EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt says that he agrees with his former SLAYER bandmate, Kerry King, that the iconic thrash band quit too soon.
Earlier this month, Kerry famously said that SLAYER retired “too early” while recording a video message to congratulate MACHINE HEAD on their 30th anniversary, saying: “So, I hear congratulations are in order for my friends in MACHINE HEAD. Apparently, it’s 30 years, which is quite an achievement. Not a lot of bands get there. We did, and then we quit too early. Fuck us. Fuck me. I hate fucking not playing.”
Holt, who spent almost nine years with SLAYER as King’s co-guitarist was asked about Kerry’s comment in a new interview with Metal Hammer.
Gary said: “I’d have to agree. We were still playing at the top of our game, we were totally killing it. The band had a lot of years left in it, but I guess when it’s time, it’s time. When you decide to walk away from something, walk away. I can’t tell anybody they made the wrong decision. Better to go out on top than go out unable to play your own songs, and this shit isn’t easy. Playing ‘Angel Of Death’ at 70 years old would be fucking hard. But it was time for me to come back, let’s put it that way. I was really missing my first family.”
Holt replaced the late Jeff Hanneman in SLAYER in 2011, and became the band’s full-time co-guitarist in 2013 after Hanneman’s death.