Exodus guitarist Gary Holt has weighed in on his band's relationship with Metallica — past and present — in a new interview with Metal Hammer Spain, and he isn't pulling punches in either direction.
Asked about Metallica's commercial explosion in the late '80s and early '90s and its effect on the Bay Area scene, Holt was direct about the path Exodus chose not to take.
"I think the thrash bands that came after [us] — 'cause, obviously, the first two in the Bay Area were Metallica and us — were really chasing what Metallica did," he said. "That's why most of 'em started doing ballads, and they started following the blueprint a little, whereas Exodus kind of did our own thing. And for better or for worse, we made our own decisions. We tried our hardest not to be like Metallica."
He went on to pay Metallica their due before taking it back with a grin.
"Everybody makes their own musical decisions. Metallica were the best of all of us. I mean, I don't think so anymore — I think Exodus crushes them, but that's my own humble opinion. But Master of Puppets, to me, is the best metal album ever made. I fucking love it. I'm jealous, that album is so good. It makes me jealous.
"Some people like Ride the Lightning better. I think Master of Puppets is a masterpiece. That album and Stained Class by Judas Priest are, to me, the two best metal albums of all time. [Exodus guitarist] Lee Altus likes Ride the Lightning better [than Master of Puppets]. To me, it's no choice. It's, like, no — it's fucking Master of Puppets."
Those sentiments are consistent with what Holt told Metal Hammer UK back in 2021, where he also made clear that respect for Metallica doesn't mean he's forgotten who came out on top on a particular New Year's Eve in San Francisco. The occasion was a 1985 show the two bands shared alongside Megadeth and Metal Church as they rang in 1986, and Holt maintains Exodus stole the night.
"We stomped [Metallica] into the dirt," he said at the time. "We came out looking like the headliners. And we were partying hard after, and James [Hetfield] came up, and we were just getting wasted. [And he said,] 'That'll be the last time you guys open for us.' And it was. We never played with Metallica again until the recent decade, and that was, like, festivals somewhere."
He elaborated on those comments to the "Alive & Streaming" YouTube series in February 2021: "We crushed Metallica. And look, I'm not gloating — we crushed 'em, and they knew it. It was their big homecoming. They just finished recording Master of Puppets, and we came out, and we had more amps, we had a bigger riser."
When Metal Hammer asked whether there would have been a thrash scene without Exodus, Holt didn't hesitate. "Absolutely. I'll own that. We created the violent scene."
