Gary Holt did not change the way he writes Exodus songs because Rob Dukes came back. The riffs stayed Exodus. What changed on Goliath was how much vocal range Dukes brought into songs that could have survived on aggression alone.
Speaking with Scott Davidson of Chicago's Rebel Radio, Holt said he writes the same way no matter who is singing. The surprise was not whether Dukes could still handle fast Bay Area thrash. Exodus already knew that. The surprise was the cleaner control, extra melodic reach, and different vocal shapes he had developed since his first run with the band.
"On this album, we learned early on that Rob was capable of so much more than what we knew he could do, which we knew he could do ultra-aggressive, violent thrash better than anybody," Holt said. "But he showed all this additional range that he had developed, and so you do start running with it a little bit."
That tracks with why Goliath landed differently from a standard comeback record. Metal Mantra already covered Dukes calling his 2014 Exodus firing a blessing in disguise, and the point keeps getting clearer: he did not return as the same frontman who left. He came back older, steadier, and better able to move between barked thrash phrasing, held notes, and the cleaner hooks this record asks from him.
Goliath Was Built By More Than Holt
Holt also pushed back against the idea that Goliath is a one-man writing job with the rest of the band filling in around him. He described the album as heavily collaborative, with Lee Altus, Tom Hunting, Jack Gibson, and Dukes all shaping the record.
Exodus could have taken the easy route. Put Dukes back on the mic, write ten straight-ahead burners, sell the reunion, move on. Instead, Goliath moves through fast songs, longer structures, slower turns, guest spots, and enough melodic movement to make Dukes' return feel like a working band decision rather than a press-release line.
Holt said Rob wrote a lot of lyrics, Altus wrote a lot of material for both Goliath and the follow-up, Hunting contributed lyrics, and Gibson served as a sounding board for arrangements. He also said there is no ego around who writes what.
The detail explains why the Goliath review did not read like a band simply trying to recreate Shovel Headed Kill Machine. The speed is there, but so are the mid-paced stretches, longer builds, and vocal sections that depend on Dukes doing more than yelling over Holt and Altus riffs.
The Fast Stuff May Be Next
The other piece Holt dropped is the part thrash fans will circle immediately: Exodus wrote and recorded far more than what made Goliath.
According to Holt, the band had to cut 18 songs down to 10. The planned opener was moved to the next album, and he said some of the best material was left off because the final track list needed to serve Goliath as its own record.
Then came the line that should get every old-school Exodus fan's attention: Holt said most of his "really, really fast stuff" is on the next record.
That does not make Goliath soft. It means Exodus may be sitting on another batch with a different balance. Holt said the band was in a huge creative surge and wanted to capture as much as possible while the momentum was there. He also spoke bluntly about age. He just turned 62. The band knows tomorrow is not guaranteed, so writing two albums' worth of material was not some luxury exercise. It was practical.
That urgency has been under the surface of the whole Goliath cycle. When Holt talked earlier this year about 45 years with Exodus, the headline was not wealth or comfort. It was work. He still has to keep moving, and he still wants to.
Rob Dukes Changed The Songs
Dukes' return could have been treated like a correction to the timeline. Fan favorite comes back, band leans into the 2005-2010 era, everybody gets the story they expected. Holt's comments point to a more practical result than that.
Exodus did not just get their old singer back. They got a frontman who had spent years away from the band and came back with more control. On a record as dense as Goliath, that control changes the songs. The title track needs patience. "The Changing Me" needs a different kind of vocal lift. Even the straight thrash material benefits when the singer can shift tone without sanding off the attack.
Holt saying the band started "running with it" is the line that sticks. The album appears to have changed once Dukes showed he could handle more than the most aggressive parts. Not because Exodus stopped being Exodus, but because the band had a singer who could push the title track, the slower sections, and the cleaner melodic lifts without making them feel bolted on.
For a group that helped define Bay Area thrash and still lives outside the Big Four mythology, that matters. Goliath already proved Dukes could return without sounding like a nostalgia hire. If the next record really holds the fastest material from these sessions, Exodus may be splitting this creative burst into two records with different jobs: one that re-established the lineup, and one that may lean harder into speed.
Goliath is available through Napalm Records and on Amazon.
