Rick Hunolt, former guitarist for Exodus, just lately opened up on the Pod Scum podcast in a dialog with “Reckless” Rexx Ruger. The episode coated every thing from his enduring bond with Gary Holt to the artistic agony behind what he considers his finest recorded solos.
Ruger made a daring comparability, inserting Hunolt and Holt among the many pantheon of legendary steel guitar duos—alongside Metallica’s James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett, and Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Hunolt didn’t draw back from the reward.
“Thanks, man. Properly, we have been there at first, and actually, I am not afraid to say that we most likely — we impressed these guys very a lot, all the fellows you simply named. However we have been all from the identical precise amoeba. The DNA was just about the identical over right here on the West Coast with this little, small group of guitar gamers,” he mirrored (through Blabbermouth)
The chemistry between Hunolt and Holt was greater than musical: “Enjoying in a band for 30, 35 years with Gary was unbelievable. We revered one another — we nonetheless do to at the present time — very, very a lot. And we love one another very, very a lot. And we’ll be brothers ceaselessly. Completely. He’s a busy man. And I agree — Gary Holt‘s an exceptional riff author, dude. Phenomenal.”
When requested to establish the excessive level of his guitar work with Exodus, Hunolt gave an unexpectedly uncooked and private reply.
“If I needed to stack all of the albums proper there in entrance of me and take a look at the performances on each album… For those who’re speaking lead guitar… I am going to let you know one thing. I am gonna have to select [2004’s] Tempo Of The Damned, so far as lead guitar and rhythm guitar enjoying. As a result of I used to be a very sick human being throughout that recording session. I may really feel that my time with Exodus was coming to an finish. And it was devastating, dude.”
The emotional weight of that album session nonetheless lingers for Hunolt: “And after I return and I hearken to these solos, dude, it is simply, like, ‘Holy shit, man.’ I may really feel the ache. In my soul, dude, I may really feel it. And among the solos are simply, in my view, among the finest stuff I’ve ever recorded. And so I am going to say Tempo Of The Damned.”
Nonetheless, his view of the band’s catalog is layered, with completely different milestones holding distinctive significance: “I imply, commercially, I might must say [1989’s] Fabulous Catastrophe, so far as business success with ‘Poisonous Waltz’ and the Headbangers Ball tour. After which, so far as groundbreaking, I might must say [1985’s] Bonded By Blood. There are completely different classes in the way in which I take a look at the catalog and go, ‘Wow.'”
Although not in Exodus, Hunolt continues to maintain his thrash roots alive. He now performs in Nefarious, a California-based band that includes a lineup of seasoned steel veterans: Katon W. De Pena (Hirax) on vocals, Doug Piercy (Heathen, Anvil Refrain) on guitar, Tom Gears (Blind Phantasm, Historical Mariner) on bass, and Will Carroll (Dying Angel) on drums.
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