Biography
Anthrax formed in New York City in the early 1980s and became one of the defining bands of thrash metal, part of the genre's loose "Big Four" alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer.[1] The band's current lineup, guitarists Scott Ian and Jonathan Donais, bassist Frank Bello, drummer Charlie Benante, and vocalist Joey Belladonna, released its twelfth studio album, Cursum Perficio, on September 18, 2026, ten years after 2016's For All Kings and the longest gap between studio records in the band's history.[2]
The long silence between albums wasn't simply a matter of touring schedules. Drummer Charlie Benante has said there was an extended stretch when he had nothing he wanted to say creatively and little interest in writing new music at all, a dry spell compounded by the pandemic years.[3] Recording on Cursum Perficio eventually began in the spring of 2023 at Studio 606 in Northridge, California, with Belladonna's vocal sessions starting that November and mixing not completed until mid-2025, following years of earlier false starts.[2]
The album's title, Latin for roughly "my journey has come to an end," came from an unexpected source: Benante noticed the phrase inscribed on a tile at the entrance of Marilyn Monroe's final home while watching a documentary about her life, and brought it back to his bandmates.[4] The band has been careful to frame the title as the close of a chapter rather than a farewell statement, with Benante noting that Anthrax has completed a specific task rather than reached its end.[2] Guitarist Scott Ian has described the record as a continuation of the band's own creative journey, and has compared it to 1987's Among the Living, one of Anthrax's most celebrated albums.[5]
Benante has credited outside projects, including time spent drumming with Pantera's touring lineup, with sharpening his songwriting for Cursum Perficio, and has said creating music remains his favorite thing to do.[3] Critics have generally responded warmly to the album, with several reviewers ranking it among the band's most accomplished work and praising Belladonna's voice for sounding remarkably close to his original 1980s tone decades into the band's career.[6]
References
- Cursum Perficio (Wikipedia) — Album facts: release date, recording timeline, personnel, track listing, title origin.
- Album Review: Anthrax - Cursum Perficio — Review discussing the band's Big Four status and legacy-act context.
- Charlie Benante On Anthrax's Upcoming Album 'Cursum Perficio' — Interview quotes from Benante on the songwriting process and creative drought.
- ANTHRAX' Charlie Benante, Scott Ian Talk About New Album — Origin story of the album title via the Marilyn Monroe documentary.
- "Not quite the glorious showstopper it could have been" - Anthrax Cursum Perficio review — Review noting Scott Ian's comparison of the album to Among the Living.
- Album Review: Anthrax - Cursum Perficio: Full Throttle And Up There With Their Best — Review praising Belladonna's vocal performance and the album's reception.