In a new interview with Legendary Rock Interviews' John Parks, ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante discusses the tracks on the band's new Anthems EP (out March 19th), the Metal Alliance Tour, and much more. An excerpt follows:

Q: A lot of drummers would love to be able to have the chops to nail a RUSH track and you absolutely did with your performance on 'Anthem'. Was that something you’ve been waiting to do ever since you were a kid?

A: "Well, let’s put it this way… If I’m gonna cover a Rush song you can be damn straight that I’m really gonna pay attention to detail and speaking only for myself I am paying tribute to one of the greatest drummers ever in Neil Peart. For me growing up Neil was a BIG influence and I remember sitting in my room putting headphones on and playing along to Rush songs. All of these artists really helped me to develop my chops and my style so here I am all these years later, sitting in that seat again and playing Rush songs (laughs). Anthems is a great track to play and of course some people have said, 'How come you didn’t play a latter song from a different part of their career', and of course it would have been obvious to do a song like 'Tom Sawyer' but that just didn’t really “fit” us. 'Anthem' really seemed to fit our style, especially our first couple albums, it sounds like that type of song."

Read the full interview at this location.

The viral video version of Anthrax' cover of Rush's 'Anthem' can be seen below:

Anthrax's version of AC/DC's 'T.N.T.' is streaming below:

Both tracks are featured on the upcoming special edition of the band's last album, Worship Music. The special edition will contain both the regular album as well as the brand new Anthems EP. Anthems' tracklisting features RUSH's 'Anthem', THIN LIZZY's 'Jailbreak', 'T.N.T.' by AC/DC, BOSTON's 'Smokin'', 'Big Eyes' by CHEAP TRICK, JOURNEY's 'Keep On Runnin', as well as the album version and a special remix of Anthrax's 'Crawl', from Worship Music.

Anthems will also be released separately on CD and vinyl and will be exclusively available at the Nuclear Blast Mailorder, here.

Worship Music“ Special Edition / Anthems will be released in North America on March 19th (MRI/Megaforce) and March 22nd in Europe (Nuclear Blast).

In addition to Anthems' cover art, drummer Charlie Benante and artist Stephen Thompson have subtly redesigned each track's original album cover art to "Anthrax" it. The Anthems EP will first be housed in one of the "re-imagined" digipak covers, and then inserted inside the main CD cover sleeve. The main cover sleeve has been designed in such a way so fans will be able to see which one of the six "re-imagined" covers is inside. Check Benante holding the six covers below:

Said the band's vocalist Joey Belladonna, "These are all bands I grew up with and have listened to forever. It's just great music. I had fun singing these songs and I was happy recording together with Anthrax, doing classic rock songs. Fun stuff!"

On Boston's 'Smokin'', Anthrax brought in a special guest to play keyboards - Fred Mandel, who has played with ALICE COOPER, QUEEN, ELTON JOHN, Cheap Trick, SUPERTRAMP and on PINK FLOYD's The Wall.

About the track, drummer Charlie Benante said, "If ever there were a perfect first album, it's Boston's first album. The harmony leads they did would later be heard by IRON MAIDEN, which of course would lead to thrash metal."

Anthems was produced by Anthrax, Jay Ruston and Rob Caggiano, and recorded for the most part throughout 2012 literally all over the world: at Benante's home studio, in Ruston's New York studio, on the band's tour bus while on last summer's Mayhem Tour, in hotel rooms, and backstage at their Berlin show last December.

The Metal Alliance Tour, featuring Anthrax (performing their fan favorite 1987 classic Among The Living in its entirety) EXODUS, HIGH ON FIRE, MUNICIPAL WASTE, and HOLY GRAIL, has added a second date in New York City, on April 21st at Irving Plaza.

Tickets for the date can be found at this location.

Tour dates:

March

22 - House of Blues - Anaheim, CA
23 - House of Blues - Las Vegas, NV
24 - Marquee Theatre - Tempe, AZ
25 - House of Blues - San Diego, CA
27 - House of Blues - West Hollywood, CA
28 - Regency Ballroom - San Francisco, CA
29 - The Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR
30 - Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC
31 - Showbox SoDo - Seattle, WA

April

2 - Summit Music Hall - Denver, CO
4 - First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN
5 - House of Blues - Chicago, IL
6 - The Fillmore Detroit - Detroit, MI
7 - Bogarts - Cincinnati, OH
9 - House of Blues - Dallas, TX
10 - House of Blues - Houston, TX
12 - House of Blues - Lake Buena Vista, FL
13 - Tremont Music Hall - Charlotte, NC
14 - The Fillmore - Silver Spring, MD
16 - House of Blues - Cleveland, OH
18 - Theatre of the Living Arts - Philadelphia, PA
20 - Irving Plaza - New York, NY
21 - Irving Plaza - New York, NY

For more details visit Metalalliancetour.com.

On February 25th, Anthrax performed at Big Top Luna Park in Sydney, Australia. Fan filmed video of the entire show has been posted online and can be viewed below:

Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Frank Bello are featured in a new video interview with Christina Rowatt for Australia's Soundwave TV. It was conducted on February 23rd during the Soundwave Festival tour's stop in Brisbane. Check it out below: