Ten years after releasing their last record, 2016’s For All Kings, Anthrax is finally readying their 12th studio effort, due out in early 2026.
As guitarist Scott Ian tells ABC Audio, he’s less concerned with how long it’s taken to put out a new record than he is with making sure it’s the best album it can be.
“I don’t put any weight on how long it’s been,” Ian shares. “All I give a s*** about is if we’re happy with what we’re putting out, and we are.”
“If it took us 10 years or took us 10 days or we never put one out, it doesn’t matter,” he continues. “All that matters is that we love what we’ve done, and it’s gonna come out.”
For their first album of the 2020s, Anthrax remains unconcerned with what music is doing and where it’s going outside of them.
“The most important thing is that we’re not following any trends on this record,” says drummer Charlie Benante. “We’re just kinda taking off where Anthrax last left off, and moving forward in that direction.”
That includes writing riffs that would give their younger selves a run for their money.
“Sometimes I’ll complain, I’ll be, like, ‘These aren’t riffs meant to be played by a guy my age,'” Ian says of playing Anthrax’s earlier stuff. “But then at the same time, we write this new record and there’s more challenging and fast and difficult stuff to play on this record than we’ve ever had. And I love that.”
“I love the fact that it’s not, like, ‘Well, I’m 60 now, and we’re just gonna play some chords,'” he continues. “The album is so riff-centric and brutal and difficult and intense and a lot of fun to play.”
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