2004: After more than a decade in the making, the return of Exodus was worth the wait. Their first album in over a decade, the fittingly titled, 'Tempo Of The Damned' [Nuclear Blast] is everything you've come to expect from the band and then some. On the eve of their Spring US headlining tour I spoke to Guitarist Gary Holt and here's what he had to say. I have to add, if Exodus plays your area, you're really missing out if you don't check them out. I had my reservations about them being able to deliver with the same intensity as the album, but they did, they killed! They're playing is solid and for over an hour and a half, they turned the clock back in all the right ways.   

Fall: 2004 Steve "Zetro" Souza left Exodus on the eve of their South American tour. While this is a downer, this shouldn't take away from the album or the high praise Gary Holt has for the man during this interview.

Midwest Metal: Man, I don't even know where to begin!

Gary Holt: HaHaHa!

I guess let's begin with what seem to be the 9 lives of Exodus.

Man, I hope we have at least nine, I mean we've used what, three already (laughing)!

How crazy is it being 2004 and we're talking about what has to be one of the strongest albums of your career?

It is pretty crazy...When you think about it, yeah. But I'm pretty honest with myself and I know two things. One is this album is pretty killer and I know a large number of people didn't expect it and I know that because they've told me! I mean they expected what you'd typically get out of a band that's been out of action for so long and that's releasing a mediocre record as an excuse to go out and do some shows. 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't one of those people. I mean I was and continue to enjoy this record as it's a perfect blend of classic yet modern, all in a good way.

Everybody has said that as well and it's just cool that none of this was intentional. The furthest thing on our minds was to create a "modern" version of Exodus, it's just kind of what happened. We attribute a large part of this to Andy Sneap's production as it definitely catapulted the record into this century.

Something I had never really heard the full story on was how Nuclear Blast came into the picture. There was the 1997 live album 'Another Lesson in Violence' and then silence. Next thing you know the record is due on Nuclear Blast.

Well we recorded this album on our own, due to the generous contributions of a select few. I mean Andy Sneap did the album for us for no money up front...

No shit?

Yeah, man. So it was done and we started to shop it around and we had a very small, select list of homes we were interested in taking up residence (laughs). And on that list Nuclear Blast was number one on that list and we couldn't be happier with them. They treat us with the utmost respect, they love the music, not only our music but Metal in general and they're honest and upfront with us. So we signed a licensing deal since the album was already completed...

Good for you man, that's really good to hear.

And to me that's the way it had to be. I mean there's just so much baggage with the bands' past and our drug usage etc. that I'm not sure of what kind of deal we would have gotten even with the same material written. In all honesty I think they'd (record label) be pretty unsure of what they were going to get you know whether they were signing a band that was just going to rehash old ideas and shit.

Going back to the live album, when there was nothing to follow up on the momentum I was very disappointed, mad even. What happened there?

Well we entered into a very bad deal with Century Media, they didn't do anything with the live album and they certainly didn't treat us with any respect. In addition I was going through some personal problems at home and in the band everyone had become a little bit disillusioned, again. Maybe the time wasn't right you know? It took Paul's death and then some for us to finally get serious.

Speaking of Paul, listening to the personal performances on 'Tempo...', I mean everyone sounds very intense, very hungry. Could Paul have done this album?

(pause) I don't think so. And while it's sad to say, I don't think any of us could've. Tom, had Paul not died I'm sure we would have continued on the same path we were already on. In some ways it almost took his death to make this album happen. Paul at the time, I mean I love him dearly and miss him more than anyone can imagine, but he was a user and an alcoholic and prior to the stroke that killed him he had had a couple of minor ones. And while he was still Paul, his abilities had diminished and there's no way he could've done the vocals that Steve did.

Steve sounds absolutely fierce on the record. He's always been one of those guys where you either love his voice of hate it...

Totally, no room for middle ground.

Yeah, and his performance, he just sounds completely rejuvenated...

And I like to think re-invented as well.

I agree, there's stuff on the record that he's never done before.

Exactly! And it's stuff we never we never really saw him doing too. When we started doing vocal tracks he'd throw a little of this stuff out there and Andy and I would just look at one another and say "man, that's killer", "let's have some more of that"! I fucking love the screaming he does, just the savage shit and he's never really done that before. There's also some of the almost Death Metal influenced stuff at times.

