During a new episode of Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk, Exodus guitarist Gary Holt talked about the two most underrated metal bands.
The guitarist was asked which bands he thought should be included if the ‘Big Four’ were expanded to a ‘Big Six.’ “Well, it’s none of the Americans, I’ll tell you that right now,” Holt responded. It’s Destruction and Kreator. I put Destruction first.”
“Me and [late Exodus frontman Paul] Baloff were in love with Destruction long before we ever met them. And they were ripping these albums apart and killing it before these other bands,” he continued. ” I mean, they all deserve a place in it — Testament, Overkill — and they’re all some of my best friends. In Overkill, Bobby [‘Blitz’ Ellsworth], the guy saved my life at Studio 54 [in New York City] from tumbling down the stairs. But Overkill used to wear corpsepaint. Testament used to do different things. The Germans get overlooked. Sodom as well.”
“It’s always centered on who should be in the ‘Big Eight’ or ‘Big Seven’, and they all have a spot there, they all deserve it. Testament sold more albums than probably anybody outside the ‘Big Four’, but they came years later. And Destruction and Kreator were there in the beginning. So I’m always giving credit where credit’s due to my friends from overseas. And, of course, Testament has a spot in there, as does Death Angel as does Overkill. And others, I’m sure. But I’ve gotta hand it to those guys — they were there in the beginning as well,” the guitarist added.
Many other rockers have offered their opinions on which bands should be added to the ‘Big Four’ or even replace a band in the current lineup.
“I don’t really know enough about 21st-century metal to speak too authoritatively on that, but I’d obviously pick Lamb of God, who we’re playing a bunch of shows with,” Kerry King said in an earlier interview when asked who would replace Slayer in the ‘Big Four.’ “Beyond that, well, the other three of the Big Four still play. Maybe I’ll be a bro and let Lamb of God take our spot up there with Metallica, Anthrax, and Megadeth.”
Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson also said of adding another band to the lineup in another chat: “Well, I think if you opened that gate at all, it’d have to be ‘Big Six,’ because you’d let in Exodus and then you’d probably let in Overkill. ‘Cause you’d have to get a West Coast [band] and an East Coast [act], ’cause I think it starts to go like that.”
Exodus frontman Steve Souza responded to why he wasn’t in the Big Four, saying that he doesn’t necessarily pay attention to it and that he wasn’t in the band when the whole thing came up.
Exodus’ North American tour is scheduled to start at Hillsborough County, Florida on November 2. The tour ends on December 7 at Los Angeles, California.