ANTHRAX Break Down Cover Artwork For New ‘Cursum Perficio’ Album With Weekly Animated Clips Describing The Characters Featured On The Cover; First Clip Out Now
In anticipation of the September 18 release of their long-awaited 12th full-length studio album CURSUM PERFICIO via Megaforce Records, ANTHRAX are rolling out uniquely animated short clips based on the album cover, with the first clip shared yesterday (July 28). The multi-GRAMMY® Award-nominated New York hard rock titans—Scott Ian (guitar), Charlie Benante (drums), Frank Bello (bass), Joey Belladonna (vocals), and Jonathan Donais (guitar)—worked with artist Mark Stritzel for the striking cover and the animation was done by Emmanuel Cappellini. Mark initially worked with the band’s Charlie Benante on the characters featured on the album cover. Watch the first clip HERE and listen to the story HERE.
“When Tim Burton released ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas,’ they did this whole ad campaign, Meet the Characters, Meet Jack, Meet Sally, and they gave a little description about them,” Benante explains. “This is what inspired the idea to release these stories about the characters. When we came up with the art for the cover, we felt the characters needed to have a backstory and not just be an image on an album cover. For the magician, initially he was meant to be the younger version of Among The Living character—The Preacher (Among The Living was the band’s 1987 album). He could have been a magician when he was younger and he is really sadistic. For the bride (Clara) and Dog, we wanted to make something that was another door into the cover and get a glimpse of who these characters are.”
Every Tuesday, the group is unveiling the individual stories of each character featured on the album. Beyond the Magician’s story, subsequent weeks will reveal more about the Woman In White, Dog, Winged Skeleton, and concluding September 1 with Hands.
CURSUM PERFICIO 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.” It proves apropos for such a complete body of work. It 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. To pre-order/pre-save, click HERE.
Thus far, ANTHRAX have released two singles and videos from CURSUM PERFICIO: “It’s For The Kids” 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. Listen HERE and watch the official music video HERE. It was followed by “The Edge Of Perfection,” highlighted by clean guitar echoes and cymbals that gently shake until a blastbeat blows open the doors. Guitars buzz like a motorboat on the River Styx, making waves through the darkness. In their wake, a crushing rhythm trails the melody of lead singer Joey Belladonna’s lament, “My heart breaks…I’m on the edge…I’m on the edge of perfection.” Listen to “The Edge Of Perfection” HERE and watch the official music video HERE.
L-R: Frank Bello, Joey Belladonna, Jonathan Donais, Charlie Benante, Scott Ian
Photo credit: Travis Shinn
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.
The CURSUM PERFICIO track listing is as follows:
Persistence of Memory
The Long Goodbye
It’s For the Kids
Everybody’s Got A Plan
The Edge Of Perfection
Infectious
NYC93
Cursum Perficio
T.O.M.B
Watch It Go
My Victory
Their journey has brought them to CURSUM PERFICIO—a powerful, pummeling, and poetic milestone in ANTHRAX’s 45-year career.
ANTHRAX’s North American tour dates are as follows:
