Thrash metal titans EXODUS have officially wrapped up work on their highly anticipated new album, according to guitarist Gary Holt. Speaking at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California, Holt revealed to 107.7 The Bone’s Baby Huey and Chasta that the band’s follow-up to 2021’s Persona Non Grata is finally finished.
“New album will be done today,” Holt said. “I mean, it’s technically been done for a month, but since we have the time, we keep messing with it a little bit… Mark Lewis has been mixing it, and we did some additional overdubs in other spots.”
The record, tentatively slated for release in March 2026 via Napalm Records, promises to deliver a sonic assault packed with anthemic energy. “It’s something else, man… It’s crushing, but it’s also all anthems. Every song’s an anthem. It’s awesome. We’re super proud of this record.”
The album also marks a departure from the band’s long-standing collaboration with Andy Sneap, who has mixed EXODUS records for nearly 30 years. This time, the mixing duties were handled by Mark Lewis, known for his work with MEGADETH, WHITECHAPEL, DEVILDRIVER, and BAD WOLVES.
Holt also revealed that EXODUS has almost finished enough material for a second album. “We have 80 percent of the next follow-up done,” he said. “We started recording March 2nd, and I’ve been home four weeks till today. We stopped recording and we were on tour the next day. We went to Europe, and we were home for two weeks. Then we went on [tour] in the States. I was home two weeks, [went] to Europe, and then I went and joined SLAYER for [the summer 2025 shows]. And then I came home for two more weeks. So I’m exhausted.”
The upcoming EXODUS album marks the band’s first release since parting ways with vocalist Steve “Zetro” Souza and welcoming back Rob Dukes.
Dukes first joined EXODUS in January 2005 and contributed to four of the band’s studio albums: Shovel Headed Kill Machine (2005), The Atrocity Exhibition… Exhibit A (2007), Let There Be Blood (2008—a re-recording of their classic 1985 album Bonded By Blood), and Exhibit B: The Human Condition (2010).
With the new EXODUS album locked in and another already in the works, fans can expect a relentless wave of thrash in the months ahead. If Holt’s words are any indication, the band is gearing up to deliver some of their most powerful material yet.
Reeder, the visionary behind Metal Addicts, has transformed his lifelong passion for metal into a thriving online community for metal aficionados. As a fervent devotee of black metal, Reeder is captivated by its dark, atmospheric, and often unorthodox soundscapes.