In the long and tangled web of thrash metal history, few what-ifs loom as large as the one Gary Holt recently unpacked: what if he, and not Kirk Hammett, had been tapped to join Metallica back in 1983?
Speaking on The David Ellefson Show, co-hosted by former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson, the longtime Exodus guitarist offered a grounded and honest reflection on that pivotal moment — one that helped shape the future of metal but also put Holt on a very different path.
“Yeah, it’s a whole incestuous relationship, for sure,” Holt said of the early Bay Area scene. “Kirk’s in Exodus, Kirk joins Metallica. I’m friends with both, and there’s a lot of sniping and stuff, and a lot of bad blood. But I stayed out of that. But, yeah, it kind of put me in the driver’s seat [when it came to Exodus]. I was starting to write a lot of riffs. When I joined Exodus, Kirk wrote everything. And at the time when he left, I was happy for him.”
But would Holt have taken the same opportunity if Metallica had called him instead?
“Probably not. ‘Cause at that time in my life, change was scary to me,” he admitted. “I was always happy where I was comfortable. I would’ve probably said no. At the time, before they recorded Kill ‘Em All… If you joined, you were joining a great band, but you were joining a band that was about to put out an independent album and were playing clubs. You didn’t know they were gonna be what they eventually became. If I had been asked and knew now in the future of what they’d become, I would’ve traveled back in time and kicked my own ass to take that job.”
The conversation turned toward what happened next for Exodus, and whether there was ever a thought of bringing in another soon-to-be-thrash legend.
“No, no,” Holt said when asked if they considered recruiting former Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine. “It was, like, ‘Congratulations, Kirk. I love you, bro. And thanks for getting me started on this journey and teaching me my first licks and chords. And now it’s my band. Let’s go”
Holt’s connection to Hammett runs deep, stretching back to their teenage years in the Bay Area. Reflecting on their first meeting, Holt recalled, “The first time I met Kirk was in my high school music room, Richmond High, and Exodus came and played. [Original Exodus drummer] Tom Hunting grew up, like, 50 yards from my house, across from a park, but he went to a different school — he went to De Anza High, where Kirk did.”
Though they lived close, Holt and Hunting didn’t know each other well at first. Instead, it was another guitarist that brought him in: “I was really good friends with the other guitar player in Exodus, Tim Agnello, who I did know. And they came in and played in the music room, and it was awesome.”
Even though Hammett’s performance wasn’t flawless, it left an impression. “Even though Kirk sang Scorpions’ ‘Another Piece Of Meat’, and it was just really awful, as you can imagine — Kirk Hammett trying to sing Klaus Meine at his greatest; it was bad. But there was something about… Even though I’d been to many concerts, being in a room and hearing an electric guitar that up close and personal, it was kind of like a special moment for me, ’cause I’d never experienced it. I’d only seen guys onstage; I’d never stood five feet away. And it was killer.”
From there, the friendship and mentorship began. “We went to see Ted Nugent and the Scorpions together, and we became best of friends from that first time we hung out. And then he said, ‘You wanna learn to play guitar?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ And he taught me the basics and some chords.”
“The first thing he ever taught me was some Rolling Stones song and a couple of licks and all that, and six months later I was in the band.”
Though he never joined Metallica, Holt still has a soft spot for their music. Asked to name a favorite track, he didn’t hesitate long: “I’d have to go… I’ve got a lot of favorites — that’s one of those tough questions – but one that’s always near and dear to my heart is ‘Damage, Inc.”
Gary Holt may not have taken the call that would have made him a household name, but in doing so, he stayed true to the roots of Exodus and his own path. In the process, he helped shape a legacy of his own – one built not on what could have been, but on what was.
