that to try to get the feeling back. I tried so many things, but I knew at the end of the day I was gonna have to have the surgery. And Paiste cymbals referred me to a doctor that one of their other drummers went to and was such a great doctor. [He] talked me through the whole thing, and my recovery was quick, and, to this day, it's awesome."

Benante urged fellow drummers suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome to find a surgeon with experience and expertise in the condition before undergoing the operation. "Make sure you find a good doctor, because I've seen drummers that have had [huge] scars," he said. "And [on my arm] you can't even see anything, where he went in. So you have to be careful."

ANTHRAX is touring in support of its twelfth full-length studio album, "Cursum Perficio", which arrived on September 18 via Megaforce in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast in Europe. The phrase "Cursum Perficio" is Latin for "My journey has come to an end," "My journey is over," or "I complete my journey."

"Cursum Perficio" marks ANTHRAX's first record in ten years since 2016's "For All Kings", which debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200.

ANTHRAX celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2021 with a number of special activities and events. Formed by guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Dan Lilker in Queens, New York on July 18, 1981, ANTHRAX was one of the first thrash metal bands to emerge from the East Coast and quickly became regarded as a leader in the genre alongside METALLICA, SLAYER and MEGADETH.

Active over the past five decades, ANTHRAX has released 12 studio albums, been awarded multiple gold and platinum certifications, received six Grammy nominations, toured the world since 1984 playing thousands of shows, including headlining Madison Square Garden and playing Yankee Stadium with the "Big Four".