In a new conversation with Metal Hammer, Charlie Benante revealed if Frank Bello will join the new Anthrax album following their break.
“Yeah, Frank’s on the record,” the drummer replied when asked whether Bello is the album although he didn’t join their recent tour.
“He sounds amazing. He lives on the same planet as Bruce Dickinson – he’s one of those rare dudes who can still f*cking knock it out of the park after all these years,” Scott Ian also said about how Joey Belladonna sounded in the record.
In late March, Anthrax announced that they would bring back their original bassist, Dan Lilker, for their South American tour next month. Lilker temporarily replaced Bello. The band said Bello’s absence is due to ‘personal reasons.’
They said in a statement, “Due to personal reasons, Frank will not be able to accompany the band on its upcoming South American tour, set to kick off April 13 at MXMF the Metal Fest. Filling in on those dates, as well as two U.S. festival shows in May, will be Anthrax founding member and original bassist Dan Lilker, marking his first appearance with the band in 40 years. Lilker, who co-wrote and played on Anthrax’s debut album Fistful of Metal, was also a member of Stormtroopers of Death with Charlie Benante and Scott Ian.”
“I’m really looking forward to jamming with Anthrax again. When we parted ways back in 1984, they told me to stick around because they might need me in 40 years,” Lilker also shared.
Later, Metal Mayhem ROC asked Lilker if he would stay with the band longer. He replied, “Well, as far as I know, I’m just doing the 10 shows that I was asked to do — the eight that are in Central and South America and then the two U.S. fests. It’s just filling in for Frank — I wanna make sure and stress that. I am not (rejoining) the band, even though I formed it before.”
The musician added, “This isn’t gonna be, ‘Finally after 40 years, my plan…’ I’m doing my friends a favor. And if that situation changes in the future, it will not have anything to do with me taking any steps to do so, let’s put it that way.”
Bello toured with Satyricon in Europe after his break from Anthrax. Anthrax’s upcoming record will be a follow-up to 2016’s ‘For All Kings.’