Exodus Interview with Gary Holt
Bay Area Thrashers Return with the Atrocity Exhibition Exhibit B
Thrash metal luminaries Exodus returned to action in 2007 with The Atrocity Exhibition...Exhibit A. In this Exodus interview, guitarist Gary Holt reports on the follow-up
In an exclusive interview with guitarist and founder member Gary Holt, he talks about new Exodus album The Atrocity Exhibition...Exhibit B and the stability of the current Exodus line-up.
Suite 101: It was originally announced that the two albums, The Atrocity Exhibition...Exhibit A and The Atrocity Exhibition...Exhibit B would be released close together. Is that still the intention?
Gary: “Actually I leave this week to go and prepare for Europe but I’m taking what time I have to continue to write and to try to prepare for the second half of this thing. It’s going to be later than we planned by the time we get into the studio because we’ve got a lot of touring lined up but we do still have a really insane head start on this album. We have four songs recorded and finished and they’re phenomenal, insane songs. I’ve got another three or four I’m working on and Lee’s got some stuff. We might have to record this album in increments – a couple of tracks here and there, y’ know?”
Exodus' The Atrocity Exhibition - Not a Thrash Concept Album
Suite 101: Should the albums be viewed as two halves of a whole or are they separate albums in their own right?
Gary: “They’re both albums in their own right but there will be some themes and some musical themes that bring the two together and unify the whole. It’s not what you’d call a concept album though, it’s not Exodus doing Rush 2112 or anything.
Old-school Thrash Metal
Suite 101: The 90s were tough for a lot of metal bands that formed in the previous decade. Do you think things have come full circle again?
Gary: “You do see a lot of bands and there’s a stamp on what they’re doing that you can recognise from that what certain bands were doing in the 80s. And then you have these other new bands that are playing decidedly retro thrash and you can certainly hear it in those bands. But I'd like to think that we've moved on as well. It's good that old-school type metal gets a hearing again now but we're not just looking to rehash what we were doing twenty-odd years ago.”
Suite 101: Exodus has been through its share of members: how stable do you think the current line-up will be?
Gary: “It’s stable enough that if anything happens this time I’m going to f***ing kill someone (laughs). Nah, everybody’s having a great time and everyone’s on the same page. We’re all fully dedicated to this and sometimes, as painful as it may be, the guys who were there when you started it just really can’t put in the effort that you need to keep it going. I’ve made this band my life, for better or for worse – it’s the one thing I know how to do and do well. I haven’t let anything stop me yet and now I’ve got a bunch of guys around me who feel the same way.”
For more from Gary Holt on the band's forthcoming tour and festival appearances, read Exodus European tour dates.
