Anthrax Played New Song Snippet With Vocals in Adelaide — Fall Album Still Coming
Ten years. That's how long it's been since For All Kings dropped in 2016. And while Anthrax has spent the past few weeks doing press in Australia, previewing the incoming album, the Hindley St Music Hall crowd in Adelaide got something a little more concrete on March 25 — an actual snippet of a new song, including lead vocals from Joey Belladonna.
This isn't the first time the band has teased new material on the current Australian run. They played a different snippet during their Canadian dates supporting Megadeth earlier this year. But the Adelaide clip stands out because it's more fully formed — Belladonna's vocals are in the mix, which gives it a different weight than a studio-floor riff pass.
What Benante Has Said About the Album
Charlie Benante has been in interview mode all week, and he's been unusually candid about where the record sits. Speaking to Hot Metal in Australia, he offered the clearest picture of the album yet.
"There's elements of the record that are very abrasive," Benante said. "There's elements of the record that… wow, we haven't gone in this area. And a lot of it, it's a more grown-up kind of sound. I don't mean that in a way where it sounds like a Little River Band or anything — but it's just, we're more mature now, and I think the writing shows it. It's so good."
He confirmed three singles before the record drops: "There will be three songs that come out before the record comes out. So you will get samples of what this record is before it comes out."
The first single arrives in May.
Joey Belladonna Is the Story
One of the clearest signals about where this album lands is what everyone involved is saying about Belladonna's performance. Frank Bello told SiriusXM earlier this year that it's "one of the best singing he's done on an Anthrax record," and Benante has been consistent in praising the producer relationship that makes that possible.
"I would say Jay [Ruston] understands us more so than anyone else, and especially helping Joey achieve his goals as a vocalist," Benante said. "He just has such a really good working relationship with Joey as well."
Ruston produced both Worship Music (2011) and For All Kings (2016) — the two-album run widely considered Anthrax's strongest since the Persistence of Time era. Having him back for the third consecutive album suggests continuity rather than reinvention, even if the content itself is pushing new territory.
Studio 606, Megaforce, and a Strange Album Title
Some of the recording and mixing sessions took place at Dave Grohl's Studio 606 in Northridge, California — not a typical Anthrax environment, but one that's hosted some heavy records over the years.
The North American release comes through Megaforce Records, with Nuclear Blast handling Europe. That split reflects Anthrax's long-standing relationship with the labels that defined their career arc on both sides of the Atlantic.
As for the album title, Benante's been cryptic but deliberate. "It's a very strange title," he admitted. "It came to me one night. And where we are at this point in our careers, in our life, the title pretty much dictates where we are."
Album artwork was created in collaboration with artist Mark Stutzman — the same illustrator Benante spotted while watching a David Blaine documentary. Benante described wanting something that evoked vintage Houdini posters and Coney Island fair art. The visual direction alone suggests something less predictable than standard thrash metal iconography.
The Australian Run and What Comes Next
Anthrax launched the Australian tour on March 23 in Brisbane, played Adelaide on the 25th, Melbourne on the 26th, and wrapped in Sydney on March 28. This has been their first Australian run in a while, and they've treated it as a ground-level preview campaign for a record the metal world has been waiting on for a decade.
The band has repeatedly said they'll tour extensively in support of the new LP. Benante told Australia's Everblack podcast: "The Anthrax record is a very important release to us. So we're gonna make the time to fulfill doing as many shows as we possibly could in support of this record."
With the first single dropping in May, the full album expected this fall, and already three live tease moments logged on this Australian run, the rollout is underway whether the release date has been officially nailed or not.
Ten years is a long time. But Anthrax has made it clear they're not treating this like a comeback. They're treating it like a statement.
