ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante and bassist Frank Bello recently answered a number of sex- and relationship-related questions for the visitors of the Nerve.com web site. A couple of excerpts follow below.

Q: I’m dating a guy who’s awesome in almost every way, but he hates metal. You should see his face when I put on “Live After Death” in the car. How seriously should I take this?

Charlie Benante: At a certain point, it’s going to reach a point where you will say these words: “What do we have in common?”And music is always such a big thing because it takes up a good part of your life, whether it’s listening to it or going to shows. If he can’t hang with that, he’s not the right person for you.

Frank Bello: I don’t know if you guys are compatible. Metal is life, isn’t it?

Q: That is often held to be true.

Frank Bello: Yeah, so, for me, my wife likes metal, but she doesn’t live on metal, you know? It can work, but it’s got to be a compromise. If you can have other things in common, that can work, but if the other things aren’t working, that’s telling you something.

Q: There’s this girl I really like, but once we got in the sack, the sex turned out to be awful. What should I do?

Charlie Benante: There are so many different answers to that. One answer is give her money for cab fare and see her on her way. But if you really like the girl…

Frank Bello: Watch some porn! Honestly — you want to know the truth? If she’s really bad, porn can help her learn. If you can learn some good moves, why not?

Q: We’re visiting my boyfriend’s parents for a week. What are some ground rules we should set for having sex in their house?

Charlie Benante: Bring your own locks. Install sensors so that if someone comes down the hallway a light goes on in the room.

Frank Bello: You’ve got to be really quiet. No moaning. It’s going to be fun, but get ready to bite that pillow. Have some respect, and don’t be screaming, because then you will get busted. It’s definitely going to be fun if you know how to do it.

Charlie Benante: Also, you can try to send the parents on their way somewhere — get them to go out to dinner.

Q: Back in the day, what was the best way to sleep with a member of ANTHRAX?

Charlie Benante: Bring comic books. [laughs] Yeah, that and a six pack of Sapporo.

Frank Bello: Show up? No, actually, I was never a stud boy, but everybody had their fun. Show your brain, really. Show that you’re more than just a bod, because bodies are everywhere. I mean, we were never really a stud band anyway. We were a metal band! A girl would have to just be herself, quite honestly, and not be somebody she’s not, and not come on too heavy. It always had to be a little more than the obvious. But, you know, thems were the early days. They are far away. It’s all about the metal now.

Q: Do you have any good hookup stories from back in the day?

Frank Bello: Well, everybody had their fun in the ’80s. There was some crazy stuff. Our crew loved us, because for the most part the band really wouldn’t go crazy with that kind of stuff, so the crew would partake in a lot of it. From what I’ve heard, there are some volumes of… pictures, if you know what I mean.

Charlie Benante: We did like to take care of the crew. They were hard-working.

Read the entire interview from Nerve.com.