ANTHRAX's SCOTT IAN: 'The Administration In Power Does Nothing To Protect The Children Of This Country'

In a new interview with Allison Hagendorf, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian spoke about the band's long-awaited twelfth full-length studio album, "Cursum Perficio", which will be released on September 18 via Megaforce in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast in Europe. It marks the band's first record in ten years since 2016's "For All Kings", which debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. The phrase "Cursum Perficio" is Latin for "My journey has come to an end," "My journey is over," or "I complete my journey."

Asked what inspired the "Cursum Perficio" album title, Scott said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Sometimes I'm reticent to define things, how I feel about it, because I want the people who listen to the record, the people who come to the shows, I always want them to take ownership in everything we do and make it their own. So defining lyrics and all that… But for me, 'cause people have been asking us, 'Well, is this your, your way of saying goodbye? Is this your farewell? Is this your last album?' And I'm, like, 'No. We're not saying that.' I'm also not not saying that. But I tend to think if we're gonna say goodbye, we're gonna make more of a big deal about it than just kind of sneaking it in in an album cover and album title and then disappearing. But, for me, it was quite a journey, and it took a lot of perseverance to get from the end of 2019, when we really started working on this record, with the idea that... Because the tour for the previous album, 'For All Kings', ended in November of 2019, and we figured we're gonna break for Christmas and New Year's, and then in January '20 we'll really start working on the record. And then. of course, the world had other ideas for everybody. So, yeah, it pushed the big pause button for, like, two years for us, where many times on Zoom calls with my bandmates, [we were] asking the question, 'Are we ever gonna play a show again?' 'Are we ever gonna make a record?' 'Do we get to be a band again?' 'Do we need to go look for jobs?' 'Am I ever gonna hang out with you again?' It's weird to think that now, but in the summer of 2020, nobody knew, certainly in my world, in the music world, nobody had any idea if venues were gonna open again. Nobody knew. Nobody knew what the fuck was gonna happen. So, in our own little corner of the universe, that was a weird and really scary time, and to think that maybe we don't get to be a band again. Maybe this is it. And, then, of course, eventually doors started opening, and we got to be a band again."

Ian continued: "So it was just quite the epic journey. Then from then really diving in and writing this record and working on it. And the energy in the room the first time we all got back together at some point in '21, I think it was, and me, Frankie [Bello, ANTHRAX bassist] and Charlie [Benante, ANTHRAX drummer], we were out here in this studio in [Southern California], and just the three of us were so happy to be in that room making music. And you could really feel — at least I do, 'cause I was there — but I feel the energy on this record, the gratefulness of us getting to do it again and how exciting that was."

Asked why now is the perfect time for ANTHRAX to release a new album, Ian said: "Well, 'cause we were done, I guess. Well, we finished the record last year. We were done, I think, last fall — it was finished; it was mixed. And then it was just a case of trying to put a timeline together on when and how to release it and all that. And we thought we kind of had that settled, and the record was going to come out earlier this year. And then we decided we needed to clean house on the business side of things. We just were looking at the next two, three years and looking at the album we made, and we just really felt we were being underserved, and we needed to move forward. And it just meant pushing things back a little bit.

"It's really exciting to have this new team behind us and this excitement behind us, and the excitement around the record because it's only a handful of people, really, that have lived with the record at this point, that have heard more than one or two songs," Scott continued. "And the feedback we're getting is great, which makes me happy, 'cause I feel like people hear it the same way I hear it. And especially when people start being very specific about things on the record, I'm, like, 'Oh, you really listened to it.' I love that. But, yeah, it just all started to feel like the right time, especially once we got our new manager in place, and he had a lot of really great things to say that we had never heard before. And you could kick yourself and say, 'Why didn't we do this 10 years ago?' But it doesn't matter. Now is the time. We made the record that needs this. And so it's really all kind of come together at the right time for us."

Scott also talked about "Cursum Perficio"'s first single and video, "It's For The Kids", which has been described in a press release as "a classic ANTHRAX ripper locked and loaded with buzzsaw-sharp riffs, explosive drumming, and a howling and head-banging hook." Regarding the lyrical inspiration for "It's For The Kids", Ian said: "I was definitely... That's how I deal with anger. As I've learned over the years, anger is fear-based, and certainly having a son has changed my... If it doesn't change your outlook, there's something wrong with you, if it doesn't change the way you feel about things. And, yeah, in some ways, there's more fear in my life because you have a child, and this world we live in has proven to be not a safe place for children anywhere — not just here in the United States. And I have a lot of fear about that, which then, of course, turns into anger about that because nobody does anything. Nobody does anything. Speaking specifically from my point of view as a tax-paying citizen of the United States, I can safely say that the administration in power does nothing to protect the children of this country and does harm to children of other countries all over the world. And if you disagree with that, you're wrong. It's not opinion, it's fact. And the lyrics to this song are my feelings. And it's me spewing anger so it doesn't eat me up. It's always been a tool I've used since I was a kid, since I first wrote lyrics on an ANTHRAX record in 1985, it's been a way for me to vent. And it's very cathartic and it's very therapeutic for me. And people say, 'What do you have to be angry about?' I'm, like, look out the window, dude. Yeah, I'm in a band. I fucking love what I do. I get to play guitar. It puts a smile on my face the same way it did when I was nine years old. But I'm a human being with normal human emotions and thoughts and maybe too smart for my own good. [Laughs]"

"Cursum Perficio" will be available as a standard CD; Target-exclusive CD with a fabric patch of the album cover; standard black double LP with pop-up gatefold; Target-exclusive double LP, red zoetrope with pop-up gatefold; Amazon-exclusive double LP, purple zoetrope LP with pop-up gatefold; merch-exclusive lilac vinyl double LP with pop-up gatefold; Metal Injection-exclusive white vinyl double LP with pop-up gatefold; Talk Shop Live-exclusive signed with red ripple vinyl double LP with pop-up gatefold; Indie-exclusive red, orange yellow vinyl double LP with pop-up gatefold.

The "Cursum Perficio" track listing is as follows:

01. Persistence Of Memory
02. The Long Goodbye
03. It's For The Kids
04. Everybody's Got A Plan
05. The Edge Of Perfection
06. Infectious
07. NYC93
08. Cursum Perficio
09. T.O.M.B
10. Watch It Go
11. My Victory

Photo credit: Travis Shinn