In an interview with Australia’s Everblack podcast, ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante spoke about the band’s long-awaited new studio album, which is due later this year in North America via Megaforce and in Europe through Nuclear Blast. The mixing sessions, as well as some of the recording sessions, for the LP took place at Dave Grohl‘s Studio 606 in Northridge, California. ANTHRAX once again worked with producer Jay Ruston, who previously helmed 2016’s “For All Kings” and 2011’s “Worship Music” albums.

Asked if the new ANTHRAX album is still scheduled to come out in May, Benante said: “No, it doesn’t come out in May. We’re putting out our first song and video in May. The record is not coming out till September. We pushed it back a little bit. We just had to do a couple of other things to it. And then we had to, of course, get a release date set. So it got moved to September. And that’s it. It’s coming out in September, but the first song and video will be out in May.”

After the interviewer noted that ANTHRAX has been teasing one of the songs during its recent live shows, Charlie said: “We play a little piece of one of the songs. We played it on this Canadian run (with MEGADETH and EXODUS) that we just came back from. But I could see us kind of expanding it a bit for our friends in Australia (on the upcoming Australian tour in late March), maybe playing a little more, because, for me, it’s become so hard to just contain this, because I’m so excited about it. I’m so happy about it. This record is really, really good.”

Regarding ANTHRAX‘s touring plans in support of the upcoming LP, Benante said:  ”The ANTHRAX record is a very important release to us. So we’re gonna, of course, make the time to fulfill doing as many shows as we possibly could in support of this record.

“It’s such a different time nowadays,” he continued. “If this was 20 years ago, we’d be talking differently about how we’re going to march this record out. But these days it’s, like, I often said, what does a new record mean to people these days? I just feel like music has become so disposable that if I was gonna make a record, another record, and put my heart into it, I want people to anticipate, I want them to get ready to hear it. Because this record is not three or four songs deep of good songs and then the rest is shit. Every song on this record stands on its own. I mean, when one song finishes and the next one comes up, it’s just, like, ‘Holy shit. This one’s fucking just as good as the last.'”