A decade between albums gives people plenty of time to decide what they want from Anthrax. Usually, that means blistering riffs, gang vocals, and a chorus Joey Belladonna can throw over the whole thing. Cursum Perficio has those ingredients, but it opens with a song about Alzheimer’s and later asks how anyone measures the value of a life. How much can that familiar Anthrax sound accommodate when the subjects get this personal?
Released September 18, 2026, the band’s twelfth studio album reunites Belladonna, guitarists Scott Ian and Jonathan Donais, bassist Frank Bello, and drummer Charlie Benante. Anthrax and Jay Ruston share production credit. It’s their first studio record since For All Kings in 2016, released through Megaforce in North America and Nuclear Blast elsewhere. That’s the background. The more compelling conversation starts with where they put the songs.
Following the short “Persistence of Memory,” “The Long Goodbye” holds back the expected rush. Its steady guitar chug and broader vocal melody introduce Ian’s account of his father’s experience with Alzheimer’s. Belladonna has room to stretch the phrases beyond the guitar’s repeated pattern, making the chorus central to how the song communicates its grief. Opening this way changes what follows: the album has already established something difficult before anybody gets their invitation into the pit.
That invitation comes with “It’s For the Kids.” Ian describes it as a tribute to the fans, and the quick riffing, big hook, and mosh section fit the intention. There’s pleasure in knowing exactly where to join in. “Everybody’s Got a Plan” takes a more measured pace, with gang shouts and small guitar fills giving its blunt chorus some back-and-forth. These songs make participation easy. Placed after “The Long Goodbye,” they also prevent its subject from setting the mood for the entire record. Anthrax can spend time with grief and still enjoy being Anthrax.
The bigger departure is “The Edge of Perfection.” Clean guitar echoes and restrained cymbals precede blast beats and rapidly picked riffs, bringing a black-metal influence into an arrangement that still makes room for Belladonna’s melodic chorus. Benante changes the drumming substantially between sections, so the near-seven-minute running time contains more than an extended version of the opening idea. The interesting part is the vocal’s place in all that activity. Belladonna gives the song continuity while the instruments change around him; the band can move further afield because his phrasing remains recognizable.
“Infectious” works with fewer moving parts. Bello’s creeping bass line and the slower, grinding guitar riff let repetition do more of the work. Its reference to Captain Trips revisits the Stephen King material behind “Among the Living,” but the pace changes how that reference lands. The song lingers over its unpleasant subject. Elsewhere, the guitar fills in “Everybody’s Got a Plan” keep interrupting the groove with little bursts of movement. Here, staying put is the point. Those differences give the album variety without requiring every song to introduce another style.
So how much can the familiar sound accommodate? Enough for the grief of “The Long Goodbye,” the fan tribute of “It’s For the Kids” and the title track’s questions about whether a life’s hardships were worth it. The arrangements make the distinction: a sustained vocal phrase, an answering shout, a riff allowed to repeat. Cursum Perficio works through its personal subjects by changing how those familiar parts are used. Belladonna doesn’t need to turn every chorus into a rallying cry, and Anthrax don’t need to race through every difficult thought.
Written by Rob Joncas for DeadNoteMedia.
Artist information and music courtesy of the band.
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