In a new interview with Germany’s Metal.de, EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt confirmed that the band’s classic debut album, 1985’s “Bonded By Blood” is still his favorite EXODUS LP. Asked if that means he thinks EXODUS “never topped” “Bonded By Blood” with something else, Gary said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “No. Never topped it. That’s blasphemous to even say. ‘Bonded By Blood’ is the album that started it all. So, it’s my youth, it’s my high school yearbook. It’s the reason I’m still here. So it’s always gonna be number one. And [late EXODUS frontman] Paul Baloff, despite only singing on one album, is always the voice of EXODUS. That’s no insult to [later EXODUS singers] Zetro [Steve Souza] or Rob [Dukes]. It’s just Paul started it.”
Asked if he and his EXODUS bandmates have thought about a possible retirement or if they are just too “full of energy” right now to call it quits, Holt responded: “No, I’m not full of energy. I’m fucking tired. But we’re gonna do this as hard as we can, as heavy as we can until we can’t. And that’s why we recorded so much music [for the next EXODUS album]. We figured, do it now while we are still able to. Who knows? I’ve had elbow problems, hand problems, shoulder problems now. Maybe in five years age will catch up and the arthritis will get bad and I can’t do it. I don’t know.”
Regarding what he might do all day if he had to stop touring and recording with EXODUS, Gary said: “I have no idea. I don’t know. Turn to a life of crime, maybe. I don’t know. I haven’t found a way to make money being charming, so I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”
When the interviewer noted that Gary has found a way to make some extra money by selling merchandise via his Holt Awaits online store, the guitarist concurred. “Yeah, it helps,” he said. “People think, ‘Oh, you’re a rich rock star.’ No. I sell shirts, and I sell them outta my fucking closet. All right. Pack this one up, label it, send it off. But no, that just helps. It doesn’t pay the bills. It helps to keep pay the bills. It helped really a lot in the pandemic. But I don’t know. If I honestly retired, I’d probably do more producing. I’d stay in music. But sometimes I daydream about not leaving the house. ‘Cause I hate leaving — I hate getting on the plane to leave — but as soon as I arrive, I have fun.”
Holt was also asked about EXODUS bassist Jack Gibson‘s recent comment that he and his bandmates are “traveling t-shirt salesmen”. Gary said: “[Selling shirts is] where we make our money. We’re lucky… If you’re in a band where the money you’re paid to play covers your expenses and the t-shirt money is yours, you’re doing really well. Because everything, especially since the pandemic — tour buses cost way more money. Everything costs more. Airfare costs more. It’s fucking hard. We do okay, we do pretty good. But then when you come home and you don’t work for two months, that money you made has to cover, stretch out over all of it. So it’s not what people think.”
Souza joined EXODUS in 1986 after previously fronting the band LEGACY (which later became TESTAMENT). He remained in the band until their hiatus in 1993, but rejoined them for two years from 2002 to 2004. Dukes had joined EXODUS in 2005 (following Souza‘s departure) and remained until 2014, when Souza rejoined.
Dukes previously joined EXODUS in January 2005 and appeared on four of the band’s studio albums — “Shovel Headed Kill Machine” (2005),“The Atrocity Exhibition… Exhibit A” (2007),“Let There Be Blood” (2008, a re-recording of EXODUS‘s classic 1985 LP, “Bonded By Blood”) and “Exhibit B: The Human Condition” (2010).
EXODUS‘s third stint with Souza ended in January, with Dukes being welcomed back at the same time.
EXODUS played its first concert with Dukes in nearly 11 years on April 5 at the Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Philly at the Fillmore in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Although EXODUS rarely gets mentioned alongside the so-called “Big Four” of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX — the aforementioned “Bonded By Blood” LP inspired the likes of TESTAMENT, DEATH ANGEL, VIO-LENCE and many others to launch their careers and is considered one of the most influential thrash metal albums of all time.
