CHARLIE BENANTE On ANTHRAX's Upcoming Album 'Cursum Perficio': 'It's A Culmination Of Different Eras, Different Moods, Different Ideas'

In a new interview with Erin Greatrix of This Day In Metal, ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante 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 about the musical direction of the new LP, Charlie said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think the direction is a direction that we felt… Over the years our fans got to know different aspects of ANTHRAX, different sounds, different styles, different singers. And I think we basically took a lot of that and put it into this record. So it's a culmination of different eras, different moods, different ideas."

Charlie continued: "The first song that we released, which was 'It's For The Kids', we wanted to put something out first that really represented how we felt, how we sounded, and almost like, 'This is for you. This is for the fans.' And that was our mindset, really."

Referencing the decade-long gap between "For All Kings" and "Cursum Perficio", Benante said: "I know everybody says, 'Why 10 years?' I almost said 'seven years', because I don't count the pandemic. It just took that long because I really didn't have anything inside, me personally, I didn't have anything to say. I wasn't interested in making new music at that point. I wanted to have something that really expressed where we are, and all that time just created different things — took from this, took from that, and it's a culmination of all those years, and that's what this record basically represents, all those years of different things coming inside."

Asked what still inspires him to create new music after four and a half decades, Charlie said: "I love it. I love the band. I love the music. My favorite thing is creating. If I could do that 24/7, I would do that 24/7. That's the place where I love the most — in the studio just creating stuff. So for me to get back on that horse and start writing again, that was a very exciting point. It's, like, 'Yes, here we go again.' So I welcomed it, and I just welcomed anything that was gonna come into my head. Wherever the songs come from, just let it come."

Benante also touched upon his recent revelation that some of the musical ideas on "Cursum Perficio" were years old, while others were scrapped to make room for the newer stuff because it was even stronger. He said: "What had happened, there's, like, two songs that were from 2015 — not that old, but definitely it wasn't 2021, '22. But those songs were really strong, and those riffs were really strong, and they made their way into the album. And then some of the songs were written... Like, I would do a bunch of demos, and I would just throw them in a Dropbox. And then Scott [Ian, ANTHRAX guitarist] hit me up one day, and he's, like, 'I didn't know about this song. I didn't know about that song.' And I'm, like, 'Yeah, I just did it and threw it in the Dropbox.' So they were just sitting there, and one of those songs turned out to be 'It's For The Kids'."

Benante also talked about the fact that ANTHRAX played "It's For The Kids" live for the first time during the band's concert on May 26 at Vasil Levski Stadium in Sofia, Bulgaria as the support act for IRON MAIDEN. He said: "Well, we've been attempting to play it out here on some of these shows, and the first time we played it, it was about 85% good. 15% we were a little shaky. And then the next time we played it, it went up to 93%. And then the last time we played it, it was fine.

"I don't know if other bands go through this, but when you record a song, you're not thinking about performing it," Charlie explained ."You're just thinking about recording it and getting it right and everything. And then there comes a time when it's, like, 'Now I have to perform this song. How am I gonna pull this off?' So you gotta play it until that muscle memory comes, and you just play it like you've been playing it forever. Plus, we've been playing it in front of IRON MAIDEN fans, which is a great test, 'cause it goes over very well. So, yeah, we're just kind of getting to play these songs. And every time you play a new song live, it takes on that live atmosphere, and then you may change a thing here or there. You know how it evolves. It's the way it is. Playing a song live, it evolves."

Asked how his ongoing gig as PANTERA's drummer changed his approach to songwriting in ANTHRAX, Charlie said: "I think it's made me better, actually. If I'm writing a riff and it's, like, 'This is not good. I would never show this to the guys,' I throw it away or save it. But doing the PANTERA stuff, it's, it's been very helpful to me, actually, to play those songs and live with those songs, and it definitely inspired one of the songs on this new record, a song called 'Watch It Go', which is — it has a Dimebag [late PANTERA guitarist Darrell Abbott] feel to it. And 'Watch It Go', the title, was something that he would say all the time. He'd go, 'Watch it go,' and he just had these Dime phrases that he would use. And for me it's like having him somewhere on the record because if he was alive, he'd probably be on the record featured somewhere."

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

"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.

"It's For The Kids" was previously 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. It undoubtedly has all the makings of a future live staple."

The band dove into recording "Cursum Perficio" in earnest during 2022, working out of Dave Grohl's Studio 606 in Los Angeles. They carefully pieced together what would be this magnum opus, mining their history with reverence, delivering on fan expectations tenfold, and broadening the scope of their signature sound. Produced by Jay Ruston and ANTHRAX, the result is an album that's as angry, aggressive, and alive as their most celebrated fare.

"It was quite a journey from the inception of this album to its completion," Ian previously said. "We were supposed to make this in 2020, but the universe had other plans for everyone. After the pandemic, we got to be a band again. When we started working on the record, we were just happy to be in a room together. It was so exciting that it was like being reborn in a way. All of that energy and emotion went into the music. The fear of being forced out of our lives and the joy of coming back together are present. The title 'Cursum Perficio' feels like ANTHRAX. It resembled what we went through to get to the point of finishing the record."

"There was an awful lot of growth between 'Worship Music' in 2011 and 'Cursum Perficio'," Benante elaborated. "This album is a culmination of everything we've learned. I was watching a Marilyn Monroe documentary, and I saw 'Cursum Perficio' written on a tile in her last home. When I found out what the phrase meant, it immediately clicked with me. We aren't saying this is our last record, but our journey has come to an end. I believe we've completed the task."

"We had to make 'Fistful Of Metal' and 'Spreading The Disease' to be able to write 'Among The Living'," Ian explained. "In the same respect, it took 'Worship Music' and 'For All Kings' for us to be able to write 'Cursum Perficio'. I very much compare this record to 'Among The Living'."

"We left it all on the table," agreed ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello. "We really know who we are as ANTHRAX, what turns us on, and what we need to do. I don't think anybody knows what's next, but we're hungrier than ever. From here on out, we're going to go full throttle for every fucking minute."

"A friend of mine said, 'It's For The Kids' is a straight-up love letter to your fans,'" Ian said. "That's exactly what I wanted it to be. The album needed a four-minute thrash song that harkened back to our first era. Whether it's the aggression or the big chorus, it represents all the best parts of ANTHRAX in a very angry four-minute package. For the video, we wanted to throw back to our 'Madhouse' video — thematically it just made sense and this idea opened the door for us to share the experience with our fans. For all of us!"

"The video for 'It's For the Kids' turned out really well," Benante said. "I don't necessarily like doing videos and this one had elements of things that I really love. There were fans in it, they showed up, they enjoyed it, it made me enjoy the video just seeing them enjoy it. Hearing the song for the first time, their reaction to it, and just the interaction with them was just great. I think the director did a great job on it. It's kind of a throwback to our first ever video, 'Madhouse'. So I think fans are gonna see it and think 'oh look at that, I see what they did.' But yeah, great song and a great video. 'It's For the Kids' is one of the songs that I felt was so strong, and the riff behind it and the rhythm behind it was almost like a tug of war, it's like a push-pull. It has this tension to it where the drums are just playing at a high pace speed, and the guitars are doing pretty much quarter notes with it. And the drums are just going full speed ahead. One of my favorite songs on the record and one of my favorite riffs. I really think this song is a gift to ANTHRAX fans who have been with us throughout the years. This basically is ANTHRAX at its best. Fast-paced, thrashing, melodic fucking metal."

Photo credit: Travis Shinn