In a new interview with STL Tones, Exodus guitarist Gary Holt confirmed that the band has been hard at work writing new material for their next album. The follow-up to 2021's Persona Non Grata is expected to be released sometime in 2024, and it will be their debut on Napalm Records, who signed Exodus last June.

Regarding how he manages to stay creative after more than four decades of playing, Holt said: "I just love riffs. I mean, I love, love riffs. I love writing them. I write them in my sleep. I write them when I'm walking through a grocery store. Inspiration can hit anywhere, and I'm constantly searching for a new way, within my band's parameters and my own style, of stringing notes together and chords. And I love it - I love the process. And when you find you're on to something that's truly killer, but then the magical combination, like maybe you have four different versions of a riff and then you find the right way to put them together and it just brings a smile to your face and you know you've got something, that's what it's all about to me. I just love riffs. I'll write them when I'm old and laying in my deathbed. I'll probably write a riff right with my last breath."

As for his songwriting process, Holt said: "My writing process is just jamming. It starts with the guitar and you just play. And I don't sit there and play haphazardly. I'll have an idea of what I'm trying to achieve and no way at all of knowing how I'm going to. But if I want something that's super savage and riffy and pentatonic, I'll work around that framework until something cool happens. And sometimes it happens immediately. Sometimes a song will happen and be done in an hour. Sometimes, like the new one I'm working on right now, I've got about five days into it and I think I just nailed down the principal riff. Because I had 10 versions of it- 20. Like, which one's the right one? I don't know. They're all killer. And most people would have been happy with it, but I just had to find the one. I had to make 20 into one. And sometimes it sounds like there's 20 riffs in there. But just whatever happens, I'm just gonna follow the riff."

Speaking about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the next album, he said: "Tom [Hunting], my drummer, he just got back from a vacation he went on, and he's all really eager to jam, and I said, 'We're not there yet.' I need a stockpile of riffs and then we'll come in then we'll flesh them out. And sometimes when we get together, the entire song is done. Sometimes it's 90 percent done. Sometimes it's an idea that completely does a 180 and is nothing like what it started at when it's finished and the whole thing will transpire with just him and I. You never know. But right now I told him, 'Be patient.' I'm working on having some stuff to flesh out when we jam. But yeah, sometimes you hear the beat in your head and then you really hear the beat, 'cause I don't waste my time with demo home recording and all that. I know what's going on; I know where I'm going. And we're still super old school. I just record things on my phone. If my old four-track cassette recorder still worked, I'd still use it. Because I had one that has a built-in mic. So I didn't even have to bother with miking; I just leaned it up against the amp. For me personally, I'm better off just working by myself with a riff, and I grab my phone so I don't forget it."

Source:	youtube.com
Band profile:	Exodus