As Anthrax continue work on their follow-up to 2011's Worship Music album, expected late this year or early in 2016, guitarist Scott Ian gives some details to TulsaWorld.com.

“There’s really no reason for us to put an end date or cap on the writing if you keep coming up with ideas,” Ian said. “You just kind of go with it. We felt like we had a lot of really strong ideas. Certainly now on the back of that, having recorded a lot of it, I’m just glad we have so much great material.”

That freedom is giving the band a little more room to create. No deadlines mean they haven’t felt pressure to rush and can make sure the album is exactly what they want before releasing it. “When it’s done and we’re happy, then we’ll make a decision,” Ian said.

Without a strict time schedule and freedom to write, they have a lot to choose from on the new album. “We do have a lot of songs; it’s not like we’re just working on 10 songs — we have 17 songs,” Ian said. “So it’s quite a bit of material.”

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On May 17th, drummer Charlie Benante rejoined Anthrax for their performance at Rock On The Range in Columbus, OH. Benante missed the first few weeks of his band's spring North American tour with Volbeat to undergo physical therapy for the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome he had surgery for nearly two years ago . Jon Dette (Slayer, Testament, Iced Earth) filled in Benante on the first batch of shows. Enjoy the following video of Benante bashing the skins at Rock On The Range.

"This was a difficult decision to make," said Benante, "especially as I had to miss dates on the last cycle because of my hand surgery. But the fact is, playing a show five or more times a week just isn’t realistic right now, I found that out when we were making our new album, and I don’t want to let the fans down by not being able to give it everything I have at every show. I was driving the other day and my hand went numb, so unfortunately, it's just not 100% yet. I figure I can play for maybe three weeks at a time but then I have to let it rest."
"The guys in the band have been incredibly understanding and supportive, and I hope the fans will be as well. The positive side is that I plan to use the time off the road constructively and focus on our upcoming album, continue to work on the package artwork and develop a number of other ideas I've got for the campaign."

Remaining Anthrax concerts include:

May

20 - Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
22 - Sioux City, IA - Tyson IBF Events Center
23 - Pryor, OK - Rocklahoma
24 - San Antonio, TX - River City Rockfest
25 - El Paso, TX - Baloonfest, Wet & Wild Water World
27 - Dallas, TX - Verizon Grand Prairie
28 - Houston, TX - Bayou Music Center
31 - St. Louis, MO - Outdoors at Pop's

June

2 - New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom