In this week’s episode of Gear Factor, Exodus and Slayer’s Gary Holt plays his favorite Black Sabbath riffs.
Exodus have been on the road since early April, and Ohio’s Sonic Temple festival was one of their many stops. Loudwire had the opportunity to speak with Holt the day of their show, and he took us through his favorite Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath riffs.
The rocker explained that as the youngest of six, he grew up listening to what his older siblings did. Thus, he was introduced to Sabbath from a young age, citing “Iron Man” as one of the first tracks he remembers hearing by them.
“That’s like our heavy metal ‘Stairway to Heaven,'” Holt remarked.
He played a bit of “Iron Man,” “Paranoid” and the infamous Devil’s Interval tritone that Tony Iommi played at the beginning of the band’s self-titled track.
“It gave birth to everything we do — everything Exodus does, everything Slayer [does], everything Metallica… I think we would all be inherently different bands without Black Sabbath,” Holt praised.
Exodus toured with Black Sabbath in the early ’90s when Ronnie James Dio was singing for the group for the second time, and Holt recalled the members of Sabbath being incredibly nice to him and his own band.
READ MORE: The Favorite Black Sabbath Album of 21 Rock + Metal Legends
“We’d been doing it for a long time at that point, but they still showed us how it’s done,” the guitarist added.
To see what Holt play what he thinks is the heaviest Black Sabbath riff ever, a couple by Randy Rhoads and tell some other Ozzy and Sabbath-related stories, check out the episode below.
We were able to get some other content with Holt at this festival, so be sure to subscribe to Loudwire on YouTube and stay tuned for it in the coming weeks!
Gary Holt Plays His Favorite Black Sabbath Riffs
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