Tom Hunting | |
|---|---|
 Hunting performing with Exodus in 2018 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | April 10, 1965 |
| Genres | Thrash metal |
| Occupation(s) | Drummer |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Member of | Exodus |
Thomas Hunting (born April 10, 1965) is an American musician. He is the drummer and only remaining original member of the thrash metal band Exodus. [1]
Hunting is the only original member of Exodus left, although he departed from the band on two occasions. He first left the band due to an illness in 1989 and was replaced by John Tempesta, but returned in 1997 with Paul Baloff, Gary Holt, Rick Hunolt, and new bassist Jack Gibson for the Another Lesson in Violence tour. Hunting (along with Steve "Zetro" Souza, and Rick Hunolt) once again left Exodus in 2005, and was replaced with drummer Paul Bostaph, who had left Slayer when Dave Lombardo rejoined the band. Later, in 2007, Hunting rejoined the band when Bostaph left to rejoin Testament. He has said that he is great friends with Bostaph.
Hunting has played on played on eight out of eleven of Exodus' studio albums: Bonded by Blood (1985), Pleasures of the Flesh (1987), Fabulous Disaster (1989), Tempo of the Damned (2004), The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A (2007), Exhibit B: The Human Condition (2010), Blood In, Blood Out (2014) and Persona Non Grata (2021). He also appeared on the 2008 album Let There Be Blood , which is a re-recording of the entire Bonded by Blood album.
Hunting has cited Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, Keith Moon of The Who, Neil Peart of Rush, Michael Derosier of Heart, and Clive Burr of Iron Maiden as his main influences. [2] [3]
In February 2021, Hunting was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the stomach. On April 13, three days after his 56th birthday, he revealed his diagnosis. [4] A week later, Exodus launched a GoFundMe campaign, [5] which passed the $80,000 mark in less than a week, with Metallica guitarist and former bandmate Kirk Hammett donating $5,000, and Fozzy vocalist and professional wrestler Chris Jericho donating among others. [6] On May 20, Steve "Zetro" Souza said that Hunting was fairing well in his cancer treatment. [7]
Hunting underwent a successful total gastrectomy on July 12, less than five months after starting the treatment process. He said that he had four rounds of chemotherapy and that the cancer shrunk to less than half the size it was in March, and would have four more treatments before resuming his activities. [8] [9] On July 26, Gary Holt declared Hunting cancer free; [10] however, Hunting clarified that despite being told that everything was removed from his stomach, he said that it was "presumptuous" to say cancer free before being scheduled for four more outro chemo treatments and a scan to show that he no longer lives with cancer. Holt acknowledged his previous statement by saying that he may have in his excitement "jumped the gun", but expressed optimism towards Hunting's progress in his recovery. [11]
Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Slayer's current lineup consists of King, Araya, drummer Paul Bostaph and guitarist Gary Holt, who initially joined as a touring member in 2011 before joining the band permanently after Hanneman's death in 2013. Drummer Jon Dette was also a member of the band.
Testament is an American thrash metal band from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1983 under the name Legacy, the band's current lineup comprises rhythm guitarist Eric Peterson, lead vocalist Chuck Billy, lead guitarist Alex Skolnick, bassist Steve Di Giorgio and drummer Chris Dovas. Testament has experienced many lineup changes over the years, with Peterson being the only remaining original member, though they have since reunited with Skolnick, who had been out of the band from 1992 to 2005. Billy has been a member of Testament since 1986, when he replaced original singer Steve "Zetro" Souza, who had left to replace Paul Baloff in Exodus. He and Peterson are the only members to appear on all of Testament's studio albums, with the latter being the only constant member overall. The band has released thirteen studio albums, four live albums, five compilation albums, thirteen singles and three DVDs. They are estimated to have sold over 1.4 million albums in the United States since the beginning of the SoundScan era, and over 14 million copies worldwide as of 2016.
Paul Steven Bostaph is an American drummer best known as a member of the thrash metal band Slayer, initially from 1992 to 2001, again from 2013 to 2019, and in 2024, after the reunion. His drumming career began in 1984 when he was 20 years old. In addition to Slayer, he has worked with bands such as Forbidden, Exodus, Systematic, Testament, and BlackGates. Metal-Rules.com describes Bostaph as "a true professional and one of the best drummers on today's metal music scene".
