EXODUS's TOM HUNTING Recalls Seeing GUNS N' ROSES In Late 1980s: 'They Were A Mess And They Were Great Too'

EXODUS drummer Tom Hunting was interviewed on a recent episode of the GUNS N' ROSES-centric "Appetite for Distortion" podcast. Asked if he has any connection to the GN'R guys and if he has ever seen the Axl Rose-fronted outfit perform, Tom said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I saw GUNS N' ROSES with AEROSMITH. They were on tour, and it was in the '80s, maybe the late '80s. They were great. They still had Steven Adler on drums back then. And they were kind of a mess and they were kind of great too. They played great. It was just like raw, raunchy rock and roll. AEROSMITH was kind of more clean and polished at that time. I got the feeling in the moment that GUNS N' ROSES was kind of like living the life that AEROSMITH was only 10 years prior, and they had moved on to this cleaner, more polished, less drugs. And I could see that on stage. Not that both bands weren't great."

He continued: "As far as the connection to GUNS N' ROSES. I have none. I'd seen 'em then [in the late '80s], and I'd seen 'em… They played Hellfest [in France] one time, or at least it was Axl who played, but I haven't seen GUNS N' ROSES play since then. I have no connection to them — other than I know that Slash [GUNS N' ROSES guitarist] knows about thrash and he likes thrash music and he likes hard, heavier bands and stuff like that. He's just a phenomenal force. He's one of those guitar players you know when you're hearing him. They could just step out, hit a couple notes and you know it's them."

Last Friday (November 1),EXODUS released its cover of the AC/DC classic "Beating Around The Bush". The track, which features a guest solo by former EXODUS guitarist Rick Hunolt, was originally recorded during the sessions for EXODUS's 2021 album "Persona Non Grata" but had not been released until now.

EXODUS singer Steve "Zetro" Souza is also the frontman of the long-running San Francisco Bay Area-based AC/DC tribute band AC/DZ, also featuring DEATH ANGEL drummer Will Carroll.

"Persona Non Grata" 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 the group's lead singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.