40 + 1. You got it, COVID takes the party out of another milestone. Anthrax celebrated 40 years as a band last year, and are about to release the Livestream concert, Anthrax XL, which marks the moment. The release will be available in North America on Blu-Ray / CD / Digital on July 15 (Megaforce), and will have a European digital release on July 15 (Nuclear Blast), followed by a Blu-Ray release later this year. 

We caught up with legendary drummer (and guitarist) Charlie Benante for a BraveWords' Streaming For Vengeance chat that will air this Saturday, July 9th at 3:33 PM EST on the BraveWords Facebook page or the BraveWords YouTube channel. For more information about Streaming For Vengeance, visit this location.

Longtime fan “Metal” Tim Henderson covered a bunch of topics with Charlie including the band’s storied 40-year history, his need for speed and of course plenty of talk about his idols including Rush and the late Neil Peart. Here is an excerpt: 

BraveWords: I'm currently reading Keith Richard’s biography, and a funny thing, they actually had to starve themselves to pay Charlie Watts, he was that good. What did he mean to you?

Benante: "Well, you know, Charlie Watts is one of the pioneers in rock drumming. And even if you don't care for his drumming, you cannot deny the amount of talent that went into that band, and Charlie's contributions to those songs. I mean you have an intro like ‘Honky Tonk Woman’, and nobody plays it like that but him. So, back in the day when I was a little kid, I wanted to have a drum kit like Ringo or Charlie Watts, and that's the truth. So, yeah, Charlie's playing, I can name songs that have always been kick ass to me, like ‘Can't You Hear Me Knocking?’ I loved his playing on that. I said ‘Honky Tonk Woman’, and there's a couple of tunes on Some Girls where he, I felt, changed his style a little bit, and his sound. And it was perfect for that time. Because I felt the Stones, that was like their third act, and he changed with it. It was great. He's just one of those drummers that ... he's a Stone, you know? 

BraveWords: The first Stones record was all covers and Keith turned to Mick and said ‘Ok, we have to try and write this thing called a song.” The first time that the Stones wrote their own songs was an overpowering and uplifting experience. "Wow, I'm creating now. I'm not copying or covering”! So do you remember the first time you actually wrote your first song?

Benante: "Well, I had some ideas before I joined the band, and in my head the band I wanted to have was a cross between Iron Maiden, Motörhead, the Sex Pistols, and Black Sabbath. KISS to me, like I couldn't pull that off, with the theatrics. And of course Rush for me was another big influence in my world, but those bands to me, were what I wanted to sound like. When I got the audition for Anthrax, that's where my head was at. I liked some of the songs that they had previously, but I felt that they sounded a little too, I don't know, Iron Maiden to me. And I wanted it to be more fast, more ferocious, so I remember I had little parts of ‘Death Rider’, ‘Metal Thrashing Mad’ was another one, and that's where I wanted to go, that way." 

BraveWords: Where did the need for speed come from? Was it "Philthy Animal" Taylor? Was it “Fast As A Shark”?

Benante: "Yes. It was exactly those two things. And I always liked the faster Judas Priest songs, I always liked the faster Iron Maiden songs. If you take some songs off of Iron Maiden Killers, it's almost thrash metal, and that's where I wanted to go. Yeah, like Motörhead, the song ‘Overkill’ on the record it's awesome, but when you hear it live it took on a whole new level, it was a whole new beast. I was really looking up to those guys, especially things in England. I've always been fascinated with bands coming out of England, they're always been some of my favourites.

BraveWords: I think two of the faster drummers of all time is the one I'm talking to right now and Lombardo. Were you paying attention to what Dave was doing. Where were you when you heard ‘Chemical Warfare’, for example?

Benante: "Oh, I was always a Slayer fan, I thought they were really good. Same with Metallica, too. I always thought Lars was a really good thinking drummer. He came up with these really cool parts in a song that showcased the drummer. You know there's that part in ‘Fight Fire With Fire’ where everybody kind of fades out and it's just Lars playing this double kick hat and it was fucking awesome. Dave had the ‘Angel Of Death’ fill, I always thought that was a signature lick. But I always thought it was kind of a friendly type of thing, you know? like, 'Did you hear that? Did you hear this?' Back on our Spreading The Disease record, we had this song called ‘Gung Ho’ which was probably the fastest at the time, and for me it was a bit of a challenge. The funny thing is that we wanted to play it as fast as we could on the record, but by the time we played it live it was way faster than that, so it was always evolving. Those were the days, man, when you were young and you just did it. You didn't think, you just did."

The BraveWords' Streaming For Vengeance chat with Charlie Benante can be viewed this Saturday, July 9th at 3:33 PM EST on the BraveWords Facebook page or the BraveWords YouTube channel. For more information about Streaming For Vengeance, visit this location.

Anthrax' 40th anniversary Livestream concert, Anthrax XL features the following tracklisting:

"Time/Fight Em ’Til You Can’t"
"Madhouse"
"Caught In A Mosh"
"Metal Thrashing Mad"
"Got The Time"
"I Am The Law"
"Keep It In The Family"
"Lone Justice"
"The Devil You Know"
"Be All End All"
"Now It’s Dark"
"Antisocial"
"In The End"
"Medusa"
"Evil Twin"
"Indians"
"Skeletons In The Closet"
"Blood Eagle Wings"
"Bring The Noise"
"A.I.R."
"Among The Living"

"The Devil You Know" live video:

"Aftershock" live video:

Credits:

Anthrax:
Scott Ian - guitars
Charlie Benante - drums
Frank Bello - bass
Joey Belladonna - vocals
Jon Donais - guitars

- Produced by Jack Bennett, Mike Monterulo, Anthrax
- Directed by Jack Bennett
- Mixed by Jay Ruston
- Running time:  2h 5m 34s

Anthrax celebrated its 40th-anniversary last year, July 18, 2021, but due to COVID, had to cancel its global touring plans, scheduled for the band to celebrate its milestone with their fans all around the world. While the band is about six months into its 41st year, the band - Joey Belladonna, Scott Ian, Frank Bello, Charlie Benante, and guitarist Jon Donais are due to finally head out on that global anniversary tour. In late July, Anthrax will kick off its 26-date co-headline North American tour with Black Label Society and joined by Hatebreed, and then heads to the UK and Europe in late September to headline a five-week run. Tickets and VIP packages can be purchased at anthrax.com.

(Photo - Travis Shinn)