Venerable Bay Area thrashers have issued the song “Salt the Wound,” which comes from their forthcoming Blood In Blood Out album. The song features a guest solo by Kirk Hammett of METALLICA, who also happens to be one of the founding members of EXODUS.
The album is due in North America on October 14 via Nuclear Blast. The album art was illustrated by Swedish artist Pär Olofsson, known worldwide for his incredible renderings that have graced the covers of countless heavy metal albums, including EXODUS’ Let There Be Blood.
Crafting an industrial sound bed on the intro to the album opener “Black 13” is electronic music producer Dan the Automator (GORILLAZ, MIKE PATTON, DELTRON 3030).
“[Dan and I] ran into each other a couple times,” shares EXODUS guitarist and songwriter Gary Holt. “I knew what I wanted to hear and I knew he could do it, and could do it that day. So we sent him a file with the drums and guitars we already had there and just told him to go crazy with it.”
TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy lends his signature roar to the track “BTK”, one of the first songs recorded by returning vocalist Steve “Zetro” Souza, who recently said: “Chuck and I have known each other forever. We work really well together; we know each other really well. So if I’m doing my vocals and he’s there, I can trust him to go, ‘No way, Zet, [it] doesn’t sound good like that. Do it like this,’ or, ‘Yeah, that’s killer.’ If he says it sounds killer, I know it is.”
Original EXODUS guitarist Kirk Hammett, who has been a member of METALLICA for the past 31 years, contributed a solo to “Salt The Wound”.
“This was actually the first time Kirk got to play on an official EXODUS release,” states Holt. “He did the early demo, and then joined METALLICA and didn’t do anything with us after that. So he was totally gung-ho about it. He came down and ripped out a bunch of takes and we picked the best one and then had a barbecue and drank beer.”
Produced by Andy Sneap (ACCEPT, KREATOR, MEGADETH), Blood In Blood Out marks the first release with returning vocalist Steve “Zetro” Souza since 2004’s Tempo Of The Damned and features cover illustration by Swedish artist Par Olofsson (PSYCROPTIC, ABYSMAL DAWN, REVOCATION).
Blood In Blood Out track listing:
1. Black 13
2. Blood In, Blood Out
3. Collateral Damage
4. Salt The Wound
5. Body Harvest
6. BTK
7. Wrapped In The Arms Of Rage
8. My Last Nerve
9. Numb
10. Honor Killings
11. Food For The Worms