Gary Holt: “As Far As My Knowledge, Slayer Is Over…I’m Full Speed Ahead With Exodus Now”

© Markus Felix (talk to me), CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
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2019 saw Slayer, arguably the greatest thrash metal band of all time, perform their final shows and officially retire from the spotlight. Of course, the minute Slayer played their final notes, every metal fan on the face of the earth began speculating as to when the legends would reunite again. Now, guitarist Gary Holt has spoken about that possibility in a new interview, and has made it clear that he’s not the guy to ask about a reunion — but for all he knows, there isn’t one in the works.

Holt, a founding member of Bay Area crushers Exodus who began playing with Slayer after the death of guitarist Jeff Hanneman in 2013, was recently interviewed by Rocking With Jam Man, and was asked about the chance of a Slayer reunion.

“That’s a question I couldn’t answer you, whether Slayer would ever get back together,” says Holt. “Those are questions that are above my pay scale, I guess you’d say.

“Look, if the powers that be ever — like, in a year or something — said, ‘Hey, you know what? We feel like playing some shows,’ I’m there to do it,” he said. “But those aren’t decisions for me to make, or even me to really speculate on. As far as my knowledge, the band is over, and the final show was November 30th, 2019. And I’m full speed ahead with Exodus now.”

Check out the full interview below:

When he says ‘full speed ahead,’ Gary isn’t fronting — back at the end of August 20202, Exodus revealed that they were working on a follow-up to 2014’s Blood In Blood Out. According to a recent issue of Decibel, the title of the record will be Persona Non Grata, a name which Holt himself confirmed via an Instagram post.

More on the new Exodus record — and the slim possibility of a Slayer reunion — as we know about it.

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Words by Chris Krovatin