EXODUS Singer STEVE 'ZETRO' SOUZA Reflects On His Worst Show

During an appearance on "Put Up Your Dukes", the new podcast hosted by ex-EXODUS singer Rob Dukes, current EXODUS frontman Steve "Zetro" Souza was asked to name the worst show he ever played in his life. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I remember we were on the 'Headbangers Ball' tour [with ANTHRAX and HELLOWEEN in 1989] and we were in New Orleans. And I love Slurpees — not as much anymore 'cause of my transformation lately, but I love Slurpees. And we got to the French Quarter, and Hurricanes are like Slurpees with fucking alcohol in them. So I was drinking 'em, and I didn't really taste the booze and they are high-alcohol-contented drinks. And I drank, like, five of them. And on those tours, we were on stage at, like, 7:30 or something, eight o'clock. It was an arena tour, so it stated early. HELLOWEEN went on, then us. So we were [scheduled to go on at] 7:30. And I went on stage, and I had to be the worst 'cause I was so fucking shitfaced; I couldn't even remember the words and I was spinning. And it was just awful. Gary [Holt, EXODUS guitarist] was none too happy with me."

He continued: "I'd never been the French Quarter before, so our manager was there with us, Toni [Isabella], and she's all, 'Oh, let's take a cab and go.' And I'm walking around. I'm, like, 'Wait a minute. They've got drink places right on the street?' I'm all, 'Fuck me.' I'm all, 'What do you got that kind of tastes like a Slurpee?' They're all, 'I have a Hurricane.' I'm, like, 'Okay. Cool.' I'm all, 'It does taste like a Slurpee.' I [had] five of those — five of them. And now if I drank a half of one, I'd be throwing up, let alone five of them. But I was 26 at that time, and we did do party back in those days, so it's not saying my body wasn't like an athlete, physically ready for it. But that was probably the worst time on stage. Although I'll say — and not to be arrogant — I try not to ever have bad shows, regardless of how much I need to prepare myself for it."

EXODUS released its new album, "Persona Non Grata", on November 19 via Nuclear Blast Records. The LP was recorded at a studio in Lake Almanor, California and was engineered by Steve Lagudi and EXODUS. It was produced by EXODUS and was mixed by Andy Sneap. For the third time in the band's history, they returned to Swedish artist Pär Olofsson to create the album artwork.

"Persona Non Grata" is the follow-up to 2014's "Blood In Blood Out", which was the San Francisco Bay Area thrashers' first release since the departure of Dukes, and the return of Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.

EXODUSTESTAMENT and DEATH ANGEL played the sole 2021 date of "The Bay Strikes Back Tour" last November 27 at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California. The gig took place less than two months after the three bands shared the stage at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento.

"The Bay Strikes Back Tour" was originally scheduled to kick off on October 6, 2021 at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, California and make stops in Austin, New York, and Detroit before concluding in Oakland. The tour has since been rescheduled to take place in April and May 2022.