Dopo settimane di attesa, Gary Holt ha fugato ogni dubbio sull'uscita dalla band del chitarrista storico Rick Hunolt.
Holt, scusandosi per il lungo periodo di attesa senza notizie, ha spiegato approfonditamente i motivi dell'abbandono di Rick ed ha annunciato l'ingresso negli Exodus di Lee Altus, chitarrista originale degli HEATHEN, thrash band Bay Area attiva dagli '80.

Ecco le dichiarazioni di Holt:

Hello again everybody. It’s been some time now, hasn’t it? I’ve got a couple of things to say here. First, let me apologize for my absence here at the board. But one must forgive me for having to make an album, spend the summer with my kids, packing up all my shit and moving, and not wanting to jump into answering questions that I know I’ll be asked a thousand times over in the coming months. Simply put, I needed space.
First, on the subject of deleting Rick’s posts, I have taken down one, and only one , post of his. This was told to him in a phone conversation , due to the fact that we did not want the label to hear it first on Blabbermouth. They deserve to hear it from us. I told Rick I had saved it and would re-post it when I was ready to make a statement. When his departure had become public knowledge I had messaged our mod and told him to allow any talk about it. It was out in the open so let it ride. It seems Rick thinks I am still deleting his posts but in fact I have not been on the board for weeks. So maybe some kind of signals have gotten crossed , but Rick is always welcome to post here.
So here is Rick’s post for you:

"22 years,wow thats longer than alot of you have been alive.Im sitting here writing this post and the last 22 years are racing through my head like you wouldnt believe.From the drive to Gary’s house the first time I ever played with Exodus in Gary’s moms garage,my very first gig at Wolfgangs with Loudness,all the gigs at Ruthies,The Mab,The Stone,The Kabuki,etc,etc,etc,they just go on and on and on.I feel so fortunate to be a part of something that started out as some guys playing their guitars as fast as we could ,to say playing in front of 80,000 people at Dynamo and touring all over the world doing what we loved to do.Words cant describe the emotions I am feeling right now,one minute I am laughing the next I am sobing like a little baby this is by far the most difficult decision I have ever had to make,bar none.But I look over to my right and see my 2 little boys Odin 3, & John 16 months sleeping and I know it is the right one.I just cant see myself being away from them anymore, I just cant.Exodus deserves 110% from me and I just cant give them that anymore my boys need me.Like I said this is the hardest decision I have ever had to make and it is breaking my heart,I am crying so hard right now I can barely see what I am typing.I dont know in words how to show my appreciation to evey one that has supported me in the last 22 years,god, if I had to list them it would reach from S.F. to N.Y. To all of the people that have helped us over the past 2 decades(you know who you are)we seriously couldnt have survived without you.And to the fans that I have cherished with all of my heart,thank you for 22 years of incredible memories and as I always said you were Exodus we were just five guys playing the music that we loved.And to the band,you were my heart and soul for a long time we had some great times and played some great shows,I know you will find a shredder to replace me and I wish him the best of luck, and finally I would like to say to my brother Gary Holt,my partner in crime, my best friend who I love and respect with all of my heart you’ve put up with my sometimes flakey ways and everything else,you have always been there for me Gary,and you deserve more than I can give right now. We have jumped every hurdle that they could throw at us and we still kept going .We were the H TEAM and no one can take that away from us, we made our mark in history, that I am very proud of.The new material is killer and I hope the new album does well, but it is time to hang up my axe for now my boys need me. MUCH LOVE AND RESPECT RICK HUNOLT"

I have nothing but the utmost love for Rick Hunolt and fully understand why he left. His boys need him. He could not give the band what we needed out of him time and commitment -wise and he knew it. Meanwhile I still have a job to do. And while Rick will be missed by all of us, this album is an achievment in heaviness. My own silence on the subject was due to the fact that I had decided to let the music do the talking. Everyone pays lip service to how heavy their next record is, and they rarely live up to the hype. All I can say is listen and you will believe. I have played this record for some very devastated fans and they left 100% convinced. It is a motherfucker like no other.
And we will be making our official announcement about our new guitarist soon.

So, I am off to finish packing and moving but I promise that I will return shortly to answer your questions and shit, just like I always have. Unless that is you’ve forgotten which band member ( and I include all of them) was the one who was always here in the first place.
Hope to see you all on our upcoming tours,

Gary Holt

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I'd like to take a moment to welcome to Exodus our newest member, Lee Altus. Lee has been a great friend of mine for many years and is also one of the greatest guitarist I've had the pleasure of knowing. He was not only the best guy for this job, he was the only one. No one else was ever considered. His leads are totally ripping on the new album and I am looking very much forward to working with him on new music soon. He is a rhythm crusher as well as a shred machine so things are going to be heavy as hell! We start rehearsals Wednesday and I can't wait. My moving is done and I am chomping at the bit to get the show on the road.

Gary Holt