I also thought some of it was a little "Black Metal" influenced as well...

(laughing) Not on his part, but mine! (laughing) I mean I don't think Steve listens to too much Black Metal but I love it! When I wrote the lyrics to "Shroud of Urine" I intended from the very beginning that that's how that chorus was going to be sung! But the coolest thing was he was able to do it, in the past there would have to have been a real meeting of the minds to get to that point. But the other day someone actually said he was out screaming Dani Filth on that song...

Well he's far more powerful than Mr. Filth...

Yeah, we'll have to get him into some corpse paint (laughing)!

Just get him into some "Raider paint"

(laughing) Yeah, he'd probably do that! But I'm a Niner fan, so there would not be a meeting of the minds on that!

What was the main difference in recording this new record versus records in the past?

Well for one we went into this record really, really prepared as well as really excited. To me it was a victory just the fact that I was loading my gear into a recording studio! So I went in super psyched and the thing about Andy and I is we both know what we want for this band and it's the same thing. There's no difference of opinion on anything and that's why I believe 100% that this is our strongest album. With any musician when they listen to an album, even their best work, and they always seem to say "I wish I could do this or that again" and I haven't come to that yet.

Let's touch on the record release show you guys played. Everyone has come away saying it was something really special. People have said even though there's been a lot of "come back" performances this show was the official "we're back". How was it from the stage point of view?

It was incredible! Starting back when we were getting ready for this album, we've never worked this hard in our lives. Even when we were at our "best" and we didn't have a boatload of problems we never worked this hard. We rehearsed our asses off and it's now to the point where we're really hard on ourselves and just nitpicking shit we would've let slide in the past. We went into this show with our stamina at it's peak and each others chops at the top of their game and because of that we went and bashed out twenty three songs without a gap. We planned on doing twenty-two but added in our cover of [AC/DC's] "Dirty Deeds" (also found on the import version of 'Tempo Of The Damned') on a whim.

Did you feel some sort of vindication? I was at the Thrash Of The Titans show...

Uh huh...

I'm not gonna lie to you, but on that day, when you looked up unprepared in the Metal dictionary, there was a picture of Exodus.

We were unprepared. I got the call asking if we wanted to participate and at the time the band...well 4/5ths of the band excluding Jack was fucked up on speed and we hadn't played in a few years either. Leading up to that show we rehearsed our set over a few days, one day we'd play maybe three or four songs the next day maybe we'd do five. I think we may have gotten through the whole set maybe once. But what can I say, at that point we had other priorities in life and it was getting high.

Now I know there's been times in the past where the band was supposed to be "clean". I remember a quote from Metal Mania around the time of 'Fabulous Disaster' where you had said something about being clean and what not. Were you really clean back then?

Around the time of 'Fabulous Disaster'?

Yeah

We weren't clean, but we weren't abusers. The days spent not doing it far out numbered the days we did. But you have to remember we spent our entire career getting wired. There was a time when the whole band could get wired and have a good time partying on a half gram of crank. Then around 2001 or so we started smoking the shit and then we'd start the party by dumping the half gram in a bowl. But I stopped using before a tour and stayed clean throughout, it was my chance to get away and I took advantage of it.  

Do you guys look at the current state of Exodus with a clear head as a gift?   

Totally! And you know my priorities are now way different as well. Back during 'Fabulous Disaster', before the whole Capitol Records fiasco when we were "everyones next big thing", Yeah, I wanted a castle with a fucking moat! I wanted the Lamborghini Diablo and the personal dungeon! Now if I can make a living at this and in the next year and pay for a modest house, I'm super happy. I have no illusions of financial greatness but if I could have a job that takes care of my kids, my girl and myself then all the more better.

Musically as well you have a chance to re-show everyone the power of Exodus. A focused Exodus, how important is it to get out there and show people?

Super important. I'm chomping at the bit to get out there and I've actually started to write some new material as well. We're hoping to be back in the studio by November. The main thing is were not going to let moss gather on this! I mean this is our last and best chance to do this especially in support of, what we feel, is our best album. Not that it matters, but the reviews have been so positive it's almost embarrassing (laughing)! So I'm not ready to tour for a little bit and then let everyone forget about it.

Now 'Tempo' is the first Exodus album since 1992, how was it recording with all the current gear, Pro-Tools and what not?

