Embedded Files
ANTHRAX “Cursum Perficio”
ANTHRAX “Cursum Perficio”
By Colonel Angus
ANTHRAX is back and with a studio record of new material. I have waited a decade for the follow up to “For All Kings” and I was getting concerned that it might not happen. During that time we had the pandemic and Charlie Benante has been out touring with PANTERA so the fact that they have something new is cause for celebration. Is it as good as the previous offerings? Well, there are many moments on “Cursum Perficio” that stand out and make this worthy of your hard earned dollars but I find other moments to be almost too simplistic for this caliber of band.
The album starts off with an ominous piano intro called “Persistence of Memory” before it launches into the meat of things. The first real track “The Long Goodbye” is a really great opening tune with some great vocals and melody lines over heavy, melodic music. While not thrash, it is still a high quality tune that makes for a great start. First single “It's For the Kids” is more in line to what I expected from the band as it harkens back to their more thrashier side. Joey Belladonna has not really lost his vocal abilities and his clean vocal delivery still manages to elevate many of the tracks here. Sticking with more of a thrash template, “Everybody's Got a Plan” sounds more like recent ANTHRAX which is fine by me. Since Belladonna returned, their output has mostly been great.
Switching gears a little, “The Edge of Perfection” is a nice workout with plenty of bombastic thrash but with parts that conjure up tribal beats along with some tasty guitar soloing. At almost seven minutes long, you would think that they couldn’t surprise me with something this mature but here I am, loving every second of it. Slowing things down a bit, “Infectious” has a cool groove that might not appeal to fans yearning for pure thrash but if you just open yourself up to just judging the track for what it is, then you’ll find it to be a good metal tune. The sound of the city ushers in a tune that is more in line with what fans will love. “NYC 93” sounds just like what the title suggests. It is classic ANTHRAX and it captures the gritty nature of thrash in 1993.
The title track hits next and it is another latter day ANTHRAX classic. It is more melodic than some of the thrash they were known for but somehow it works. I feel this is the sleeper track on the record and it has grown on me with each subsequent spin. Kicking back to something more thrash-like but with a strutting groove, “T.O.M.B.” is another tune that grows in status each time you listen to it. As I write this, my initial assessment may have been a bit too premature as this has been played well over a dozen times and I’m finding new things to like about each piece. “Watch It Go” is a full-on speed-fest that careens through bursts of ultra-fast riffing before dropping into crushing, heavy grooves that plod with a distinctly doom-metal sound. This contrast gives the track a character of shifting effortlessly between frantic momentum and lumbering heaviness.
Capping off “Cursum Perficio” is another thrasher titled “My Victory”. This one has a very MEGADETH vibe without really copying that band. It's weird that they finished the record with a thrash piece and started with more of a mid-paced metal track. All in all, this is another quality album from one of the big four. Do I like it more than the previous “new” records? I’m not quite sure yet. I loved “For All Kings” but I have had a decade to live with that disk but that being said, “Cursum Perficio” is growing on me each day and I might judge this more highly in the coming months/years. Let’s hope it is not another ten years before we get another record.
Report abuse