Rhythm section ace literally tries to break the chains that bind him in clip for title song on thrashers’ new album
Chains drag a man through fog, smoke, water, and brick tunnels until he’s drawn and quartered in the video for “Cursum Perficio,” the title track of Anthrax’s album, out Friday. “Now it’s over,” frontman Joey Belladonna sings over crunching guitars and stabbing drums, seemingly taunting this victim of unseeable menace. Then he sings, “Your journey’s over,” which is a rough translation of the song’s title from Latin. But things take a turn halfway through the video as Belladonna sings, “Rise,” and the man gets control.
Documentarian Don Argott, who directed Lamb of God’s As the Palaces Burn film and co-directed Taylor Swift’s The End of an Era film, helmed the black-and-white clip, which stars London May, best known as the sometime drummer and bassist for Samhain, Glenn Danzig’s goth-punk band between the Misfits and Danzig. The way May tells it, the video shoot was as brutal as it looks. “‘Cursum Perficio’ brought out the beast in me,” he tells Rolling Stone. “I broke my finger the very first day and had to beg them to keep shooting. That was real chain and real pain. I went through hell and back for Anthrax and Don Argott — and I’d happily do it all again!”
For the band, the song and video summarize everything the musicians are saying on their 12th album (and first in a decade). “The video for ‘Cursum Perficio’ captures all of the themes I’m exploring in the lyrics … they’re epic in scope … how do you quantify your life?” guitarist-lyricist Scott Ian says. “How do you measure oceans of time, and what did you do with it? And were all the struggles worth it in the end?”
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“What I love about this video is that it matches the tone of the song so well,” drummer Charlie Benante says. “This song has always been the dark horse of the record. This video may be as well.”
The video follows the release of clips for the album’s “The Edge of Perfection,” “It’s for the Kids,” and “Everybody’s Got a Plan.” In addition to playing the Louder Than Life festival on Thursday night, the band still has two tour dates in Los Angeles and one in San Antonio supporting Iron Maiden in the U.S. before it heads to Mexico for a final gig with Maiden on Oct. 2.