ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante caught up with Mark Eglinton from Thequietus.com recently about a number of topics. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Thequietus.com: The new record Worship Music was scheduled for a May release, is that still going to happen? And what stage are you at?

Charlie Benante: "Well, that was always the plan and it’s possible that it’ll still happen that way, it kind of depends how things go. The drums are done, but the vocal parts and some of the guitar stuff is happening now, and we haven’t mixed it yet. We haven’t decided where it will even be mixed - LA and New York are possible. As far as how it will sound, it will have elements of Spreading The Disease type stuff and some elements of newer stuff like We’ve Come For You All."

Thequietus.com: Joey Belladonna sang on arguably your most commercially successful material. What exactly happened with Joey?

CB: "Honestly, I could name lots of different things on lots of different days but all in all the differences were musical and the direction that Anthrax the band wanted to go and the way Joey wanted were two different things. As far as being in contact with him I am not, but I mean it’s not like Joey doesn’t have all my numbers and everything..."

Thequietus.com: You’ve had your share of line-up change over the years. How much damage does that do?

CB: "You know, our main changes were singer changes, the early one then from Joey to John Bush. Then after the reunion tour in 2005 that’s when things started to go a bit wrong. But people change and what they want changes, and I‘d never blame anyone for that. It hurts the chemistry but also having someone new can add a whole new dynamic to the band... You have to remember that in heavy metal, people don’t like change and are like, 'If it ain't broke please don’t fix it!'"

Thequietus.com: Have there been moments where you thought 'Fuck it, I’ve had enough’?

CB: "Seriously?, not really as bad as that. But there are times when we’re on a plane to London, then Amsterdam, then back to London, then to Australia and back to LA, when I wonder if there are better things to do. It’s all about being an adult and dealing with more adult subjects now. You might think that missing something your kid does at school doesn’t matter, but it definitely does."

To read the entire interview visit this location.