Oregon Music News

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Exodus are one of the pioneers of thrash metal; even Metallica owes a debt to Exodus as Kirk Hammett left the band in 1983 to audition for the Metallica gig. Slayer, Megadeth, Metallica and Anthrax may be “The Big Four” of thrash but bands like Testament, Overkill and Exodus make a good argument to expand that list. Exodus released their follow-up to 2007′s The Atrocity Exhibition… Exhibit A in May of 2010 titled Exhibit B: The Human Condition–both are highly recommended. Oregon Music News had an opportunity to speak with guitarist Gary Holt, a founding member of the Bay Area thrash band Exodus. Holt will be doing double duty as he opens the Portland show on August 5th with Exodus and then joins Slayer, filling in for guitarist Jeff Henneman who is recovering from illness.

Gary Holt will be pulling double duty in Portland.

You toured with Megadeth in 2010; how was it working with Dave Mustaine on a day-to-day basis? Some have said he’s difficult to work with. How is your relationship with the guy?

I can’t speak for anyone else but I like the guy. He and I go way back as you know, and it has been great to get to reconnect with him. He was gracious enough to think of us and get us on that tour. He’s been nothing but a good friend to me. We got an opportunity to go out on the road with our old friends in Megadeth and Testament. The tour also sold out night after night; it was a good time to reconnect with Dave again. It was a total blast man.

On most of the shows we saw the young kids out there. I think there were two shows where there were a lot of the fans that were long in the tooth. We’d play something and get a pit going and they didn’t move! It was like, “What’s wrong with you guys? Are your hips as bad as mine?!” [Laughs]

You’ve recorded three records and a live album with Rob Dukes. For those who haven’t heard this incarnation of Exodus, what does Rob bring to the band?

A new-found energy and aggression that’s in perfect synchronicity with what we are doing musically right now. We are a full-on garage, thrash metal band; we have gotten more and more aggressive as the years have gone by. Rob brings out that fury and rage in the band, both in studio and in the live setting, that the songs so require.

So for those who might consider Rob the new guy, it isn’t necessarily fair?

No at all. Rob and Lee [Altus] joined the band at the same time, which was about five years ago. So in terms of being in the band they haven’t been here as long as I have but it wouldn’t be fair to say that they are new. These guys didn’t join Exodus yesterday or anything.

When you released your last album of original material, The Atrocity Exhibition… Exhibit A, was there any material written at that time that made onto this new album?

Yeah, there were three tracks that made it onto Exhibit B: The Human Condition and I think there was a bonus track “Devil’s Teeth,” which is on the U.S. pressing. “Class Dismissed” is one of the tracks that was completed but we changed a few things around and we needed to rewrite some of the lyrics.

Wasn’t the original plan to get these two albums out fairly quickly? I recall it sounding like there were to be issued within the same year.

Well, the idea to release two albums like that was because we wrote and wrote and we just had so much material. Releasing a double album didn’t make financial sense. There was even talk about part way through the tour of Exhibit A that we release an EP but I said, “Fuck it, let’s keep touring and when we get back into the studio we’ll work on the next album.” Well, that tour lasted close to two years and by the time we got back to the studio we wrote some more and we decided only to use some of the songs that we had intended on using.

There’s nothing left over at this point then?

Nothing except a cover of Scorpions’ “Don’t Make No Promises That Your Body Can’t Keep,” which is the bonus track for Japan. It’s a fucking rockin’ track man; it turned out killer. We tracked another cover that we’ll use at some point but I won’t comment on that one right now. Exodus is tapped out right now as far as songs.

How did you guys settle on the Scorpions cover?

Tom [Hunting] was doing his drum tracks one night and he called me and he said that we had some time for some more recording. The idea to do the song came up; we played that song during our early Exodus days. Since Tom was familiar with the song and it didn’t require me to be there. I asked him to speed it up a bit, which he did, and when I came into the studio next, I laid down my guitar on it and it turned out killer.

Exodus 2010

You guys once again used producer Andy Sneap who has become the go to guy for many bands these days. This has been a long-lasting partnership between you guys and Andy.

Right, we’ve been working with Andy since 1997 when we recorded Another Lesson In Violence. First and foremost Andy is a friend of ours. Working with Andy isn’t considered work because he’s one of us and we’re just having a fantastic time the whole time. It’s very loose, humorous and we see eye to eye. He knows and I know what works for this band and he gets the best out of us. He’s a great producer and engineer and he get the best mixes. He’s on top of his game and that’s why he’s in high demand.

Do you recall when you met Andy for the first time?

I had met Andy back when he was in Sabbat. When it came time to record the live album with Paul [Baloff], his name came up a few times. He was this young up and coming producer. We met and felt that he was the right guy and went for it. As you can hear, it came out brutally heavy. While we might have only worked on that album for a few days the relationship has lasted thirteen years now.

What’s the make up on the set list? Is it going to be heavy on the last two studio albums or will it be a balanced, retrospective of the band’s career?

We’ll always do the classic stuff like “Bonded By Blood,” “Toxic Waltz” and stuff like that but we also love doing the new shit. That’s why we as a band do this in the first place. We don’t make albums to hit the road and just play the classics. We have to get the new stuff played too; it keeps it fresh for us. So we’ll be playing a fair share of the newer material.

You’ll be touring with Slayer and Rob Zombie this summer. What are some new tracks that you’d like to make it onto the set list?

That’s hard to say. I won’t comment because that could get you into trouble. Sometimes you think the song that will go over the best with the fans doesn’t and other times the least likely becomes that fan favorite. I’ll say this: We’ll have our work cut out for us in the coming weeks trying to get the set list together.

Watch “Riot Act” from Exhibit A:

Gary, you had the opportunity to fill in for Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman, who is on the mend after contracting necrotizing fasciitis. Was this an audition or were you just asked?

No audition. Kerry called me up and I said, “Yeah, let’s do it!” I missed the last few shows in Europe due to Exodus obligations, but other than that, I had the time, so why not?

You played the Big Four show in Southern California with Slayer. How was that experience?

Pretty awesome! The ones over in Europe were really amazing as well; best part has been reconnecting with Kirk Hammett [Metallica] after all these years.

Does it bother you that bands like Exodus, Testament, and Overkill get overlooked at times because of the exposure that the Big Four have received?

Not at all. I’ve never been one of those dudes who sits and complains about who should be where. I’m perfectly happy with what Exodus has accomplished and we continue to push the envelope of thrash metal.

Playing arenas, this is a high-exposure tour for Exodus. What do you hope to accomplish with The Hell on Earth tour?

I hope to survive playing twice a night! It’s a good tour; wish it were longer. It should be fun having both of my metal families out on tour at once.

You’re clearly a Slayer fan and go way back with them. Were you a White Zombie or Rob Zombie fan?

Always have been a big fan, from the beginning to the Johnny Tempesta years to the present. And John 5 is one of the best guitarists I’ve seen in years and a really great dude, so it’ll be fun watching him play night after night.

Gary Holt and Exodus will join Slayer and Rob Zombie on the Hell on Earth Tour at the Memorial Coliseum on August 5th. Show at 7pm. You can buy tickets for this event by clicking here or you can win a pair by leaving a comment below. Why should we pick you to go to this show?