[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Down the hardest road only to return as strong as ever[/font][/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Interviewed and written by PSL[/font][/font]
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[url]www.nuclearblast.de[/url]
Official site:
[url]www.exodusattack.com[/url]
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[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Legendary Bay Area thrashers Exodus are ready to unleash their insane comeback album Tempo of the Damned on February 2nd, the two year anniversary of singer Paul Baloff's death. An album that is one of the strongest comeback albums I've heard in a long time and it stands as evidence that Exodus is still a very powerful force to reckon with. I could therefore in no way say no when I was offered the opportunity to talk with drummer Tom Hunting from this legendary thrash band. The same band that a certain Kirk Hammett once stepped his child shoes in. [/font][/font][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
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What do you think you can offer with the new album?
All out brutality, aggressiveness and just, you know. I think it's the best album we've ever done.
So how do you feel it compares to your earlier albums?
I think it sounds newer and fresher. Personally - and bands say that all the time when they are making a new record - but I think our new album is better than any of the other ones. I know it's a cliché but that's how we feel.
You've been criticized for including "Sealed With a Fist" and "Throwing Down". How do you feel about that?
I feel like those two songs sounded the most like Exodus anyway and we write music to please ourselves first. It's still a good record and if people don't like those two songs then it's two outta ten and I can accept that.
It does shine through that "Impaler" is an older song. What was the idea behind including it?
It was a song that fans, specially the fans at home have been screaming for, a studio version of that track for like twenty years so it's kinda an ode to Paul 'cause he helped write that song. We just wanted to get it out there.
You sound a lot more motivated on Tempo of the Damned compared to an album like Force of Habit!
I wasn't with the band in 1992 so I really don't know how much stream they had. I know these last few years have been the hardest road for us, and we had to overcome drug problems and the death of our singer and all kinds of shit. So yeah, we definitely feel more motivated than ever right now.
How long have you been working on the songs for Tempo of the Damned?
Except for the two Wardance songs, basically from January 2003 to May when we started recording.
What's your personal favourite from the album?
Right now my personal favourite is "Shroud of Urine" but you know we as the band equally love every song on this record I can't play favourites next week, it's gonna be something else probably.
Exodus temporarily worked with John Miller but then Steve Souza rejoined the band. What happened first?
Well, John was the singer of Wardance and he wrote the words for "Throwing Down" and at the time when Steve left and John joined up with us, Steve didn't feel we were committed to doing this for real and the band was having problems still with the drugs and just being dysfunctional you know. And we just sat down and talked and worked it all out.
What ended you cooperation with Century Media?
Ahm I'm not really at liberty to discuss all the contact problems with them but they realized there wasn't gonna be a working relationship with this band. They didn't really put forth their best effort and we weren't gonna give them our best effort. That's basically all I can say about it.
How did you get the opportunity to work with Nuclear Blast?
We knew that we would work with them all along as I said our contract with Century Media was going nowhere, and we didn't really shop this album around to a lot of labels. We feel they are the best in the business right now doing what they do. I mean they've shown the band nothing but respect and good things, and they're behind the album one hundred percent. We feel good about it, we feel we're in good hands for once and I've NEVER said that about a label, ha-ha.
Exodus was formed in 2001. What caused this reactivation?
I think a lot of it was the Thrash of the Titans show, you know, the Chuck Billy benefit where a lot of bands come out of nowhere they haven't been together for a while, and you know, we realized how fun it was and how much we still wanted to do it.
Please comment on your albums:
Bonded By Blood
We felt like we were just kids when we recorded that record and we like... We never knew this would be like a thrash classic or whatever people calling it. And you know we're proud of it.
Pleasures of the Flesh
Pleasures of the Flesh... We had a different singer and we went in the studio kinda unprepared and we change producers in the middle in the album. It wasn't the funniest recording experience for us.
Fabulous Disaster
Fabulous Disaster came quickly after Pleasure . We went in totally rehearsed and motivated just, you know, every one knew their part and it was a really good session for that one.
Impact is Imminent
I didn't play drums on that album. I have my songs I like off it. I think it's a guitar player's album more then anything else. "Only Death Decides" is definitely the strongest track on the record I think.
Alright, I guess we'll skip Force of Habit and go to Another Lesson in Violence!
That album was totally fun. We reformed the band and we had the original line-up except for the addition of a new bass player and it was a lot of fun.
Tempo of the Damned
Tempo of the Damned is by far the best recording experience I ever had. I mean, everybody in the band were prepared, we were without drugs, everybody was drug free and we just went in and nailed it. It was great. The producer was great it was just We had a really good time.
What happened to you involvement with Angel Witch?
I kinda committed to early on helping them out for this tour. Exodus is always the band I really want to play with first and foremost. I probably shouldn't ever have committed to do anything really with Angel Witch this year because Exodus takes up way too much of my time.
