TOM HUNTING Says EXODUS 'Would Like' To Record New Album Next Summer

EXODUS drummer Tom Hunting is hoping to enter the studio next summer to begin recording the band's follow-up to 2014's "Blood In Blood Out" album.

Although it was originally reported that the veteran San Francisco Bay Area thrashers would go into the studio in October 2017 to work on the new effort, it now appears that the band will not track the next disc until guitarist Gary Holt is done playing with SLAYER as part of that band's "final" world tour.

Asked by CBS SF in a new interview whether EXODUS has tried to get in a little work on new material when there's downtime between tours, Tom said: "Not so much on these last legs, because both [EXODUS and SLAYER] were super busy. We kind of just let each others' focus stay on what was current and what we were trying to do. But I think in the upcoming SLAYER breaks, we'll probably get some work in on the new material. I think we would like to record next summer. Gary and I have played together. We've got the makings for four or five killer songs, and the riffs he's writing are amazing.

"He doesn't get to write with SLAYER, so I think he misses the creative process of it. We all do, because that's the fun part. Even the uncomfortable beginning part of trying to put drums to a riff. [Laughs] It's a good time. We're lucky to do what we do. I enjoy it. I like recording. It's like building a sandwich. I always say the drums are the bread that hold everything together and the riffs are the meat. [Laughs]"

"Blood In Blood Out" was EXODUS's first album since the departure of the group's lead singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Steve "Zetro" Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.

Holt spoke in a 2017 interview about the musical direction of EXODUS's next disc. He said: "Of the stuff I've written so far, I think the songs are shorter, but I think they're also at the same time more progressive than the last album. It's a little outside the box. It's really super crushing, but I think people will be surprised."

He added: "It's an EXODUS album, but as of now, the stuff Tom and I have been putting together is a bit different. It's got those subtle changes that make for a departure, but it will still stay true to the core of the band's sound."