GARY HOLT Says New EXODUS Material Is 'So Heavy,' It 'Should Be Illegal'

June 24, 2019

In a brand new interview with Metal Casino, EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt offered an update on the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2014's "Blood In Blood Out" album.

"I've been writing the new album for a long time, Tom Hunting [drums] and I," he said. "And we're just taking our time. We're in no hurry. It's been four years, and if it takes two more, we're gonna spend the time and do it right.

"The new material is just savage," he continued. "It should be illegal, it's so heavy. It's fucking criminal. Brutal — fast as fuck."

Holt joined EXODUS in 1981 shortly after the band's formation, and has been its main songwriter ever since. Holt has performed on every EXODUS album, and is considered highly influential in the world of thrash metal. In 2011, he began filling in for SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman at live shows, and became the band's full-time co-guitarist as of 2013, while remaining a member of EXODUS. In October 2014, EXODUS released its tenth studio album, "Blood In Blood Out", on the Nuclear Blast label.

In January 2018, SLAYER announced that it would do one last concert tour around the globe to thank their fans for all of their support over the years, for making the last three and a half decades so packed with good times and unforgettable experiences, and then move on.

"It's only on certain moments when it really hits me that it's the final tour," Holt told Metal Casino. "For the most part, I don't even realize it. I'm starting now to take a little moment at the end of each show to kind of soak it in a little bit.

"I don't know," he added. "I'm not retiring, I'm not quitting, so maybe it's 'cause there's no finality in it for me. I don't have any other job skills. I play fucking guitar."

"Blood In Blood Out" marked EXODUS's first album since the departure of the group's lead singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Steve "Zetro" Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.

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