Big Five? Exodus Drummer Tom Hunting Wants to Be Included
When considering what American thrash metal band could join the Big Four, the upper echelon of thrash bands in the States, and transform it into the Big Five, there are really three options you have: Overkill, Testament and Exodus. No matter which way you slice it, any of the three bands qualifies for the title but Exodus drummer Tom Hunting has made it clear in an interview with Audio Ink that he believes his band deserves the spot on this this theoretical booking.
“If they did a Big 5 tour, I would gladly go. And, yeah, I think at the end of the day, we would be the deserving band to go, just merely by longevity and the fact that we’re still fucking here doing this. [Laughs] … I want to be there.”
Exodus formed in 1979 and released their debut album, Bonded by Blood, in 1985. Alongside Metallica, Exodus are often credited with being early trailblazers in the Bay Area thrash metal scene and are still considered a major presence in that scene. For this hesher’s money, it’d be equally sick to see Testament and Exodus given their flowers on the big stage.
Last year, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian discussed the Big Four tour in 2011 and the band’s record Worship Music, which he credits for saving the band.
“We were incredibly excited. Strictly speaking about Anthrax, we were in the weirdest part of our career in that period. At the time we didn’t officially have a singer because Joey hadn’t signed back on but here we were writing the record that became Worship Music. A lot of things were in flux for Anthrax at that time, so when we got that phone call, it kicked things back into gear for us in so many ways.
“We knew then we had to get Joey back in the band – he was the guy who was there when all these things were happening for us in the first place. We then pushed ourselves to finish writing and recording Worship Music, which became our comeback album. It put us in front of audiences that either hadn’t heard of us, or hadn’t seen us in a long time. Without those shows – and the record we put out – I honestly don’t think Anthrax would still be here ten years later.”
