Anthrax are gearing up for the September 18 release of their twelfth studio album, "Cursum Perficio", by unveiling a series of weekly animated clips that explain the characters depicted on the record's cover artwork. The first clip, shared on 28 July, focuses on a magician character, with the New York band explaining that the format was inspired by the promotional campaign for Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas". The idea reflects the band's wish to give the artwork's characters proper backstories rather than leaving them as mere cover images.

The album cover was created by artist Mark Stritzel working with drummer Charlie Benante, while the animated clips were produced by Emmanuel Cappellini; new instalments will appear every Tuesday, covering the Woman in White, Dog, Winged Skeleton and finally Hands on 1 September. "Cursum Perficio", Latin for "my journey is over", is Anthrax's first album in a decade, following 2016's Top 10 hit "For All Kings", and comes via Megaforce in the US and Nuclear Blast in Europe. The band has also released a music video for the single "The Edge Of Perfection", directed by Oscar winner Joel Harlow, following an earlier single, "It's For The Kids", issued in May.