RICK HUNOLT TO FILL IN FOR EXODUS’ GARY HOLT WHILE EXODUS’ GARY HOLT IS FILLING IN FOR SLAYER’S JEFF HANNEMAN

Yesterday came word that Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman is still not fully recovered from the near-fatal spider bite he suffered last year, and that Exodus guitarist Gary Holt would once again be stepping in for him on Slayer’s upcoming European tour. Unfortunately, that leaves Exodus in kind of a bind, as they had touring plans of their own for this summer (including an appearance at this year’s once-again-free Scion Rock Fest), and are now down a guitar player.

So Exodus have gone ahead and made what I suppose is the most logical move: they’ve recruited former guitarist Rick Hunolt back into the band. And on the one hand, this is very exciting news for Exodus fans; after all, Hunolt is certainly part of the “classic” (read: most famous) Exodus line-up. But on the other hand, it’s a little bit, well, odd.

For one thing, Hunolt is famous for his co-leads with Holt (The duo even had a cute nickname back in the day — “The H-Team.” See what they did there?), and Holt ain’t gonna be there, so Hunolt will be playing those leads alongside his own replacement, Lee Altus. And since Altus has been playing Hunolt’s parts since joining the band in 2004… will Hunolt now be playing Holt’s parts? Or will Altus switch to Holt’s parts instead? Or will they split them up? Thinking about it is enough to make you go cross-eyed.

It’s also a little weird because, frankly, at this point I think it’s safe to say that Gary Holt is Exodus. Unlike Hunolt, he’s a founding member of the band, and, if I’m not mistaken, he’s the only member of Exodus who has played on each and every one of the band’s releases, and, up ’til now, been on each and every one of their tours. So this strikes me as being not dissimilar from Arsis touring with James Malone.

Also — and I don’t wanna make too big a deal out of this, ’cause I know everyone has rent to pay and mouths to feed — but isn’t there something a little bit, well, insulting about Gary Holt shrugging off touring commitments with his own band so he can spend that time presumably making more money with a bigger group? I know he’s technically doing his friends in Slayer a solid and that’s very nice and everything, but it’s not as though there aren’t approximately eighteen million other guitar players who wouldn’t have jumped at the chance to be a temporary member of that legendary thrash outfit. So speaking as an Exodus fan, it feels a little like Holt has ostensibly sent the message that he doesn’t feel his own band is as important as someone else’s, which is, y’know, sucky.

As usual, though, it’s entirely possible I’m over-thinking this.

So are you excited to have Hunolt back, however temporarily? Will you still go see Exodus, even without Holt? Weigh in with your thoughts below.

-AR

[via Metal Insider]