Salt The Wound

Album: Blood In, Blood Out (2014)
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Songfacts®:

  • Exodus founder member Kirk Hammett had played on a couple of the thrash band's demos, but had never made a proper recording with the group, before exiting them in 1983 to join Metallica. He put that right by contributing guitar to this track. "I got an email from [guitarist Gary Holt] about six months ago going, 'Hey, I hope you can lay down a sick solo on the new Exodus album,'" recalled Hammett to Billboard magazine. "I thought about it for about two seconds and I emailed him back, and I'm like, 'Yeah, man. I'm there.'"
  • When Hammett and Holt wrote music together in Exodus' early days, they would typically place two guitar solos next to each other. This is what they did for this track. "Ever since the beginning, when Gary started playing in the band, he and I have always tried to outdo each other," said Hammett with a chuckle. "At first I thought, 'This is really not that cool. I don't want to have to be worried about getting blown away,' but then I thought, 'Well, wait a second: This is actually bringing out the best in me. We're bringing out the best in each other.' That's how it was back then, and that's how it was when I got back into the studio."

    He continued: "I heard Gary's solo that he'd already put on [the album] and instantly started thinking, 'What can I do to blow his solo away?'"

    "At the end of the day, the two solos are super complementary to each other. You can tell who's playing what, and it's a great dynamic," Hammett concluded. "I'm so happy about it, so tickled. It's like coming back to a fraternity that you lost contact with." (For more on Exodus check out our interview with frontman Steve "Zetro" Souza.)

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