THERE WAS A FOUR-YEAR GAP BETWEEN EXODUS’S LAST ALBUM AND BLOOD IN, BLOOD OUT. HOW WAS IT MAKING A NEW EXODUS
WAS IT EASY TO GET BACK IN THE SADDLE AFTER THE TIME AWAY?
“We went about this album in such an old-school way! We didn’t set up a rack of amps in a big rehearsal room or anything; we just set up shop in Tom’s [drummer Tom Hunting] laundry room out on the goat ranch where he lives.”
WAS THE RECORDING AS RELAXED AS THE WRITING PROCESS?
“I wasn’t there… I was in Europe with Slayer! I finished my tracks before we started. One of the beauties of this album was that although I wrote most of the songs, everyone could track as they wanted, free to do their performances as they saw fit, which meant I had way more time to concentrate on my solos.”
THE RECORD IS ARGUABLY MORE OLD SCHOOL IN SOUND. WAS THAT INTENTIONAL?
“The last two albums were, like, super-progressive. That’s just where our heads were at, because everything we do is organic. We don’t decide we’re going to write an 11-minute song or a four-minute song – it just turns
out the way it does. On this album, everything is very chorus-orientated and hooky.”
METALLICA GUITARIST, AND ONE-TIME EXODUS MEMBER, KIRK HAMMETT DOES A GUEST SOLO ON THE RECORD. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?
“I’ve spent so much time playing shows with Metallica over the last four years with Slayer, and Kirk and I reconnected like we did when we were kids. I asked him if he wanted to do a solo for the new album and he said, ‘Fuck yeah!’. I don’t think anyone was more excited than Kirk. It was like a homecoming; coming full circle with a band he founded when he was 17. Getting together in a shitty small room with half stacks, it was the vibe of when we used to rehearse in my parents’ garage.”
ROB DUKES IS OUT AND STEVE ‘ZETRO’ SOUZA IS BACK ON VOCALS FOR THE THIRD TIME. WHY RETURN TO HIM?
“Some issues arose that were there already, along with some new ones, and, as in any relationship, you can love someone to death but sometimes it’s just not working out. We’re way too old to bring in some 25-year-old dude. We’re not going to click, so we saw where Steve was mentally and then let him audition – he wasn’t given it. But he sang this new song like he’d been doing it for 10 years!”
BLOOD IN, BLOOD OUT IS OUT NOW VIA NUCLEAR BLAST
