Exodus guitarist Gary Holt recently sat down with Serbian journalist Jadranka Janković Nešić during the band’s European tour stop in Novi Sad to talk about the band's future, the shape of their upcoming records, and the reasons for the dismissal of former vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza.
Exodus has just finished recording 18 tracks that will span two forthcoming releases, following up on 2021’s Persona Non Grata.
"It's going to be released as two totally separate records," Holt said (via Blabbermouth). "But we kept writing and kept writing and we had so much material that we just [thought], let's work extra hard, and so when it's time to start thinking about a [second] new album [after the first new one], we could relax a little bit."
The idea, he said, was to prepare ahead for once, and maybe, just maybe, take a break. "I wish we had 20 songs done instead of 18, 'cause then we would have the next album done, and then I could go on vacation or something. I've never had one."
But don’t expect throwaway tracks.
"They're all great," Holt insisted. "They're all amazing. There are 18 songs, and they're all totally awesome. It's hard to pick which ones [will end up on the first new album]. But we did it so we could work less later."
With an eye on the future, and the reality of age, Holt spoke candidly: "We're getting older. I'm 61 years old. By the time we think about releasing the next album, that's gonna be three years [from now], so I'm gonna be that much older. And then I can go on vacation in between albums. Like I said, I've never gone on vacation. I've had vacations where I played guitar to be, but I've never gone on a vacation where I didn't have to play to be there."
"I don't know how not to work, though. I'm a workaholic. My wife will have to tell me to shut the phone off. At home, I relax, though. But at home, where I live in the country, it's a lot of work living there in the woods. So, I'm working, but it's working on my house, and I like that. I live in the country, yeah. No city life for me anymore," he added.
Musically, the upcoming material aims to capture all sides of the Exodus sound and then push further.
"It's 100 percent Exodus and at times 100 percent different. There are some surprises on it. It's super heavy. There's some moments that are so fast. There's moments that are super slow. Just satanic, evil as fuck," Holt reassured.
The band's loyalty to the album format remains unwavering: “We write albums. We've never concerned ourselves with singles. That's why in the past some of our songs were 11 minutes long, 'cause we didn't care. A song's done when it's done. If it's three minutes, cool. If it's 11 minutes, that's cool too."
One of the biggest changes ahead of the new albums is the return of vocalist Rob Dukes, replacing Steve "Zetro" Souza — again. But this time, the switch was about keeping the group healthy, mentally and emotionally.
"Well, I don't wanna go into any details 'cause there's no bad blood," Holt explained. "It's just we're all getting older and we want to be happy. And he was not happy. He was very unhappy. He was awesome on stage and awesome in the studio, and awesome to the fans, and there's no problem with that. And I loved his performance, and his voice is as great as ever."
But backstage, things felt different. "It's the time when you're not on stage when it became to where it's bringing everybody's spirits down. And this is a hard job to do when you're our age. Every single time I go to the airport to go on tour, I'm sad, 'cause I'm leaving my grandchildren and my kids and my wife and my house, and it's hard. But once I get out here [on tour], I'm with my brothers and I have fun. And if that part isn't fun anymore, then none of it's fun. Maybe on stage — maybe. But we're happy now. Rob's here and all five of us hang out and spend a lot of time together, and we have a good time."
For Holt, bringing Dukes back was less about nostalgia and more about familiarity. "I'm set in my ways," he said. "I don't like change. So changing singers was never in my future plans. I don't like change at all. I'm stuck in my ways. And the idea of finding a new person whom you don't know and you don't know if your personalities work, that was never an option for me."
"I mean, I could find someone half my age who's got tons of energy and awesome and has got visible abs muscles and jumps off the top of the drum riser, but I might not have anything in common with him… Hiring some kid that's the same age as my youngest daughter, it would be weird. I'd feel like a father telling him to clean up his room all the time. [Laughs]"
Souza, who initially joined Exodus in 1986 after a stint with Legacy (later known as Testament), has had a long and storied history with the band, rejoining twice, in 2002 and again in 2014. Dukes, his successor and now successor once again, originally fronted Exodus from 2005 to 2014.
