Ten years is a long time to wait. In rock and metal, a decade between albums can mean the difference between staying culturally relevant and fading into nostalgia-circuit purgatory. Anthrax have been walking that tightrope since 2016’s For All Kings — a record that proved the Big Four warriors still had fire in the tank. Now, with their 12th studio album Cursum Perficio set to detonate on September 18, bassist Frank Bello is done sitting on his hands.
“This is the album we need,” Bello told Loudwire Nights on May 15. “I’m saying this as a fan, because I’ve been listening to this record a lot. I can’t wait for the fan experience.” That’s not marketing copy. That’s a guy who genuinely can’t contain himself — and when you translate the album title from Latin as “the journey is complete,” you start to feel the weight behind those words. Whatever happens next in Anthrax’s story, Cursum Perficio is clearly a statement, not a stopgap.
The first taste of the LP is “It’s For the Kids,” a blistering, socially charged thrash assault that lands like a sledgehammer with a conscience. The chorus is blunt. The politics are blunter. When asked about the message driving the song, Bello didn’t bother reaching for diplomatic language: “Look, put on your TV and see what the fucking world is doing right now. Thoughts and prayers, for me, when I hear that line, I’m tired of hearing it on the news from politicians. That ain’t going to cut it for me.” Forty years into their career, Anthrax are still pissed off about the right things.
A Grammy, a Surprise, and What It Really Meant
If the new album is the headline, Bello’s Grammy story is the best sidebar. Performing alongside Yungblud, Nuno Bettencourt, Adam Wakeman, and Sleep Token’s ii on a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Changes” at the Back to the Beginning tribute concert — a night dedicated to honoring Ozzy Osbourne — Bello walked away with a Grammy for Best Rock Performance. Anthrax had been nominated six times since 1991 without a win. And when the moment finally came, Bello almost missed it entirely.
Running late from the red carpet, profusely sweating through a suit his wife picked out, he grabbed a seat next to a stranger and was told — mid-conversation — “Dude, you just won.” That is genuinely how Frank Bello found out he had a Grammy. What matters to him isn’t the trophy. “It’s not about the Grammy,” he said. “I played a tribute to Ozzy. Ozzy won the Grammy and the world saw it.” That kind of clarity takes a lifetime to earn.
Iron Maiden, James Hetfield, and the Brotherhood That Doesn’t Need Words
The road ahead is stacked. Anthrax are set to play alongside Iron Maiden, and Bello — who has known the Maiden camp for years — still gets lit up about it like a teenager who just scored front-row tickets. “Frank Bello, 13, 14-year-old fanboy, got his ticket to Greece to go play with Iron Maiden at the Olympic Stadium,” he said. “Isn’t that ridiculous?”
Backstage at Back to the Beginning, he had a lengthy, emotional reunion with Metallica’s James Hetfield — two lifers who came up side by side in the thrash wars, who understood the gravity of the moment without needing a speech. “We talked for 20 minutes to half an hour, introducing me to his son, catching up,” Bello recalled. “There was nothing like egos and stuff. You see Slash, you see Axl, Duff — everybody’s hanging out. It was just great.” That backstage scene is exactly what rock music looks like when it remembers what it’s actually about.
Cursum Perficio arrives September 18. The title may mean “the journey is complete” — but Frank Bello sounds like a man who’s just getting started.
Source: Loudwire | https://loudwire.com/anthrax-frank-bello-new-album-song-interview/