Thrash legends Exodus are well underway with the recording process for the highly anticipated follow-up to their 2021 album Persona Non Grata, and according to recent interviews, the band is working on an ambitious amount of new material.
Speaking with Meltdown of Detroit’s WRIF radio station, drummer Tom Hunting provided a detailed update on the sessions. “We’re moving along. Drums are done, pretty much,” Hunting confirmed (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). The band isn’t just recording a standard album’s worth of material; they’re maximizing their studio time. “We figured we would maximize the time right now since we’re all in our sixties now. So why not just maximize right now, if we can? So, I think I’ve tracked like maybe 17 or 18 songs on drums.”
The process involves a tag-team effort, with vocalist Rob Dukes, who rejoined the band in January 2025, now working on his parts. ” Rob Dukes is working on vocals. Gary‘s done with all of his rhythms and leads. It’s like ‘next man up’ kind of thing. One guy gets tired and the next guy jumps in there and does some tracking,” Hunting explained. He added a philosophical note on completion: “I don’t really know how done we are, or are you ever really done? I don’t think you’re ever really finished; you just kind of walk away from the songs and just [go], like, ‘Okay, this is what they are.'”
The journey to this point faced some hurdles. Hunting revealed the timeline, stating: “We’ve taken it seriously. We started jamming on some of this music last May. And we were slated to record a bunch of times and then a tour would come up. So we were, like, ‘Well, we need to work and make money.’ So we would take the tours. And we went in finally March 1st of this year. And we’ve pretty much been working ever since.”
Hunting expressed immense enthusiasm for Dukes‘ contributions since his return, emphasizing his impact on the new music. “Oh, a ton of input. We’re so happy to have him back,” he said. “He’s a really good dude to work with, and he is taking charge of this role. I’ve never heard him sing in some of the ways he’s singing on this record. It’s gonna blow people’s minds. So, I’m excited, I’m excited for him. Happy to have him back. And just f**king awesome.”
Regarding the musical direction, Hunting promised familiar heaviness but also hinted at diversification. “It’s heavy, but I’m not gonna lie — there’s some elements that are just straight-up hard rock on this record, which is cool with us, ’cause like that’s our roots too,” he shared. “Hard rock, punk rock, New Wave Of British Heavy Metal kind of all lumped together. That’s how our style was born, pretty much. And I think at this stage, if we wanna get weird on a song, we’re gonna get weird and just do something that people don’t expect. It’s album number 12, so we could pretty much just like… We’re not closing the book on anything, but damn — it’s, like, we survived to make 12 records. Let’s do what the hell we want.”
Guitarist and main songwriter Gary Holt echoed the sentiment of extensive recording in a separate interview last month with The Chuck Shute Podcast, confirming the band’s plan to essentially record two albums’ worth of songs. “We’ve set ourselves an ambitious goal on this record. We’re recording two albums right now,” Holt stated. “We are a couple of songs shy from hitting our total goal of having two albums of crushing material. No filler. We figured if we have the songs, let’s record ’em. And when it’s time to release the follow-up, it’s done, it’s in the can.”
Holt clarified the release strategy: “Yeah, we’ll keep [the second new album] in the can, ready to go, and won’t have any downtime. We’re not getting any younger. We might as well work a little extra hard now while we can.”
As for when fans can expect the first taste of this new Exodus era, Holt projected a 2026 release. “We’re shooting for a spring release of next year — like late winter, spring [2026]. We were hoping to get it done this year, get it out this year, but we would have had to rush it,” he explained. “And since we’re trying to record 20 to 22 songs and we needed the time, it’s gonna be worth it in the end. And the shit is f**king phenomenal.”
Holt concluded by emphasizing the band’s dedication: “We’re definitely a hard-working bunch. We’re not afraid to bust our a*s. And it’ll save us some work down the road.”
Fans can look forward to at least one, and potentially two, new Exodus albums brimming with fresh material, featuring the return of Rob Dukes and exploring both the band’s thrash foundation and hard rock roots, likely beginning in the spring of 2026.
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