GARY HOLT Is Writing ‘Crushing’ Riffs For EXODUS’s Next Album

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EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt has been writing "crushing" new riffs for the band's forthcoming follow-up to 2014's "Blood In Blood Out" album. On Friday (May 29), Holt took to his Instagram to share a photo of a couple of his guitars, and he included the following caption: "New @exodusbandofficial riffs are flying out today, and if I don't mind saying so, are CRUSHING!!! Super stoked!!! Can't wait to gather and start assembly of these beast!" This past April, EXODUS singer Steve "Zetro" Souza confirmed that Holt's COVID-19 diagnosis "put a damper" on EXODUS's ability to move forward with the songwriting process for its new LP. "By now, we would have been working together for probably a good month on it," Zetro explained. "Gary's got many riffs and many things that he needs to put together. It starts with him and Tom [Hunting, EXODUS drummer], basically. Everybody knows, drummer and guitar, and that's how EXODUS has always done it. But because of this distancing, that's been kind of impossible to do, so that's put a damper on it. But I can guarantee you, I did hear some of the stuff that they were playing around with in soundcheck on [the recently completed] 'The Bay Strikes Back' [European] tour, and EXODUS fans are gonna be very pleased. Again, I'm not hearing full songs — I'm just hearing riffs and pieces and stuff like that — and I'm [like], 'Wow!' I'm not saying — it's just pretty damn heavy." Holt joined EXODUS in 1981 shortly after the band's formation, and has been its main songwriter ever since. Holt has performed on every EXODUS album, and is considered highly influential in the world of thrash metal. In 2011, he began filling in for Jeff Hanneman at SLAYER live shows, and became the band's full-time co-guitarist as of 2013, while remaining a member of EXODUS. In October 2014, EXODUS released its tenth studio album, "Blood In Blood Out", on the Nuclear Blast label. "Blood In Blood Out" marked EXODUS's first album since the departure of the group's lead singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.