Songfacts®:

• Anthrax played this song live for the first time on January 27, 2016 in Columbus, Ohio.
• The novelist Stephen King was very much an influence on this song. Guitarist and lyricist Scott Ian said: "I feel like, and Stephen King has been such a giant part of my life. His 'Dark Tower' series is… If I had to pick one thing that I love the most from him, it would be 'The Dark Tower' books, 'cause there's seven books, so I don't have to choose one. The character Roland, it's just something that stays with me a lot, this character from those books. So I kind of re-entered that world again. 'Cause I wrote ['Lone Justice'] way back when, on the Spreading The Disease record, which was based on that character, and I decided to re-visit it, because, metaphorically, there's so many things you could use it for.
  
  But then I kind of wrap it up all in this giant ball of this Roland character from 'The Dark Tower' series, because I just love that world so much. So I'm kind of weaving in and out of reality and fantasy in that song. And 'Breathing Lightning', of course, is a metaphor for shooting."
• Drummer Charlie Benante: "'Breathing Lightning' was a song that… I would call it more of an accessible song on the record. It just came out that way. I just had this really nice, pretty intro, and then it built into this song, and it has a really, really catchy chorus. So I like this song a lot."