EXODUS To Enter Studio In February 2025

During an October 21 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2021's "Persona Non Grata" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've got a dozen [songs] in the works right now, and Lee [Altus, EXODUS guitarist] has some stuff. Our plan is to hit the studio in February. We were gonna do it this summer, but we felt we were rushing it. And the last time was so well received and a landmark album for us, we can't shortchange ourselves and hurry into it. And [we have a] brand new record label with Napalm Records and we wanted to make sure the album's as good as it possibly can be. So, February and March we'll be in the studio and then back at it again after that. No rest for the wicked, for sure."

Holt previously discussed EXODUS's plans to hit the studio this past August in an interview with Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show. He said at the time: "Well, I'm writing the new record right now. We were going to go in the studio in a week, but we needed more time. We're not ready. And if we rushed it, that'd be a huge mistake. Unfortunately, due to touring commitments, our next gap to get in and do this proper, it's, like, the beginning of next year. So, we're pushing back, but it's gonna be worth it 'cause the songs are just coming along very well. I'm super pleased. Stuff's heavy."

He continued: "The last album we had all the time in the world due to the pandemic, and the results are apparent in the record, and to follow 'Persona Non Grata' with a rushed release would be the dumbest thing we could possibly do. But it's coming along — it's coming along really well. Actually, I've got 10 songs I'm working on. Lee's got some stuff, and we'll take it from there."

Asked if it looks like the next EXODUS album will be released in 2025, Gary replied: "Oh, yeah, for sure. It will be next year. It's just gonna be later next year than we hoped."

This past February, EXODUS frontman Steve "Zetro" Souza said on his Zetro's Toxic Vault YouTube channel about the musical direction of the band's new material: "I haven't heard anything that they're writing. It usually starts with Tom [Hunting, drums] and Gary. So, it'll be music and then drums. And then when they have kind of stuff pasted together, then I'll hear bits and pieces of it. It kind of rolls like that, but within three or four weeks' time, what sounds like just riffs put together actually turn into full songs, with lyrics and everything. 'Persona Non Grata' went that way, for sure. And in the past we had done it like that. So that's what's actually happening as far as EXODUS is concerned right now."

Souza went on to say that Napalm Records, with whom EXODUS signed a new record deal last year, was anxious to start working with the band on promoting the upcoming LP.

"It's been 20 years or even more than we were on Nuclear Blast," Zetro said. "I mean, the first record on Nuclear Blast was 'Tempo Of The Damned', and so [it was] in 2003, 2002, I think, when we actually signed to them. And then everything that [former EXODUS singer] Rob Dukes did with them was on there. And then when I came back, [we did] 'Blood In Blood Out' and 'Persona' [with Nuclear Blast].

"[Napalm] seem very excited, and that's always a good thing," he continued. "We had such a great relationship with Nuclear Blast and they were really good to us. I think sometimes change is good and a breath of fresh air comes. And I think that we were due for that. So, it's worked out good. We've got, obviously, Napalm, their deal for us was really, really good and it's a three-album deal, so there's at least three more EXODUS records on the books there. So we just have number one that will start this year at some point."

EXODUS will embark on "The Battle Of '24" North American tour this fall. The trek marks the band's first headlining run in many years and will feature support from thrash metallers HAVOK, metallic hardcore outfit CANDY and crossover thrashers DEAD HEAT. The tour kicks off on November 2 in Tampa, Florida and will thrash across North America, ultimately concluding on December 7 in Los Angeles, California.

"Persona Non Grata" came out in November 2021 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.

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

Photo credit: Tayva Martinez