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It's been 10 years since Anthrax released their last album, For All Kings. In that time Slayer have split up and come back, while Megadeth have embarked on a lengthy farewell tour. Metallica remain at the top of the Big 4 pile, of course, but with the title of Anthrax’s new album hinting at another potential conclusion – Cursum Perficio translates from Latin to ‘My Journey Is Over’ – it seems like it’s time for them to drop something monumental. A fittingly heavyweight statement, even if it only proves to be the beginning of the end rather than the final stop.
Scott Ian has certainly been talking Cursum Perficio up, comparing it to the band’s defining moment, 1987’s Among The Living. It’s quite disappointing, then, that it gets off to a relatively tame start. Don’t believe the hype, as Anthrax’s good friends in Public Enemy once said.
There’s a brief orchestral intro as Persistence Of Memory gives a nod to 1990’s Persistence Of Time, before The Long Goodbye muscles in. Anthrax have become adept at mid-tempo, melodic chuggers and the song is perfectly fine. The lyrics, dealing with the protracted loss of a loved one, circle around the album’s sense of finality, but it doesn’t provide the explosive impact the occasion demands.
That comes with It’s For The Kids – a slice of classic Anthrash with all the elements that made them the fun pioneers of the thrash metal pack. There are Madhouse-style squeals of guitar, piledriving drums and a sledgehammer mosh section, all wrapped around sentiments that are far more serious than the song suggests.
Everybody’s Got A Plan drops back to a moderate pace before The Edge Of Perfection heaves into view. Scott, getting overly giddy again, has described it as the best song Anthrax have ever written. It isn’t, but the guitarist can be forgiven for getting excited about the fact that they’re still trying new things 45 years on. A near-seven-minute epic built on swaying atmospherics and with a frostbitten black metal feel in places, it’s an experiment that very much works.
Infectious is built on a slow, almost doomy rhythm while NYC 93 is another slab of stomping punk-metal nostalgia, and the title track is more dynamic hard rock than thrash metal. T.O.M.B. rides a driving groove, while Watch It Go channels a rasping Slayer vibe and pairs it with low-slung grungy riffs that wouldn’t have sounded entirely out of place in Metallica’s Load era. It’s been a diverse and sometimes surprising ride by the time My Victory brings things to a conclusion with a readily recognisable mix of heft and melody – the sort of mid-range thumper that Anthrax have grown comfortable in delivering over the years.
Cursum Perficio, then, mixes the familiar and nostalgic with a more adventurous streak that should only be applauded at this point in their career. It’s a perfectly serviceable Anthrax album with some excellent moments, but it’s not quite the glorious showstopper it could and perhaps should have been.
Cursum Perficio is out September 18 via Nuclear Blast.
