When asked in May 2018 if Anthrax had begun working on their twelfth studio album, guitarist
Scott Ian stated, "Very, very, very preliminary stages. There's a couple of really great riffs. Charlie's sent around some really great ideas. But we haven't actually started working on anything. We've just been too busy touring." A month later, bassist
Frank Bello claimed that Anthrax had intended to be back in the studio by mid-2018, but because they agreed to open for
Slayer on their
farewell tour, they were not expected to start writing their new album until at 2019 at the earliest. After years of false starts and stops, Anthrax entered the studio in the spring of 2023 to begin recording their twelfth studio album. Frontman
Joey Belladonna began recording his vocals on November 5, 2023, and production of the album continued within another two years. Although Bello had stated the album would be in the fall of 2025, it was left unfinished by the middle of the year, with drummer
Charlie Benante revealing that the band had thrown "out a bunch of old tunes and made some new ones that destroy the older ones", and Belladonna claiming he had "maybe two or three more" songs left to record. Bello confirmed in July 2025 that the album was in the mixing stages, and Benante announced the same month that a new Anthrax song would be released before the end of the year. Bello announced in February 2026 that the new album would be released in May of that year, though Benante later clarified that it will be released in September while the first single will be released in May. In a March 2026 interview with
Bravewords.com, Ian and Benante revealed
Cursum Perficio as the title of the album. ==References==