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Charlie Benante
(July 2005 Issue)
Comin' For You "I think I understand
guitar more than most guitar players do," says Anthrax drummer Charlie
Benante. "I come
at it from two different ways'the guitar rhythm
perspective and the drum perspective." You see, the
New
York-based thrash metal drummer isn't just about getting behind his
Tamas and churning out blast beats to
whatever material is present.
Benante's service in Anthrax plays a much larger role than what's
typically expected
of a metal drummer.
Benante's other tasks
include being the primary songwriter in Anthrax. In fact, he wrote all
of
the material on their latest release, We've Come For You All.
Even more interestingly, Benante is practically the
band's second
guitarist - at least on record. "I've played guitar on every release
since Sound Of White
Noise," he states. "Scott [Ian] plays a
certain way, where he throws down all the rhythms and foundations of
the songs.
Then I go in and add my thing, like textured or doubled
guitar parts."
In another unusual move, Benante tracked
some of the material on We've Come For You All
wholly on his own, with nothing but a click track to keep his
meter in
check. "I knew the songs so well in my head," Benante says, "I figured,
'Let me just go for it.'"
Working with the production team of
Scrap60, Benante set up two drumkits in the tracking room. One was his
main live kit, an
eight-piece double-kick setup. The other, a
five-piece, allowed for greater versatility and enhanced comfort.
"Sometimes when
you simplify your setup," Benante explains, "it makes
things a lot easier. I really like the way different setups affect
my
approach to playing the drums."
Waleed
Rashid
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