What happened to Wardance?
Wardance did like four shows. We had like ten songs that were completed and then our singer John Miller went on a month-long drinking bench after a really bad gig we had and nobody could contact him, and that was kinda when our friends were telling us that we should get Baloff back and get the band back together and all this shit - so we did.
After the release of Another Lesson in Violence a lot of people expected a new Exodus album. What happened?
That was about the time when the band was like doing the worst of the drug abuse. We weren't getting any work done. We talked about getting work done but it's easy to talk about stuff when you're high, but doing it is just a whole different story.
It seems like there's quite a revival of Bay Area thrash metal at the moment. I mean there are new albums from Death Angel, Violence and possible Heathen on the way! Do you think the time is right again?
I think if it's gonna come back and do a strong comeback, it can never get a better opportunity than now. I mean, we think it's great that all the bands from home are reforming. I think a lot of that was because of the Chuck Billy benefit and how much fun everybody had and how good it felt. We think it's great, I mean, we're label mates with Death Angel. Death Angel are in the studio right now; maybe we can possibly hook up and do some touring some time later since we're on the same label. And we're supportive of it. We love it.
I remember there were some rumours about a tour with you, Violence and Death Angel, I think. I know Walter Morgan was involved!
They were gonna put the Thrash of the Titans on a tour and it was gonna start in South America and the promoter took one look at the budget and said fuck this. It was just to much to put it together and we had our own problems to deal with at that point Gary was going through a divorce and we went to write new material before we did a tour and just the timing wasn't right for us.
Wasn't there some talk about a DVD release from the Thrash of the Titans show?
Yeah there was talk about it but I really don't know what's going on with that. We're releasing our own DVD by the end of the year. We're currently putting together the footage and there's a lot of information to go through.
Awesome. What's it gonna contain?
It's gonna contain everything. It's gonna be a full chronological history of the band. You know from the early days and some live footage and some footage from the live album recording and all the way up to the sessions for Tempo of the Damned. There is a lot of information to sit through we're getting People are coming out from nowhere with footage of this band from just years ago, so we got a lot of work to do.
Right back to the very beginning?
Yeah.
Do you know if there's any chance that Impact Is Imminent might be re-issued?
Yeah, we're currently working on trying to get the whole back catalogue re-issued and re-licensed and hopefully we can do this through Nuclear Blast, and then our current record label will have all our past work too.
I guess that's about it; do you have any final comments?
Just check out the new record. I hope everyone loves it 'cause we've had the time of our lives making the record. We'll be on tour. We're not sure if we'll be doing the US or Europe first. I know we're booking festivals and just check it out 'cause we'll be coming out there.
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What do you think you can offer with the new album?
All out brutality, aggressiveness and just, you know. I think it's the best album we've ever done.
So how do you feel it compares to your earlier albums?
I think it sounds newer and fresher. Personally - and bands say that all the time when they are making a new record - but I think our new album is better than any of the other ones. I know it's a cliché but that's how we feel.
You've been criticized for including "Sealed With a Fist" and "Throwing Down". How do you feel about that?
I feel like those two songs sounded the most like Exodus anyway and we write music to please ourselves first. It's still a good record and if people don't like those two songs then it's two outta ten and I can accept that.
It does shine through that "Impaler" is an older song. What was the idea behind including it?
It was a song that fans, specially the fans at home have been screaming for, a studio version of that track for like twenty years so it's kinda an ode to Paul 'cause he helped write that song. We just wanted to get it out there.
You sound a lot more motivated on Tempo of the Damned compared to an album like Force of Habit!
I wasn't with the band in 1992 so I really don't know how much stream they had. I know these last few years have been the hardest road for us, and we had to overcome drug problems and the death of our singer and all kinds of shit. So yeah, we definitely feel more motivated than ever right now.
How long have you been working on the songs for Tempo of the Damned?
Except for the two Wardance songs, basically from January 2003 to May when we started recording.
What's your personal favourite from the album?
Right now my personal favourite is "Shroud of Urine" but you know we as the band equally love every song on this record I can't play favourites next week, it's gonna be something else probably.
Exodus temporarily worked with John Miller but then Steve Souza rejoined the band. What happened first?
Well, John was the singer of Wardance and he wrote the words for "Throwing Down" and at the time when Steve left and John joined up with us, Steve didn't feel we were committed to doing this for real and the band was having problems still with the drugs and just being dysfunctional you know. And we just sat down and talked and worked it all out.
What ended you cooperation with Century Media?
Ahm I'm not really at liberty to discuss all the contact problems with them but they realized there wasn't gonna be a working relationship with this band. They didn't really put forth their best effort and we weren't gonna give them our best effort. That's basically all I can say about it.
How did you get the opportunity to work with Nuclear Blast?
