Scott Ian: Anthrax Won’t Release New Album Until Touring Comes Back

Anthrax have long been at work on the follow-up to 2016's For All Kings and until this pandemic has died down and touring resumes, don't expect to hear any new music from the thrash legends. At least, that's what Scott Ian has said as it "makes no sense" to release an album without the ability to hit the road.

As a guest on the Knotfest's "Mosh Talks With Beez" podcast, Ian, (also a member of Mr. Bungle who will release The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny on Oct. 30), lamented the current situation brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, which has shuttered the live events industry and threatens the very existence of countless independent music venues the world over.

"The COVID has obviously put a crimp in our plans, because we can't just get together and jam when we want to, and traveling has become not so easy, and all of that," said the guitarist, who found a silver lining when he added, "So we've just been, slowly but surely, working on new material. And if anything, it just affords us more time to come up with more stuff."

Ian noted that Anthrax intended to have a new record out in 2020 and that the band doesn't typically write an overwhelming amount of material for each album. They tend to have a song or two leftover rather than hammering out 30 songs and narrowing it down to just the best ones.

"I think the most we've ever had was maybe two more than we needed for a record, and it's usually pretty obvious, like, 'These two aren't gonna make the record.' But maybe this time around we'll end up with 15 songs or something," said the Anthrax mainstay, who was careful to not lead fans to believe they'd soon be getting a 15 track album. "We're not releasing a double record, if it's up to me, because what a waste of material that would be," he affirmed, "But I just like the fact that we will have a lot of great material."

Ian suggested Anthrax may be ready to make a new record early in 2021 "if it makes sense." Coming back around to the potential album release, he cautioned, "I've said it before — I don't wanna put a record out till we can play shows. For me, to put a record out in a vacuum, it makes no sense to me. I'm not gonna put a record out and not play proper gigs — I'm not gonna do that. So we have to be patient — everyone has to be patient."

When pressed about what fans can expect this new music to sound like, Ian affirmed, "It sounds like us," and that "this record is a little bit riffier, maybe a little less linear, and certainly faster."

When Anthrax do get back on the road, perhaps they will perform a series of special shows featuring all of the band's singer, past and present. Former Anthrax frontman John Bush, who joined the band in 1992 and exited in 2005 with four studio albums and a re-recorded hits compilation under his belt, has said he's open to the idea.

The erstwhile Anthrax singer and drummer Charlie Benante did reunite earlier this year (sort of), linking up for a quarantine collaboration in which they played "Packaged Rebellion" off 1993's The Sound of White Noise.