Aggression and brutality have fueled artists to compose amazing songs, some which instill euphoria and rage in fans. For decades, the metal scene has had bands that write about, politics, death, zombies and plain out violence. One of those bands is Exodus, straight from the Bay area, established in 1985 during the rise of trash metals. With line up changes, a complete band dismemberment and even death, Exodus’s founder Gary Holt is determined to write brutal violent songs. Songs about bashing each other, songs about political issues and with his speed and fury Gary Holt has given us songs like “Strike of The Beast”, and “Body Harvest”. For years there have been other bands like Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth, which rein the metal scene. However, Exodus has not been dormant, they have been furiously creating music to elicit those feelings hidden beneath the surface of your sheltered life. Exodus awakens those angry demons inside each and every fan that attends their shows, as they play fast and aggressive. Front man Steve “Zetro” Souza recounts experiences from previous shows and lets us in on his life with Exodus and during his break.

Joe Doe- “We are here with Steve Zetro Souza how are you doing?”

Steve “Zetro” Souza- “What’s up man! How are you guys doing?”

JD- “We are fucking great thank you! You just finished the Motorboat tour, along with some great bands like Anthrax, Suicidal Tendencies. How was that tour?”

Zetro-“Great Line up, all our friends were on the boat, it made it a lot more fun.”

JD- “How does it compare to back in the days when you use to tour with Motorhead, King Diamond and all the other bands?”

Zetro- “I think everyone is wiser now, as we got older. Back then we thought we were indestructible. Now we are wiser to when it comes to that sort of thing. If you see us tonight you’ll see the performances have gotten better and tighter.”

JD- “How does it feel to be back with Exodus after being away for almost ten years?”

Zetro- “Good, yea almost ten years, its not new anymore I have 137 shows under my belt and an album so I guess you can say the honeymoon is over again. But this time is the best time, as they say the third time is the charm.”

JD –“You auditioned to be back in the band with “Blood In Blood Out” right?”

Zetro- “I audition to re-audition back in to the band with Blood In Blood Out, I recorded “Black 13” and “BTK”, those were the ones I re-audition back in to the band.”

JD- “What inspired you to write “Body Harvest”?”

Zetro- “Gary just said write the lyrics, he has been like that in the past. When I wrote “Toxic Waltz” he came up with the title. He said- “Well write the lyrics”, I said- “what do you want it to be about?” Gary-“ Well, write about what the fans do when they are out in the crowd, when they see us play.” So when I wrote that song it was like a joke, like a 50’s parody song and I brought it to rehearse and they read the lyrics and said wow that’s good. I said that’s just a joke, like the mash potato song, fans would kill us if we record this. But they loved it and 30 years later they still rock out. “ (Laughs)

JD- “Are you guys working on any new songs?”

Zetro- “Nothing new, Gary is currently out with slayer and they put a new record. We still have to see about the writing, we have a lot to do with Blood In Blood Out. Probably within a year, year and a half we will keep touring on it, then probably sit down and write a new record. “

JD- “Your two sons are in Hatriot right, you sing for the first two albums. How’s that project?”

Zetro- “I did it for two records, but Cody is taking over he is the new singer he sounds a lot like his dad. I’m actually writing lyrics with him right now, I’m showing him how to write lyrics.”

JD- “Are they on tour?”

Zetro- “No they are home, they are at practice right now, I just talked to them. One of them was at the show at Fresno last night. So I asked them- “hey what time is practice tomorrow?” Lee is up at the front saying- “hey you are not in the band anymore it doesn’t matter.” The hell it doesn’t.” (He laughs)

JD- “Do you contribute to any of the music, for any of the lyrics on the new album?”

Zetro- “Cody and I are working on the lyrics, I am overseeing the lyric process that’s all.”

JD- “You have toured with King Diamond before, how is it like to tour with such a legend like him?”

Zetro- “Yea we have, he is such an iconic legend now, the last time we played together was in ’86 and even then he was so deeply respected by all of us just for lyrical content and the show, the heavy metal attitude. At that time a lot of bands like us we wrote satanic lyrics and he is very educated in that sense. He has written great stories, like Abigail, and Fatal Portrait. His stage set is truly amazing, so to see him every night and talk to him, he is such a legend. He is Sir King Diamond to me, like a knighted sir.”

JD- “Is the vibe between Exodus better, not that there were any issues, but now how is it?”

Zetro- “Again, we are on our 50’s we understand what we are doing. We all respect each other’s space. So far it has been a year and a half and all has worked, Exodus is going nowhere.”

JD- “That’s a great thing to hear as an Exodus fan.”

Zetro-“Yea we love the fans, if they weren’t here and a place to play like The Wiltern Theater, why stop now we will keep going.”

JD- “Heavy metal is at its prime once again, what do you think?”

Zetro- “I think, that what it is that when it went away for many years, people forgot what they had and now they are clammering to the bands specially to bands like us that were the pioneers of it all. They don’t want us to go away again so they want to support it, bands like- Exodus, Anthrax, Death Angel, Metallica, Megadeth we want to continue writing.”

JD- “What is the music writing process; “Blood In Blood Out” is by far the fastest album?”

Zetro- “Well Gary said that it’s the fastest by far, we call them chuggers, like “And Then There Were None”, “BTK” is probably the only chugger on the album, everything is very trash and very fast and very heavy. He is a great lyricist, he wrote everything in the whole record, I only wrote “Body Harvest”.”

JD- “Who works on the music arrangements?”

Zetro- “Gary, Lee and Tom do that; I just come in and just give my opinion. The guys I work with are very talented.”

JD- “We saw Gary play with Slayer at the Mayhem fest, and he is ridiculous, he is talented.”

Zetro- “Gary is ridiculous at everything he touches; he does it all, that is why Gary is the real deal. Dave Mustaine is probably the next closest person who does it all. We have James, he doesn’t play leads, and Scott Ian doesn’t play leads. Gary does it all.”

JD- “A lot of people compare Gary to Dimebag Darrell.”

Zetro- “Yea, but funny thing is we started their career for them. They opened for us back in the 1990’s. See they were never a trash band they played good, but they were not trash. Fans were torturing them; Pantera was going to open for us. We knew they were going to get tortured like Helloween.”

JD- “You guys are known as the slay team; there were riots back in 1991. According to an attendee of that show the riots started after the Exodus show, is that true?”

Zetro- “I can’t neither confirm nor deny. A lot of shit happened after an Exodus show.”

JD- “Well that’s all the time we have tonight with Steve “Zetro” Souza, thank you and we’ll see you at the show.”

Zetro- “Thank you, hope you guys enjoy the show.”

In the age when metal had been dormant, the giants suddenly awaken. Exodus, is the portrayer or violence, and masters of trash. 30 years later; Exodus still attacks, performing at their best, and letting the music start moshpits, not forcing them. With their new album “Blood In Blood Out”, Exodus marks their revival as the fastest trash metal band straight out of the Bay area. With no plans of stopping, Exodus is out touring with legendary King Diamond and plenty of shows will be executed within the next couple of years. So remove those cob webs from your jean jacket and initiate the slaughter, follow Exodus and don’t miss their violent revolution.

Reported By: Joe Doe