Whoa! This is a surprise. After spending the last two years filling in for Jeff Hanneman due to Jeff's nasty spider bite, Exodus guitarist Gary Holt looks to have bro'd down enough with Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo that the two have decided to start jamming on a new project.
Not only are Holt and Lombardo involved, but former Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri and Amen guitarist Casey Chaos are also involved. To top it all off, famed producer Ross Robinson (he of Deftones and Slipknot, and possibly Behemoth production fame) will be behind the boards.
Noisecreep broke the story that the project came to be when Robinson was enlisted to produce a soundtrack for a documentary on House of Shock, which is Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo's haunted house attraction in New Orleans. Robinson said that after watching Slayer from the side of the stage and seeing the energy between Holt and Lombardo, he wanted to "tap into that."
What came out of it was this new unnamed project which all four are currently working on in Robinson's home studio in Venice, CA. As for the type of sound that's coming out of the studio:
"It's a real live vibe, all of us out there in the room going for it, including Ross out there in the room, reaching over and doing slides on my guitar for me, punching in the air and inspiring us all to really push it," says Gary Holt. "I swear the song we're working on today is twice as fast as the one we did yesterday! Some of the picking on it is right at the borderline limit of what I can physically pull of!"
The group have three songs recorded so far and they have a very punk/hardcore vibe to them. Metallica bassist Robert Truijillo stopped by the studio one day, and Robinson tried to convince him into contributing, but that has yet to come to pass. Here is the most exciting quote from the Noisecreep article:
"At one point, Dave stopped, listened back and said: 'That's the fastest drum track I think I've ever done!'"
No word on when the tracks will see the light of day, or if the group plans to work on more music, as both Exodus and Slayer are currently writing new albums. But if you read the article, it seems like everybody is game to collaborate some more if they are available.
I can't wait to hear this!
