Although Charlie is knee-deep in the highly anticipated Pantera tour, he hasn’t stopped playing drums for his other band Anthrax.

In an interview with Metal Injection, Benante confirmed that Anthrax has compiled around 12 songs and that the group set to work on new material back in October.

“So as far as the new material goes, in October we all met up again and worked on material again,” Benante shared. “We have, I want to say, maybe 11 songs now. And out of those 11, I really feel like six or seven of them are really, really strong. I want to have a few more. I have some ideas for some other songs that I think would put the record over the top. I’d like to see that happen.

“You know, Scott’s been working on lyrics, I know. And then I’ll see Scott in South America because Mr. Bungle is on a bunch of shows, too, with [Pantera]. So we’ll kind of get together and hang and talk about that. In a perfect world, I would hope that I have two months, three months maybe off before the Pantera stuff happens in the spring, and I could go and maybe lay down drum tracks and stuff and just get that thing going. So that’s what I’m hoping to do.”

Anthrax last released an album in 2016, with all five members splitting their time between multiple projects. They toured across the country and released a music video while they were on the road.

Between Pantera tour dates and their own headline shows, Anthrax will be out on the road from the end of this year through the bulk of 2023. This January, they’ll hit the road with Black Label Society and Exodus for more than a month. Stay tuned for more details about our chat with Benante, where he shares his longtime friendship with Zakk Wylde and Gary Holt!

1/17 – Boise, ID @ Revolution Concert House
1/18 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
1/20 – Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum
1/21 – Penticton, BC @ So. Okanagan Events Ctr.
1/22 – Calgary, AB @ Grey Eagle Events Centre
1/24 – Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings
1/25 – Grand Forks, ND @ Alerus Center
1/27 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
1/28 – Mt. Pleasant, MI @ Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort
1/29 – Chicago, IL @ Radius
1/31 – Montclair, NJ @ Wellmont Theater
2/2 – Portland, ME @ Cross Insurance Arena
2/3 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
2/4 – Bethlehem, PA @ Sands Bethlehem Event Center
2/5 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues
2/7 – Corbin, KY @ Corbin Arena
2/8 – St. Louis, MO @ The Factory at The District
2/10 – San Antonio, TX @, Tech Port Center + Arena
2/11 – Houston, TX @ Bayou
2/13 – Omaha, NE @ The Admiral Theater
2/14 – Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion
2/15 – Albuquerque, NM @ Revel
2/17 – Riverside, CA @ Municipal Auditorium
2/18 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater