Anthrax once again had a temporary replacement on drums at their latest show with Iron Maiden. This time Derek Roddy took Charlie Benante’s place, at the band’s appearance in Mexico City on 2 October.
“`Roddy played drums as Anthrax took the stage at Estadio GNP Seguros on Friday 2 October, at a show that was part of the band’s current run of appearances as support for Iron Maiden.
Roddy later commented on the performance and thanked both bands, along with the members of Anthrax. «It was chaos», he wrote, thanking Iron Maiden, Anthrax, Charlie Benante, Scott Ian, Joey Belladonna, Jonathan Donais and Frank Bello.
Roddy’s appearance came a few days after Mike Heller, who covered for Benante at Anthrax’s show on 29 September at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Heller, who has previously played with Fear Factory and is a member of Raven, according to the information available joined the band just a few hours before the show, after he was called that same afternoon by Megadeth drummer Dirk Verbeuren.
So far Anthrax have not publicly explained why Benante was unable to play either in San Antonio or in Mexico City. Benante from time to time misses selected shows because of the problem he has with carpal tunnel syndrome, while his busy schedule with the reunited Pantera since late 2022 has also led to occasional absences.
Anthrax are on tour for their 12th studio album, «Cursum Perficio», which was released on 18 September via Megaforce Records in the US and Nuclear Blast in Europe.
See also: Anthrax: Frank Bello says «Cursum Perficio» is a darker record and Scott Ian of Anthrax: «I’m not a liberal, I’m a centrist».
