This is Charlie Benante.
He is has been the drummer for Anthrax since the bands first album, “Fistful of Metal” back in 1984.
Anthrax is one of the ‘big four’ of American Thrash along with Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer credited with pioneering the speedy metal sub-genre.
They have a North American tour scheduled with Volbeat.
Charlie will be sitting out the first few dates to undergo physical therapy for his ongoing battle with carpal tunnel syndrome.
“This was a difficult decision to make,” Benante said in a statement, “especially as I had to miss dates on the last cycle because of my hand surgery. But the fact is, playing a show five or more times a week just isn’t realistic right now. I found that out when we were making our new album, and I don’t want to let the fans down by not being able to give it everything I have at every show.”
He continued: “I was driving the other day and my hand went numb, so unfortunately, it’s just not 100 percent yet. I figure I can play for maybe three weeks at a time, but then I have to let it rest.”
Benante added: “The guys in the band have been incredibly understanding and supportive, and I hope the fans will be as well. The positive side is that I plan to use the time off the road constructively and focus on our upcoming album, continue to work on the package artwork and develop a number of other ideas I’ve got for the campaign.”
Charlie plans on returning to the tour for the May 17th appearance at the Rock on the Range Festival in Columbus, Ohio.
Jon Dette (Testament, Iced Earth, Slayer) will be filling in on drums while Benante is gone.
Catch the tour in May at these venues:
4/24/15 – Denver, CO – 1STBANK Center
4/25/15 – Rapid City, SD – Rushmore Plaza Civic Center
4/27/15 – Spokane, WA – Spokane Arena
4/28/15 – Missoula, MT – Adams Center
4/29/15 – Seattle, WA – WaMu Theatre
5/01/15 – Grande Prairie, AB – Revolution Place
5/02/15 – Edmonton, AB – Rexall Place
5/03/15 – Calgary, AB – Calgary Stampede Corral
5/04/15 – Saskatoon, SK – SaskTel Centre
5/06/15 – Regina, SK – Brandt Centre
5/07/15 – Grand Forks, ND – Ralph Englestad Arena
5/09/15 – Somerset, WI – Northern Invasion Festival
5/10/15 – Madison, WI – WJJO Radio Show
5/12/15 – Oshawa, ON – General Motors Centre
5/13/15 – Ottawa, ON – TD Place
5/14/15 – Quebec City, QC – Quebec Colisee Pepsi
5/15/15 – Montreal, QC – CEPSUM Montreal
5/17/15 – Columbus, OH – Rock on the Range
5/18/15 – Saginaw, MI – Dow Events Center
5/19/15 – Evansville, IN – Ford Center
5/20/15 – Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom
5/22/15 – Sioux City, IA – Tyson IBF Events Center
5/23/15 – Pryor, OK – Rocklahoma
5/24/15 – San Antonio, TX – River City Rockfest
5/25/15 – El Paso, TX – Wet and Wild Water Park Balloonfest
5/27/15 – Dallas, TX – Verizon Grand Prairie
5/28/15 – Houston, TX – Bayou Music Center
5/30/15 – Kansas City, MO – KC Rockfest
5/31/15 – St. Louis, MO – Outdoors at Pop’s
6/02/15 – New York, NY – Hammerstein Ballroom
And as a refresher for WHY you should go witness one of the finest purveyors of American thrash in existence…
