Source: Bravewords.com
Guitarist Gary Holt of EXODUS and SLAYER fame stopped by The Metal Zone with Nikki Blakk to talk about his upcoming shows with Exodus and Slayer, the writing process for new (happy?!) Exodus material, and shares some stories about the late great Jeff Hanneman and Paul Baloff, and more!
Source: Bravewords.com
EXODUS and SLAYER guitarist Gary Holt spoke with Kevin J. Wells from The Washington Times recently about a number of topics. A few excerpts from the chat follow:
Kevin J. Wells: Is there a new Exodus record in the works?
Gary Holt: Right now, I’m starting to compile riffs and get to that stage and I’m gonna continue writing while out the upcoming Slayer tour as well. I pretty much have a break from the world of Slayer ‘til next April. So, I’m using this time off to make sure that I get that next Exodus record done.”
KW: Is Slayer is also starting work a new record?
GH: “The recording for that should start sometime maybe by the end of this year. So, hopefully, then kill two birds with one stone and manage to keep both bands touring at the same time. Who knows?”
KW: Will you do any of the recording with Slayer?
GH: “It looks like I’ll probably be doing solos on the record, but the songs are all written. Kerry (King) will handle all that stuff. My plate’s kind of full anyway, so I’ll probably be bouncing back and forth from L.A. to San Francisco.”
KW: Tom Araya said that there are a few Jeff Hanneman songs that he was working on. Have you had a chance to hear them and has Slayer done any work on them?
GH: “No. I know they have some stuff, you know, I think the bulk of whatever’s left over was stuff that remained from World Painted Blood, but I haven’t heard it yet, so I can’t comment on it. I’m sure it’d be super cool to have some of his last final works end up on the Slayer album. That would be awesome.”
Read more at The Washington Times.
Source: Blabbermouth.net
Veteran San Francisco Bay Area thrashers EXODUS are writing material for a new studio album, to be released in 2014.
EXODUS will head across the pond this week for a tour of 17 European cities, with stops in Barcelona, Dublin, London and more. Although SLAYER is currently tapping the talents of guitarist Gary Holt for their European tour, Holt is confirmed to perform at select EXODUS dates. When Holt is not performing with EXODUS, HEATHEN guitarist Kragen Lum will fill in on guitar.
EXODUS recently revealed two brand new, exclusive t-shirt designs, available now only via their official merch store at this location. The new designs, “Only Death Decides” and “Horned Skull”, come with a free sticker (with mail order only).
EXODUS‘ latest album, “Exhibit B: The Human Condition”, was released in North America on May 18, 2010 via Nuclear Blast Records.
The CD sold around 4,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 114 on The Billboard 200 chart.
EXODUS‘ previous album, “The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A”, opened with 3,600 units back in October 2007.
Source: Blabbermouth.net
EXODUS leader and SLAYER touring guitarist Gary Holt joined HANNEMAN LECTER, an “all-star” tribute to SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman, on stage last night (Saturday, July 13) at the Hannemania event at the Oakland Metro Operahouse in Oakland, California to perform cover versions of several SLAYER classics, including “The Antichrist” and “South Of Heaven”. Also making an appearance with HANNEMAN LECTER was FORBIDDEN and SPIRALARMS guitarist Craig Locicero. Check out fan-filmed video footage below.
HANNEMAN LECTER is:
* Manny Lopez (ULYSSES SIREN) – Bass, Vocals
* Sven Soderlund (MERCENARY SF) – Guitar
* Chris Kontos (ATTITUDE AJUSTMENT, MACHINE HEAD) – Drums
* Michael J. Gardner (DEADLANDS) – Guitar
Hannemania was organized by Iron Fist Circle Productions, which has previously staged Bonded By Baloff and Holty Matrimony shows, also featuring surprise guests such as Kirk Hammett of METALLICA and a secret performance by a band calling itself THE RELENTLESS REVOLUTIONARIES, which turned out to be a headlining set by DEATH ANGEL.
Members of SLAYER released a statement on May 9 saying that Hanneman died of alcohol-related cirrhosis. He is credited for writing many of the band’s classic songs, including “Angel Of Death” and “South Of Heaven”.
The guitarist, who passed away in Los Angeles on May 2, had actually not been playing with SLAYER for more than two years since he contracted necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating disease, from a spider bite in his backyard in January 2011. The infection ravaged the flesh and tissues of Hanneman‘s arm, leading to numerous surgeries, skin grafts and intense periods of rehab that forced him into semi-retirement and left him near death at several points.
Hanneman‘s last appearance with SLAYER was in April 2011, when he played an encore with the band at the “Big Four” concert in Indio, California.