Well I'll be the first to wave the banner of digital recording! It enables you to make albums that sound this good for a fucking whole lot less money. Thinking back 'Force Of Habit', granted we recorded in London, shipped all of our gear over and staying there for a month, we spent a quarter of a million dollars on that record!

The recording budgets of "yesteryear" are fucking gone I can attest to that. Look you went to London and these days you can record a great sounding record across the street!

We did the drum tracks at Prairie Sun, which is where we did 'Bonded By Blood', it's a genuine studio that's been around for years, obviously! And we did the rest at a friend's studio in Moss Beach, CA. called Tsunami Sound. And it's a studio that he built from the ground up with one main recording room and a lounge and the control room and so Andy brought his Pro-tools and we did the thing on a fire-wire hard drive via his Mac G-4 laptop. I mean we fed him (Andy) like shit and had 'em sleeping on a cot and had a good time doing it!

Let's get into the record, I think it kicks off very strong with 'Scar Spangled Banner', when was this particular song written?

That was written in early 2003, just a few months before we went into the studio. A lot of the album other than the songs that were already around, the Wardance tunes and "Impaler" were written in late 2002. Songs like "War Is My Shepherd", "Culling The Heard" all came together in late 2002 which was also the end of my drug use, We had gotten off a European tour (X-Mass Festivals 2002 w/ Six Feet Under, Marduk, Kataklysm, Macabre etc.) and I just started writing my ass off and "Blacklist", "Shroud..." and "Scar..." all came from that time. Shit, some of the riffs were "written" in my head without a guitar anywhere, I just had so much pouring out of me I couldn't stop my mind from hearing riffs while I was on the train or something!

"Sealed With a Fist" while a total Exodus title is a different kind of track, lyrically especially.

Yeah I've been asked about that one a few times. It's mostly been people looking for the inspiration behind it and truth is I don't know any battered women that have picked up a gun and pumped busted hot slugs into their spouses. It started with the title and it's not hard for those who've been into the band to know the lyrics are just a play on words.

That's Exodus

Exactly, I've always loved to fuck with existing phrases, so I had the title and I though the subject would just go well with it. Shit, if I had my way we'd do a limited edition ep and the cover would be a wedding picture where the grooms' just fisting the bride (laughing) bit I don't think too many people would carry it (laughing)! So I'll be the first to say the lack of drugs has not spoiled my perversions!

I hope not, we'd be in a sorry state if that were to happen.

Hell no, and let me tell you it'd be right up to the elbow! And I'm sure we'd have no problem finding cover models to do it either, I mean we'd put the ad out that say's Wanted: Fisting for bucks!

Let's change gears, oh, just a bit. The guys in the band, tell me something about each of them other than the public perception. Start with Steve "Zetro" Souza. I remember he came in after Paul passed away only to leave, to join again. Which is extremely important, especially upon hearing this record, he had to be up front, huh? 

Well Zet's a different kind of person. I love Zetro to death and I think we work much better now. When he left the band again in 2002 that was because of the drugs the rest of us were using. And like I said earlier I stopped and never went back, I mean he had a lot to lose putting all of his apples in my cart. But when he saw things were different and I was pumping out riffs left and right we had a long talk and everything's been good. And like I said he and I have never gotten along better!

How about the KK Downing to your Glen Tipton, Rick Hunolt?

He's insane. Rick is an unusual individual to say the least. His attention span is like that of a fly.

You should try interviewing him! When 'A.L.I.V.' came out I set up an interview and I forgot who it was supposed to be with, but Rick calls. It was awful, he was not in the mood and everything was a one word answer. I called the label and said "that sucked" who else is available and ten minutes later the phone rings and it was Paul. That was a blast.

That's funny you should say that, for the live album we did a European tour and at the end of it we had a couple of days of press to do. Tom [Hunting-D] and I did the first day and Paul was scheduled to do the second and final one. It was our last day in Europe and I went souvenir shopping for my kids and I stopped in the Century Media offices in Dortmund, Ger. And I walk in and didn't know they (Century Media employees) had like an APB out for me because all the interviewers were calling back saying "Paul's giving us worthless answers"! Here Paul was completely hung over and just giving one word answers and people called back and were demanding to speak to me after that. But when Paul was on, he was on!

