Exodus Holt owes a debt to Schenker

Exodus guitarist Gary Holt says he channeled his hero Michael Schenker on the band's upcoming new album.

The thrash metal veterans release Blood In Blood Out on October 10 via Nuclear Blast and main man Holt says handing over some of the control in the studio allowed his guitar parts to shine.

But he jokes that he might owe guitar icon Schenker a share of the record’s royalties.

In the first of five planned ‘making of’ video clips, Holt says: “Recording Blood In Blood Out was easily one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had. I wrote most of the stuff but I gave a lot of the control away for the first time.

“I was able to concentrate on leads when it came down to that and I just played some of the best stuff I ever have. I’m just shredding, ripping off Michael Schenker left and right. I should probably be paying him money. I owe him some royalties or something.”

The album features a guest appearances from Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and Holt says he is thrilled with how it turned out. But he is braced for some criticism.

He adds: “It’s absolutely aggressive and in your face. It’s the fastest record we’ve ever done, it’s stupid fast.

“It sounds a little more like classic Exodus but in no way is it a retro album. People are still gonna say, ‘Songs are too long, Gary Holt doesn’t know anything about thrash metal any more.’ I hear that shit all the time. ‘He aint made a good album since Bonded By Blood.’”

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.