Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante admitted that the announcement of Slayer’s farewell tour had a major impact on him, and he’s starting to wonder if bands from the same era, including his, are “all coming to the end of our ride.”

Slayer confirmed this week that their upcoming road trip would be their last, ending a career that’s spanned more than 35 years. Anthrax are one of the bands set to join them on the tour.

“I think I’ve known for a while now that maybe some of the guys in [Slayer] maybe were feeling it a bit at this point,” Benante told the Cobras & Fire podcast. “And I can totally understand that because I feel it too. I guess when I saw [the news], it kind of hit home with me a bit. I actually got a feeling of putting a timestamp on things. I never look at age; the only time I look at age is when someone brings it to my attention.”

He noted that it had “become really common” to hear that “the people I looked up to” had died. “It kind of hit me … ‘F---, man, this ride – maybe we’re all coming to end of our ride here, a bit.’ I think it probably startled a lot of people," he said. "I think life is starting to catch up on all of us.”

You can listen to the interview below.

Benante suggested that many fans would be worried about “What’s going to be left? These s---ty bands that are coming up now? ... I think the fans will want these bands to live forever, and so do I. But there’s so many factors into this. Do you want to go see your band and come out going, ‘Oh my God, that was terrible, they barely could play!’ I’ve witnessed that. I feel bad. You don’t want your favorite band to go out like that … but there’s part of you, ‘No no no, I still need this in my life, don’t do this to me.’”

In recent years, Benante has been forced to miss parts of Anthrax tours as a result of an ongoing battle with carpal tunnel in his wrists. “Fine now, then two, three weeks into the tour, I need to rest a little bit and then come back,” he said. Asked whether he’d have to deal with it for the rest of his life, he replied, “As long as I’m playing drums!”

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