Let's move on to the third H, Tom Hunting.

What can I say? I love Tom, I love all these guys but Tom was the one who I was playing with in the old days of the back yard parties. We grew up together and so there's definitely a special bond there as there with the rest of the guys. I'm actually moving into a house with Tom because he's the only guy I the band I could live with, and I couldn't live with too many people. And that's not because I'm difficult to live with, it's because I'm a hermit. When I'm home I go virtually nowhere and the less interaction I have with the human race, the better. Let's just say I'm not a genuine fan of people. So I need to live with someone who's not going to have a bunch of people over, because that'll bother me (laughing)!

I think he sounds killer on the record as well. What's his secret? Some people have "it" only to lose it, some people never have "it". He's got "it" and it seems to have stayed with him. Is he like one of those closet Jazz drummers who are always at the top of their game?

Tom? Dude, Tom's a caveman! As far as practice I have to push him, I know his job is physically demanding so at practice I have to keep on him and try to keep his cardio level up. I mean he's like me, an old fucking man plus he's been smoking cigarettes since he was like seventeen. But as far as always having it, I think the sad fact is now the happy ending because I think he may have lost it when we were doing all the dope. But even during then he still had way more skill at drumming than others, it was still maybe a shadow of what he was capable of doing. With being clean he's gotten everything back and then some [I kept this in mind when I saw Exodus headline in April 04 and Tom Hunting was fucking amazing. The guy was a pleasure to watch jam] And that does make for a "happy ending". We all had lost it, in a lot of ways. Like you pointed out in 2001 we were out there just re-treading the same old material, hardly ever rehearsing and just winging it.

Okay, but did you know that at the time? Or was your judgment that fucked up?

I knew things weren't perfect. But I also knew we could go on any stage and play the 'Bonded By Blood' songs in our sleep, but I knew the fire was missing.

Let's get to Jack Gibson, the "new guy".

Best Bassist this band has ever had.

Now public perception may indicate he's a quiet guy? Maybe because he's "new" or maybe it's because he's in a band with the rest of you guys? But is he a quiet guy?

Jack's outspoken. As a matter of fact, there's a little paradox surrounding Jack Gibson because he's a stoner on a religious level, yet he's a staunch right-wing Republican! And I always argue with him that those two do not go hand-in Ðhand! I mean he'll sit around stoned out of his mind watching CNN or Fox News and he can be very opinionated but he and I just stay away from politics. So he's not a quiet guy and he's a phenomenal bass player with killer tone and when I show him a riff I only have to show him once. He's got a photographic memory or something.

What did Jack do during the bands' down time?

He plays bass in a band called Planting Seeds, which was a band more in the vein of Sublime and he also teaches and has quite a few bass students. I don't have the patience to teach, I hate even having to show my own band riffs let alone some snot nosed kid who can't even play (laughing)! Actually I did try teaching once...

Do tell

I had a few students and the only one I really liked was this one kid who used to pay me to watch me play!

No way!

So I didn't really have to teach him much, he sat there with his guitar and I'd just jam. He'd come by with a six pack and a few joints and I'd just shred for him and he loved it. But as far as my band members I'm still trying to get the rest of these guys to start listening to more of what's going on Metal wise! For a band capable of making such crushing music I have the most clueless bunch of bandmates! They still listen to their same Metal and are totally not up on what's going on right now or what bands are out there, I mean I'll play them something and they'll go is that "so and so" and it's like NOOOOOO.

So you'll play them something and they'll name a band that's been broken up for ten years?

No, it's more like "is that Dimmu Borgir" and its like "no it's Hypocrisy, they're not even the same thing"!

But isn't that cool in a sick sort of way, the fact that what they'll come up is pretty original?

In some way, yeah. I just think they need to update a little because I think that helps not to be stuck in an era. I mean they'll know Anthrax as long as it's pre 2004, but they couldn't tell you the difference between Dimmu and Killswitch Engage (laughing). Well that's a tough one to say, let's just say the difference between Marduk and Immortal they couldn't tell with a gun to their heads! I mean if it was a game called "Pick it or Die" they'd be done for (laughing)! But I wrote all the music for the record and there's no Black Metal riffs on it, what I write is what I write. I listen to all kinds of stuff and I never let it cloud what I do.  

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