EXODUS's GARY HOLT: 'We Knew' ROB DUKES 'Could Do Ultra-Aggressive, Violent Thrash Better Than Anybody'

In a new interview with Scott Davidson of Chicago's Rebel Radio, EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt discussed the band's twelfth studio album, "Goliath", which came out on March 20 via Napalm Records. Speaking about the title of the follow-up to 2021's "Persona Non Grata", Gary said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, the song ['Goliath'] just screams enormity to all of us. And then we just like the sound of it. We've never had a single-word title to the album, and the album's pretty enormous as it is. So we thought it was the perfect title for the record."

Referencing the fact that "Goliath" marks the first EXODUS album since singer Rob Dukes's return to the band, Davidson asked Holt if he writes the music differently based on who is fronting the group. He responded: "No, I write the same, no matter who's singing. I mean, I'm gonna write the lyrics that I write. But on this album, we learned early on that Rob was capable of so much more than what we knew he could do, which we knew he could do ultra-aggressive, violent thrash better than anybody. But he showed all this additional range that he had developed, and so you do start running with it a little bit. And the album was such a collaborative feature anyway — there were so many creators on this record, and it really gave the sound its distinct flavor."

Asked if he and his EXODUS bandmates usually have a clear idea as to what the opening and the closing tracks will be on the album while they are recording each LP, Gary said: "No, never. I mean, usually we do, but on this one we wrote 80% of the follow-up album too, and we recorded it, so we had to narrow 18 songs down to 10. The planned opener, we decided to kick over to the next album, because I still have anxiety attacks over which songs we selected. Because the other songs, they aren't leftovers. [It's] some of the best stuff. Most of my really, really fast stuff is on the next record. Just the way the track listing and the way it all came together, we picked the ones that we thought made for a really adventurous, brave record."

Regarding why EXODUS recorded so many songs this time around, Gary said: "We were experiencing a huge creative surge. And we're also well aware of our current age. We don't know what tomorrow brings, you know what I mean? I just turned 62, and we figured if we could complete two albums at once, we could go on vacation when this album touring cycle is done and don't have to go back into the studio at all. And we came just a little bit short of that. We need two more [songs], but we'll write 10 more probably, and end up doing the whole thing again. But that still leaves us with extra material, 'cause you start facing mortality and if something happens to me, it'd be nice to have these last remaining works available for my children to sell or whatever. But we just keep rolling. We were writing at a breakneck pace, and why stop it?"

As for whether the writing process for EXODUS is different today from how it was 20 or 30 years ago, Gary said: "No, I still write exactly the same way. The only difference is I don't record it on my cassette boom box. I record it on my phone. I play around with home recording a little bit, but I use it just to record ideas for the other guys to hear. I don't sit and really get into detail on it. It's just to capture the idea and add a couple of layers where needed to show what I'm thinking."

Elaborating on the songwriting process for EXODUS, Gary said: "Well, you know, if I'm writing a song, it just starts with a riff. If Lee [Altus, EXODUS guitarist] writes a song, it starts with a riff as well. Lee wrote a lot of material for this and the follow-up album. Rob wrote a lot of lyrics. Lee wrote some lyrics. Tom Hunting [EXODUS drummer] wrote lyrics. Jack [Gibson], our bass player, is a huge sounding board for arrangement advice and stuff. So everybody contributes, and there's no ego where, like, I have to write all the stuff. In the past, I wrote most of the albums 'cause I had to. I've always welcomed more input. And the more chefs in the EXODUS kitchen, the better."

In December 2025, EXODUS filmed music videos for three songs from "Goliath", including "3111". The clips were helmed by Jim Louvau, a musical and visual creative artist based in Phoenix, Arizona, who previously worked on EXODUS's music video for the song "The Fires Of Division" from the band's 2021 LP "Persona Non Grata".

"Goliath" marks the first time in nearly three decades that an EXODUS album hasn't been mixed by Andy Sneap, who has acted as JUDAS PRIEST's producer and touring guitarist for eight years.

EXODUS's longtime singer Steve "Zetro" Souza joined the pioneering thrash metal act in 1986 after previously fronting the band LEGACY (which later became TESTAMENT). He remained in the band until their hiatus in 1993, but rejoined them for two years from 2002 to 2004. Dukes had joined EXODUS in 2005 (following Souza's departure) and remained until 2014, when Souza rejoined.

Dukes previously joined EXODUS in January 2005 and appeared on four of the band's studio albums — "Shovel Headed Kill Machine" (2005),"The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A" (2007),"Let There Be Blood" (2008, a re-recording of EXODUS's classic 1985 LP, "Bonded By Blood") and "Exhibit B: The Human Condition" (2010).

EXODUS played its first concert with Dukes in nearly 11 years on April 5, 2025 at the Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Philly at the Fillmore in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Although EXODUS rarely gets mentioned alongside the so-called "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX — the aforementioned "Bonded By Blood" LP inspired the likes of TESTAMENT, DEATH ANGEL, VIO-LENCE and many others to launch their careers and is considered one of the most influential thrash metal albums of all time.

Image credit: Tomáš Kolenčík