We knew that we would work with them all along as I said our contract with Century Media was going nowhere, and we didn't really shop this album around to a lot of labels. We feel they are the best in the business right now doing what they do. I mean they've shown the band nothing but respect and good things, and they're behind the album one hundred percent. We feel good about it, we feel we're in good hands for once and I've NEVER said that about a label, ha-ha.
Exodus was formed in 2001. What caused this reactivation?
I think a lot of it was the Thrash of the Titans show, you know, the Chuck Billy benefit where a lot of bands come out of nowhere they haven't been together for a while, and you know, we realized how fun it was and how much we still wanted to do it.
Please comment on your albums:
Bonded By Blood
We felt like we were just kids when we recorded that record and we like... We never knew this would be like a thrash classic or whatever people calling it. And you know we're proud of it.
Pleasures of the Flesh
Pleasures of the Flesh... We had a different singer and we went in the studio kinda unprepared and we change producers in the middle in the album. It wasn't the funniest recording experience for us.
Fabulous Disaster
Fabulous Disaster came quickly after Pleasure . We went in totally rehearsed and motivated just, you know, every one knew their part and it was a really good session for that one.
Impact is Imminent
I didn't play drums on that album. I have my songs I like off it. I think it's a guitar player's album more then anything else. "Only Death Decides" is definitely the strongest track on the record I think.
Alright, I guess we'll skip Force of Habit and go to Another Lesson in Violence!
That album was totally fun. We reformed the band and we had the original line-up except for the addition of a new bass player and it was a lot of fun.
Tempo of the Damned
Tempo of the Damned is by far the best recording experience I ever had. I mean, everybody in the band were prepared, we were without drugs, everybody was drug free and we just went in and nailed it. It was great. The producer was great it was just We had a really good time.
What happened to you involvement with Angel Witch?
I kinda committed to early on helping them out for this tour. Exodus is always the band I really want to play with first and foremost. I probably shouldn't ever have committed to do anything really with Angel Witch this year because Exodus takes up way too much of my time.
What happened to Wardance?
Wardance did like four shows. We had like ten songs that were completed and then our singer John Miller went on a month-long drinking bench after a really bad gig we had and nobody could contact him, and that was kinda when our friends were telling us that we should get Baloff back and get the band back together and all this shit - so we did.
After the release of Another Lesson in Violence a lot of people expected a new Exodus album. What happened?
That was about the time when the band was like doing the worst of the drug abuse. We weren't getting any work done. We talked about getting work done but it's easy to talk about stuff when you're high, but doing it is just a whole different story.
It seems like there's quite a revival of Bay Area thrash metal at the moment. I mean there are new albums from Death Angel, Violence and possible Heathen on the way! Do you think the time is right again?
I think if it's gonna come back and do a strong comeback, it can never get a better opportunity than now. I mean, we think it's great that all the bands from home are reforming. I think a lot of that was because of the Chuck Billy benefit and how much fun everybody had and how good it felt. We think it's great, I mean, we're label mates with Death Angel. Death Angel are in the studio right now; maybe we can possibly hook up and do some touring some time later since we're on the same label. And we're supportive of it. We love it.
I remember there were some rumours about a tour with you, Violence and Death Angel, I think. I know Walter Morgan was involved!
They were gonna put the Thrash of the Titans on a tour and it was gonna start in South America and the promoter took one look at the budget and said fuck this. It was just to much to put it together and we had our own problems to deal with at that point Gary was going through a divorce and we went to write new material before we did a tour and just the timing wasn't right for us.
Wasn't there some talk about a DVD release from the Thrash of the Titans show?
Yeah there was talk about it but I really don't know what's going on with that. We're releasing our own DVD by the end of the year. We're currently putting together the footage and there's a lot of information to go through.
Awesome. What's it gonna contain?
It's gonna contain everything. It's gonna be a full chronological history of the band. You know from the early days and some live footage and some footage from the live album recording and all the way up to the sessions for Tempo of the Damned. There is a lot of information to sit through we're getting People are coming out from nowhere with footage of this band from just years ago, so we got a lot of work to do.
Right back to the very beginning?
Yeah.
Do you know if there's any chance that Impact Is Imminent might be re-issued?
Yeah, we're currently working on trying to get the whole back catalogue re-issued and re-licensed and hopefully we can do this through Nuclear Blast, and then our current record label will have all our past work too.
I guess that's about it; do you have any final comments?
Just check out the new record. I hope everyone loves it 'cause we've had the time of our lives making the record. We'll be on tour. We're not sure if we'll be doing the US or Europe first. I know we're booking festivals and just check it out 'cause we'll be coming out there.
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I swear, I'm still playing that release everyfuckinday! To me it is such classic thrash. Great words from Tom. Drugs can really tear apart a band. I have to hand it to Steve coming in and getting shit done with the band. I think Exodus shreds! Thanks for the interview.
Hey Val
