ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante is featured in a new interview with The Houston Press discussing the band's new album, Worship Music. An excerpt is available below:

Q: I know the record had a tortuous birthing process, but was it kind of destined that Joey came back into the fold?

Benante: "I think so. I think this path led us to him and it was supposed to happen. We had to deal with some bumps and bruises on the way, but we made it there. And the record is the reward, it sounds so great. To all of us, this feels like our first album."

Q: What did you want to do musically to make it stand out?

Benante: "We wanted to keep the integrity of the band that was in the '80s to the '90s, but modernize the sound to make it fresh while still having that old school feel. One of the key ingredients was Jay Ruston's mix. He really understood the band and our music."

Q: On different tracks you pay tribute to influences like RONNIE JAMES DIO, DIMEBAG DARRELL, and JUDAS PRIEST. Do bands come up to you and say the same thing about Anthrax?

CB: "Many do, and I'm so honored when I hear it. Because sometimes I don't hear it in their music, but do in the individual playing. It's the same with us. We have influences, but we don't necessarily sound like those bands. On 'Crawl', I played the beat on the song and opened the hi-hat, and that comes from QUEEN and Roger Taylor."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

As previously reported, MetalAssault.com caught up with Anthrax frontman Joey Belladona on October 28th in at the South Side Music Hall in Dallas TX. Check out the video interview below, which includes Belladonna discussing getting plowed on-stage in Los Angeles at the Nokia Theatre by overzealous security "guards" on October 22nd. Check it out below:

Footage of the on-stage debacle can be viewed below.

"It's pretty smart to tackle the singer," guitarist Scott remarked onstage. "Fucking geniuses they are working here, huh? I guess they haven't seen him up here on stage for the last 90 minutes. He's in the band!"

After a quick trip back-stage, a shaken Belladonna added: "Thank you very much sorry about that. I was trying to be cool and then it turned it shit. Next time I'm going to stand back. I'm going to have a sore ass tomorrow I know that!"

The band's tour schedule is now as follows:

November

1 - House of Blues - Orlando, FL
2 - Revolution - Ft. Lauderdale - FL
4 - House of Blues - Myrtle Beach, SC
5 - Fillmore Charlotte - Charlotte, NC
6 - The Fillmore - Silver Spring, MD
8 - Northern Lights - Clifton Park, NY
10 - Electric Factory - Philadelphia, PA
11 - Palladium - Worcester, MA
15 - Town Ballroom - Buffalo, NY
17 - Stage AE - Pittsburgh, PA
19 - Rave - Milwaukee, WI