Anthrax have today released “The Edge Of Perfection,” the second single from their long-awaited 12th full-length studio album Cursum Perficio out September 18 via Megaforce Records. The new single is highlighted by clean guitar echoes and cymbals that gently shake until a blastbeat blows open the doors. Guitars buzz like a motorboat on the River Styx, making waves through the darkness. In their wake, a crushing rhythm trails the melody of lead singer Joey Belladonna’s lament, “My heart breaks…I’m on the edge…I’m on the edge of perfection.”
For the video, the multi-Grammy Award-nominated New York hard rock titans—Scott Ian (guitar), Charlie Benante (drums), Frank Bello (bass), Joey Belladonna (vocals), and Jonathan Donais (guitar)—teamed up with director and Academy Award-winner Joel Harlow (Star Trek and Alice in Wonderland) to create a spectacular cinematic experience that takes the hero from a dream into an evening of magic where he encounters underworld evil, interspersed with live performance footage.
The clip includes appearances from martial artist Wes Scarpias, actress Ashley Edner-Tancharoen, actor Troy James, actor and Academy-Award winning make-up and special effects creator Rick Baker, actor Rod Maxwell, and actor Fedor Steer.
“It’s the apex predator of Anthrax songs,” grins Ian. “I think it’s the best song we’ve ever written and the best thing I’ve ever been a part of creatively. What’s the most powerful emotion that moves me more than anything? Of course, it’s love. Nothing moves me like the deep feeling that I get from my wife and son. I’m living on that edge for the rest of my life. This is mine, but there are a lot of ways to ruin it. I’ve ruined it in past iterations of my life, but it got me to where I am. Love is perfection, and I like being on the edge of it. I don’t want everything to be about all of the same shit. This record has a whole bunch of love, a whole bunch of fun, and a little hate.”
Benante adds: “When I think about songs like ‘Only’ and ‘Indians,’ you know that you hit something and you can feel it. That’s the way I felt about ‘The Edge Of Perfection.’”
“The Edge Of Perfection” follows Cursum Perficio’s first single and video, “It’s For The Kids.” It’s a classic Anthrax ripper locked and loaded with buzzsaw-sharp riffs, explosive drumming, and a howling and head-banging hook. It undoubtedly has all the makings of a future live staple.
Cursum Perficio marks the band’s first record in ten years since 2016’s For All Kings, which debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. The phrase Cursum Perficio is Latin for “My journey has come to an end,” “My journey is over,” or “I complete my journey.” It proves apropos for such a complete body of work.
Cursum Perficio can be pre-order/pre-save here in the following available formats:
- Standard CD
- Target exclusive CD with a fabric patch of the album cover
- Standard black double LP with pop-up gatefold
- Target exclusive double LP
- Red zoetrope with pop up gatefold
- Amazon exclusive double LP
- Purple zoetrope LP with pop-up gatefold
- Merch exclusive
- Lilac vinyl double LP with pop-up gatefold
- Metal Injection exclusive white vinyl double LP with pop-up gatefold
- Talk Shop Live exclusive signed with red ripple vinyl double LP with pop-up gatefold; Indie exclusive – red, orange yellow vinyl double LP with pop-up gatefold.
The band dove into recording Cursum Perficio in earnest during 2022, working out of Dave Grohl’s Studio 606 in Los Angeles. They carefully pieced together what would be this magnum opus, mining their history with reverence, delivering on fan expectations tenfold, and broadening the scope of their signature sound. Produced by Jay Ruston and Anthrax, the result is an album that’s as angry, aggressive, and alive as their most celebrated fare.
