ANTHRAX's BENANTE: 'The Europeans Love The New Shit'

ANTHRAX have confirmed the following North American tour dates during May:

May 06 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory (w/ MINISTRY)
May 07 - Norfolk, VA @ The Norva (w/ MOTÖRHEAD)
May 09 - Worcester, MA @ The Palladium (w/ MOTÖRHEAD)
May 11 - Montreal @ The Medley (w/ MOTÖRHEAD)
May 13 - Mt. Clemens, MI @ Emerald Theater (w/ MOTÖRHEAD)
May 15 - Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theater (w/ MOTÖRHEAD)
May 16 - Chicago, IL @ House Of Blues (w/ MOTÖRHEAD)
May 18 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave (w/ MOTÖRHEAD)
May 20 - Minneapolis, MN @ 1st Avenue (w/ MOTÖRHEAD)

In other news, ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante has posted the following update from the group's current European tour:

"3 more shows to go on this Eurotrek. The German portion of the tour was great. The 2 stand outs were Koln and Ludwigsburg. I felt we played really well and the crowds at both shows were KILLER. There were a bunch of guy's at the Koln show who had Head dresses on and when we played 'Indians'. [Vocalist] John [Bush] had them come up and do a mighty wardance. That's something I won't forget, 2 of them were on my riser and they shaking the shit out of it. I met some great people in Germany this time, Ed who was the promoter rep is the greatest. The Nuclear Blast family, Alex from Berlin, Ingo and Danny from Koln, they were all great. I really appreciate the effort that Danny is putting out, he'll have a German 'THRAX site up in a bit and will be in charge of the street team over here.

"Last night we played Milan, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, my fellow Italianos, you never disappoint. I thought this show was a 10, if I was a baseball pitcher... it would've been a perfect game. Everything was right, the sound was great, I felt great, the audience was great, oh and the food was great. There was a contest held and the winner got to play with us on stage. We picked Claudio as the winner. He got up and did 'Antisocial' with us, he was nervous but he pulled it off really well. LACUNA COIL came out to the show and they were a great bunch of guys and gal. I guess I look like the singer Cristina's favorite soccer player, I gotta find out who this is????

"We have 3 shows left, Barcelona, Madrid and Granada, these should be nuts... we'll see…

"The U.S. tour starts on May 6th, the same day the record is released. We'll play a one off show with MINISTRY in Philly on the 6th. We hook up with MOTÖRHEAD on the 7th in Virginia. We've been spoiled over here by the response, They love the new shit and they sing everything loud and clear at the shows. I don't want to create a weird vibe but... I'm hoping the American shows stand up to these, don't SLEEP on us over there?? This is it, WE'VE COME FOR YOU ALL!!

"The U.S. version of the album will have bonus video footage. The footage was taken from the Volume 8 Tour and was shot in Chicago. We are also including a photo gallery with tons of photos and stuff...it's cool

"You should start hearing 'Safe Home' on the radio (I hope) in a few weeks. If you don't hear it, REQUEST it from you local rock station or whatever it is. Remember what the KISS ARMY did when stations were not playing KISS??? They called and went down to the stations and protested. WE WANT THE AIRWAVES BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK, enough for now.

"They have some great 'Simpsons' shit out here. I was at the airport today and they sold the figures in the gift shop, that's fucking cool. I bought a Krusty and Homer Key chain... it never ends."