Gary Holt and Charlie Benante every have had the daunting activity of filling the sneakers of legendary musicians in iconic metallic bands. Whereas they’re legends in their very own proper, the thrash veterans have confronted challenges in every of these roles.
In 2011, longtime Exodus guitarist Holt stepped in for Jeff Hanneman in Slayer whereas the latter battled necrotizing fasciitis. Holt remained in Slayer following Hanneman’s tragic passing in 2013, and stayed within the band till its breakup in 2019.
In the meantime, Anthrax drummer Benante lately took on the late Vinnie Paul’s function in Pantera, as a revamped lineup of the groove-metal masters started touring in late 2022. A headlining North American outing is slated for this summer time, as is a run of dates supporting Metallica’s 2023-2024 tour.
Throughout Anthrax’s latest tour with Exodus, Benante and Holt checked in with Heavy Consequence through video Zoom, and every of them opened up in regards to the obstacles they’ve confronted in filling in for Vinnie Paul and Jeff Hanneman, respectively.
Holt stated he was principally welcomed by Slayer followers, save for a number of incidents. “Luckily, [Charlie and I] share one thing in frequent in that we’re extensively accepted by most followers of the fellows we have been stepping in for,” Holt remarked within the video above. “I feel in nearly 10 full years of Slayer, I had two hecklers. … I had one man in Germany … flipping me off and [saying] ‘Fuck you.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, you acquire this ticket!’ And one other man in Milan was entrance row simply fuckin’ hurling abuse at me the entire present. And he was type of shocked when the set ended and I hopped down on the subwoofer and was about six inches away from him, asking him what he’s obtained to say now.”
Benante, in the meantime, has had a little bit of a rougher go of it, so far as Pantera followers are involved. “I don’t go searching for issues [online],” the drummer stated in the identical video above. “There’s individuals who ship me [negative comments], and I’m like, ‘Why did you ship me this?’ Why smash my day?’ And I feel these individuals who [make] these feedback, I don’t suppose they notice how a lot of an impact they’ll have on individuals. Whether or not or not you hate the scenario …why can’t you discover some form of restraint? … I’ve by no means seen extra of it in my life than I’ve seen in these previous couple of months.”
Each Holt and Benante additionally mentioned their method to the gigs, with Holt saying he didn’t got down to copy Hanneman’s type of enjoying, however nonetheless needed to match his vibe. Benante defined that he “spent lots of time on Vinnie’s components, and extra importantly, the tones that Vinnie had, as a result of I needed it to sound like Pantera.”
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Holt additionally shared the story of Slayer telling Hanneman that they have been going to make use of a fill in, as shared by Hanneman’s widow Kathy. “His head sunk, and he was bummed. After which he lifted his head, and stated, ‘Who’s it?’ And so they stated ‘Gary Holt,’ and Kathy stated, he goes, ‘Fuck yeah!’”
Watch the dialog between Gary Holt and Charlie Benante within the video above. Decide up tickets to Pantera’s aforementioned exhibits through Ticketmaster or StubHub, and to Exodus’ upcoming European jaunt with Testomony via the band’s web site or StubHub.
Hassle viewing the video interview within the participant above? Watch on YouTube.
