In a new video posted to his Zetro’s Toxic Vault YouTube channel, EXODUS frontman Steve “Zetro” Souza confirmed that the band’s upcoming album, “Persona Non Grata”, will be released this summer via Nuclear Blast. It will be 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.
Speaking about the musical direction of “Persona Non Grata”, Souza said (see video below): “The EXODUS fans are not gonna be disappointed. It’s fucking heavy as shit, it’s fast, it’s brutal, it’s violent. The lyrical content is very deep and very heavy. [Guitarist] Gary Holt wrote some really great compositions on this. And the whole band, as a band, performed really well on this. It seemed like we were all hungry again going after it. We were so excited to be together for some reason. We have Gary back, and we know that he’s not gonna be going away to tour [with SLAYER] anytime soon, so we knew that this was gonna be a very important record, which it is. And you’ll hear that when it finally gets released.”
“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.
In December, Holt stated about the “Persona Non Grata” recording process: “We tracked drums, and we overdubbed. We do two tracks of guitars — one left, one right. We don’t fuck around with all this quadruple-track shit like we used to. We feel excessive guitar rhythm tracks takes away from the pick attack. It starts sounding softer. It sounds thicker, but it’s not as aggressive. And we wanted that vibe of like when you listen to [AC/DC‘s] ‘Powerage’ — the opening chords of ‘Down Payment Blues’.”
Last year, Souza said about the new EXODUS album: “Gary Holt, being the major songwriter and the main songwriter, I feel that he’s written an absolute masterpiece — an absolute thrash metal masterpiece. It’s got all of the elements that an EXODUS record should have.”
“Persona Non Grata” will feature a guest appearance by ex-EXODUS guitarist Rick Hunolt.
Longtime EXODUS fans will recall that Hunolt — the other half of the famed EXODUS “H-Team” who is on every studio recording from 1985 through 2004 and co-wrote some of the band’s best-known songs such as “A Lesson In Violence” and “Deliver Us To Evil” — left EXODUS after the band’s highly acclaimed 2004 reunion album, “Tempo Of The Damned”. Following his departure, Hunolt was replaced by HEATHEN guitarist Lee Altus.
Back in April 2019, Hunolt rejoined Holt and other EXODUS members Hunting and Souza to perform several of the group’s classic songs during a METAL ALLEGIANCE concert in San Francisco, California.
“Blood In Blood Out” was notable for featuring a guest appearance by former EXODUS guitarist Kirk Hammett, who left the band in 1983 to join METALLICA.
The original lineup of EXODUS consisted of guitarists Hammett and Tim Agnello, Hunting and vocalist Keith Stewart. Holt joined the band in 1981, while Kirk left two years before EXODUS‘s debut album, “Bonded By Blood”, saw the light of day.
Souza is now on his third stint with EXODUS, having previously fronted the band from 1986 to 1993 and 2002 to 2004. A decade following his second departure, Souza returned to the fold in 2014, just in time to appear on “Blood In Blood Out”.
“Persona Non Grata” will be EXODUS‘s first since the completion of SLAYER‘s final tour. In 2011, Holt began filling in for Jeff Hanneman at SLAYER live shows, and became the band’s full-time co-guitarist as of 2013, while remaining a member of EXODUS.
