GARY HOLT’s ‘A Fabulous Disaster’ Memoir To Featur…

Hachette Books has released the cover artwork for EXODUS and SLAYER guitarist Gary Holt‘s upcoming memoir, “A Fabulous Disaster: From The Garage To Madison Square Garden, The Hard Way”, which is due next year. Check it out below.

In the book, which features a foreword by former EXODUS an current METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett, Holt presents an entertaining, personal memoir detailing his “destruction-laden” life and the origins of the thrash metal scene from the San Francisco Bay Area to its world dominance.

Since exploding out of the Bay Area heavy metal scene in the 1980s, thrash metal has made its way to every corner of the globe, conquering worldwide charts year after year. As the guitarist and primary songwriter of EXODUS, and an originator of the subgenre and one of its fiercest proponents, Gary Holt watched as his peers — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER, ANTHRAX — soared to superstardom. As his fellow artists amassed millions of fans and record sales, EXODUS‘s albums received critical recognition and inspired generations of listeners but struggled to reach the same heights of success, as the band was plagued by years of bad management, bad luck, and bad decision-making.

In “A Fabulous Disaster”, written in collaboration with Adem Tepedelen, Holt shares a deeply personal account of what it was like to “live fast, play fast, and crash hard” as thrash metal dominated the globe. Readers witness his highest of highs and lowest of lows as Holt and his bandmates juggle major label contracts, MTV-sponsored tours and festivals, growing addictions to alcohol and meth, and the departures of original members. In the throes of addiction, Holt‘s own fall from grace is swift: one year he’s playing on the MTV “Headbanger’s Ball Tour” with ANTHRAX and HELLOWEEN, and the next he’s struggling to find minimum wage jobs as he battles drugs, divorce, and the impending collapse of his music career. Ultimately, after the tragic death of one of his closest friends and former bandmates — Holt realizes the only one who can save him is himself.

An “unadulterated odyssey through decades of insanity,” punctuated by Holt‘s unique insight and knack for storytelling, “A Fabulous Disaster” is a thrill ride from start to finish. His story proves that redemption — even from the pits of rock ‘n’ roll excess — is always possible.

Tepedelen is an award-winning journalist covering metal for over thirty years for Decibel, Revolver, RollingStone.com, and many others. He’s written and co-written numerous books, including “The Brewtal Truth to Extreme Beers” and “Mud Ride: A Messy Trip Through the Grunge Explosion” (with MUDHONEY guitarist Steve Turner).

In a recent interview with Mike Palm of TribLIVE, Holt said about his memoir: “I had thought about doing a book for a long time. Just my career arc is very different. Most of your rock books involve starting out, mass success, huge drug use and alcoholism and a spiral down, then redemption. Mine’s different. I had moderate success, completely out of music, complete drug addict, and then the redemption. It’s really close to the finished stages now. I read the latest version of it. It made me cry a couple of times. It made me cringe a bunch of times because there’s some really cringy [expletive] going on. And it made me laugh. It’s laugh, cry, on the edge of your seat, like any good movie. That’s all you could ask for.”

Asked if there were any stories that he left out of the book, Holt said: “I left out anything that would be horrible to a lot of people I know, because if I turned it into a tell-all, I know where all the bodies are buried in thrash metal. I could expose everything. But no one would tell me all that stuff anymore, because Gary‘s a blabbermouth and he just shared it with the world. I peel the layers back on myself heavily, just like I always have. But I’m protecting the innocent to a large degree. I’m not going into detail about other people’s stuff. That’s for their own books. And that’s their own decision, whether they want to share some of that stuff. And anytime it did involve bandmates, I ran it past them. Some stuff is not a secret, the drug use and all that. … I left tons of stuff out, stuff that would have made the most riveting chapters on Earth, but it would’ve been damaging to people I care about. And I don’t mind damaging myself, because it’s my story.”

When Holt first shared the news of his upcoming memoir on social media in March 2023, he wrote: “Super stoked!!! The announcement in book circles has gone out today, so I’m sharing it in MY circle! The book about my life is under way, from the beginnings of EXODUS and thrash metal, to the drug fueled fall, to the unexpected and tragic circumstances that led me to @slayerbandofficial to the bounce back to Madison Square Garden with and @exodusbandofficial charting at number 20 on the MAIN Billboard charts, all will be told! No holds barred, all the lows and highs will be retold! Been a project very close to me, and I’m stoked to be working with @ademtepedelen_ @lauramazer @bschafer714 @hachettebooks and @wendysherman to make this a reality!”

Holt joined EXODUS in 1981, shortly after the band’s formation, and has been the group’s main songwriter ever since. Holt has performed on every EXODUS album, and is considered highly influential in the world of thrash metal.

Holt began filling in for SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman at live shows in 2011, and became the band’s full-time co-guitarist as of 2013, while remaining a member of EXODUS. Holt played on SLAYER‘s final album, “Repentless”, which came out in 2015.

In a June 2012 interview with Full Metal Jackie‘s nationally syndicated radio show, SLAYER‘s Kerry King stated about Holt: “I always regard Gary as the Glenn Tipton of our era — really good, really polished and nobody talks about him. To this day, nobody really references [JUDAS] PRIEST and Tipton that much as guitar players and I feel the same way about Gary. EXODUS have a huge following but a little more overlooked than METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER, ANTHRAX — the ‘Big Four,’ so to speak, so [it is great] to be able to bring him to the forefront and shove him down people’s throats and say, ‘Hey, this motherfucker kicks ass. Pay attention.'”

EXODUS‘s latest album, “Persona Non Grata”, came out in November 2021 via Nuclear Blast Records. The LP was recorded at a studio in Lake Almanor, California and was engineered by Steve Lagudi and EXODUS. It was produced by EXODUS and was mixed by Andy Sneap. For the third time in the band’s history, they returned to Swedish artist Pär Olofsson to create the album artwork.

“Persona Non Grata” was the follow-up to 2014’s “Blood In Blood Out”, which was the San Francisco Bay Area thrashers’ first release since the departure of the group’s lead singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Steve “Zetro” Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.

Kirk Hammett photo credit: Ross Halfin