Pictured below: HANNEMAN LECTER
Source: Blabbermouth.net
NEWSTED — the new band led by former METALLICA, VOIVOD and FLOTSAM AND JETSAM bassist Jason Newsted — was joined on stage by Gary Holt (EXODUS, SLAYER) on June 25 at Kombank Arena in Belgrade, Serbia for a performance of the METALLICA classic “Whiplash”. Check out fan-filmed video footage below. Headlining the show was SLAYER, for which Holt has been playing guitar on the road for the past two and a half years.
In a 2010 interview with Metal Asylum, Gary Holt was asked if he feels the “Big Four” (METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX), should have been expanded and considered the “Big Seven”, including EXODUS, TESTAMENT and OVERKILL.
“Well, I think it should be the ‘Big Five’ with EXODUS, because we were there at the start of thrash metal with METALLICA in the real early ’80s,” he said. “Same thing with MEGADETH because [Dave] Mustaine was a part of METALLICA‘s birth and he also created MEGADETH. And SLAYER are SLAYER. ANTHRAX are also great and old friends, but if you listen to those first few records, they have definitely changed. TESTAMENT has every right to be part of the thrash metal legends, but it just came down to timing because they came later. And OVERKILL have been their since the beginning also. But I don’t get hung up on that shit, because I know how it all started and I know where I was when the shit got created. We [EXODUS] certainly deserve to be part of the founding fathers, but you know who often gets excluded are the Germans — KREATOR, DESTRUCTION and SODOM. Everybody looks to America and forgets those guys. KREATOR, DESTRUCTION and SODOM all released records in the early ’80s.”
He continued: “Really, the “Big Four” is solely based on sales and the ones who sold the most. But if you compare records, I will put EXODUS‘ last few albums up against anybody’s shit. SLAYER is always awesome; the last TESTAMENT album [at the time of the interview], ‘The Formation of Damnation’, was great; the new MEGADETH is one of their best; METALLICA are still finding their feet again, and their last album, ‘Death Magnetic’, was a step in the right direction. The new OVERKILL, ‘Ironbound’, is one of their best records ever; it’s so good. And KREATOR, DESTRUCTION, and SODOM still make great new music. What I think it boils down to is the bands who’ve been doing this the longest still can do it the best. METALLICA are still a mighty force live, but they lost their way for quite a while. But then again I’ve never had to deal with the horrible problem of having millions of dollars. [Laughs] Maybe if I had that kind of money, it would distract my hunger for doing this kind of shit, too. But, unfortunately for me, I have to keep kickin’ people in the teeth, I don’t have the funds to go art-shopping. My version of fine art is a new edition of Hustler magazine. [laughs]”
Source: Blabbermouth.net
Fan-filmed video footage of SLAYER‘s June 11 performance at The Academy in Dublin, Ireland can be seen below.
The band’s setlist was as follows:
01. World Painted Blood
02. Spirit In Black
03. War Ensemble
04. Hate Worldwide
05. Die By The Sword
06. Bloodline
07. Disciple
08. Postmortem
09. Altar Of Sacrifice
10. Jesus Saves
11. Mandatory Suicide
12. Chemical Warfare
13. Ghosts Of War
14. Seasons In The Abyss
15. Dead Skin Mask
16. Raining Blood
Encore:
17. South Of Heaven
18. Angel Of Death
It was announced on May 30 by SLAYER‘s Tom Araya (bass, vocals) and Kerry King (guitar) that Paul Bostaph would be behind the drum kit for the first leg of the band’s 2013 international tour. EXODUS‘ Gary Holt is continuing to fill in for fallen guitarist Jeff Hanneman, who died on May 2 from alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver.
Bostaph was SLAYER‘s drummer from 1992 until 2001 and recorded four albums with the band — the gold-certified “Divine Intervention” (1994), the 1996 punk covers album “Undisputed Attitude”, “Diabolus In Musica” (1998), “God Hates Us All” (2001) that received a Grammy nomination for “Best Metal Performance”, as well as the DVD “War At The Warfield” (2001), also certified gold. In addition to SLAYER, Bostaph has been a member of FORBIDDEN, EXODUS, SYSTEMATIC and TESTAMENT.
SLAYER‘s 2013 itinerary will have the band playing 35 dates that will include headline shows as well as a number of major summer festivals in Europe, Eastern Europe and South America between June and October.
“Paul‘s a great drummer and a good friend, and we’re very happy that he’s decided to rejoin the band,” said Araya. “We’re still pretty numb from the loss of Jeff, but we don’t want to disappoint our European and South American fans, and we need to begin moving forward… Having Paul back in the band makes that a whole lot easier.”
Original SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo sat out the band’s recent Australian tour due to a contract dispute with the other members of the group. Filling in for him was Jon Dette (TESTAMENT, ANTHRAX).
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Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 