EXODUS Guitarist Issues Tour Report

EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt has checked in with the following tour report:

"Just thought I'd give everybody a little bit of info about our recent trip.

"Let's start with Japan. As always, it was amazing. To share the stage with our old friends THE HAUNTED and our new friends NILE was a total pleasure. But more than anything it was one hell of a drum clinic. Paul [Bostaph], Per [Möller Jensen], and George [Kollias] all in one night! I felt more like a very lucky spectator than anything. Talk about three drum shredders, it was quite a sight to behold. The Japanese fans always score at the top of my list. They are some of the most amazing, gracious fans on the planet, and as always I very much look forward to our return.

"Bangkok! What can I say about that! One of those places I never imagined myself going to let alone playing there, but it ruled. Hot as fuck though! We played a little bar called the Rock Pub and how they ever put three hundred people in there I'll never figure out. Packed and sweaty, just they way a metal show should be. But what a trip, visited the Grand Palace, bought tons of shit at the market for next to nothing, and celebrated Paul's birthday there. Good times all the way around!

"Off to Australia, and after a three-day seperation, to be reunited with THE HAUNTED. This was our first time down under and it surpassed any expectations I might have ever had. The reception we recieved from the fans in Oz was unbelievable. The treatment from Scorpian Entertainment, the promoters, was off the hook, on a par with Smash in Japan. First-rate all the way. Every show was killer, with Melbourne the most insane. Although I did see some blood in Sydney!

"I am telling you, playing with THE HAUNTED is just too great for words to describe. Great friends, great band, and great fun to be around. The last show in Brisbane resulted in some end of tour pranks, mostly at the hands of EXODUS. Cheese, Nutella, and Jensen just don't mix! The show ended with us taking over THE HAUNTED's gear for a rendition of 'Pirahna' with Per on drums, followed by THE HAUNTED doing a medely of 'Bloodline' and 'Raining Blood' with Paul. Fucking killer! And this was Rob's birthday so that made the day even more special.

"From there came the nightmare trip home (27 hours of flights with a overnight layover in Bangkok ) but I could be doing worse things for a living!"

As previously reported, EXODUS' video for the track "Now Thy Death Day Come" has been posted online at NuclearBlast.de (Real Media). The song comes off the band's latest CD, "Shovel Headed Kill Machine", which was released in October 2005 via Nuclear Blast Records. Recorded at Trident studios in Pacheco, California and mixed by Andy Sneap (MACHINE HEAD, ARCH ENEMY),the follow-up to 2004's "Tempo of the Damned" is the band's first to feature new members Lee Altus (guitar; HEATHEN),Paul Bostaph (drums; ex-SLAYER, TESTAMENT, FORBIDDEN) and Rob Dukes (vocals).