Exodus is an American thrash metal band formed in 1979 in Richmond, California. Their current lineup consists of guitarists Gary Holt and Lee Altus, bassist Jack Gibson, drummer Tom Hunting, and lead vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza. There are no original members left in Exodus other than Hunting, who has departed from the band twice, in 1989 and 2004, but rejoined in 2007. Exodus is also notable for including a then-unknown Kirk Hammett, who was the band's lead guitarist from its inception to his departure in 1983, when he left to join fellow Bay Area thrash metal band Metallica as Dave Mustaine's replacement. Holt has been most consistent member throughout various lineup changes and breakups, and is the only member to appear on all of Exodus' recordings. Much of the band's career has also been affected by feuds between both band members and record companies, two extended hiatuses, deaths of former band members and drug addictions.
Pavel Nicholas "Paul" Baloff was an American singer, best known as the original lead vocalist of the thrash metal band Exodus. He was fired from Exodus shortly after the release of the band's 1985 debut album Bonded by Blood, and sang with various other bands before rejoining Exodus in 1997. Baloff died of a stroke in 2002.
Steve "Zetro" Souza is an American musician, best known for his work as lead vocalist with thrash metal band Exodus from 1986 to 1994, and again from 2002 to 2004. He rejoined Exodus for a third time in 2014. Souza is one of two singers, along with Chuck Billy, for the band Dublin Death Patrol. He also sings for the thrash metal band Tenet and was the lead singer for the thrash metal band Legacy. In 2011, Souza announced his new project, Hatriot. He stepped down as the frontman of the band in 2015, leaving the role of lead vocals to his son, Cody.
Tempo of the Damned is the sixth studio album by American thrash metal band Exodus. Released on February 2, 2004 via Nuclear Blast, Tempo of the Damned was Exodus' first studio release since 1992's Force of Habit. It was the last appearance of longtime vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza until his return for 2014's Blood In, Blood Out as well as the last appearance of founding drummer Tom Hunting until 2007's The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A. The album was also the last studio appearance of guitarist Rick Hunolt until the band's 2021 album Persona Non Grata, where he made a guest appearance.
Fabulous Disaster is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Exodus. It was released on January 30, 1989 on the UK label Music for Nations, while the US version was released on Combat/Relativity Records. In 1999, Century Media remastered and reissued the band's first three albums in Europe only.
Pleasures of the Flesh is the second studio album by the American thrash metal band Exodus. Released in 1987, it is the group's first album to feature Steve Souza on vocals after Paul Baloff was fired from the band. The record was remastered and re-issued by Century Media in 1998 for distribution in Europe only.
Bonded by Blood is the debut studio album by American thrash metal band Exodus. Although the album was completed in the summer of 1984, it was not released until 1985 due to issues with Exodus and the record label. It is considered one of the most influential thrash metal albums of all time. This is also the only full-length studio album of Exodus to feature Paul Baloff on vocals, though he was also on their 1982 Demo and appeared on their 1997 live album Another Lesson in Violence.
Gary Wayne Holt is an American musician from the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the guitarist, bandleader, and main songwriter for thrash metal band Exodus, and has also been a member of Slayer from 2011 to 2019 and again since 2024, initially joining as a temporary guitarist in place of Jeff Hanneman, and as a permanent guitarist after Hanneman's death in May 2013.
Shovel Headed Kill Machine is the seventh studio album by the American thrash metal band Exodus, released on October 4, 2005 through Nuclear Blast. It's the first album to feature new vocalist Rob Dukes, after the departure of Steve "Zetro" Souza during the band's South American tour in support of the band's previous album Tempo of the Damned. It is also the band's first studio album not to feature Rick Hunolt on guitars, with Lee Altus as his replacement, and the only Exodus album to feature Paul Bostaph on drums after Tom Hunting's second departure as a result of the reoccurrence of the illness that prompted him to depart in 1989. Shovel Headed Kill Machine sold over 3,000 copies in its first week of release in the U.S.
The Best of Exodus: Lessons in Violence is a compilation album by thrash metal band Exodus. Even though this compilation album was released after Impact Is Imminent, it contains no tracks from that album as Exodus had switched record labels by that time. Therefore, the band had no involvement with this album.
Robert Dukes is an American vocalist, best known as the former lead singer for the thrash metal band Exodus and current vocalist for his crossover thrash project Generation Kill.
Let There Be Blood is a studio album by American thrash metal band Exodus. It is a re-record of their 1985 debut album Bonded by Blood. The only band members who play on both Bonded by Blood and Let There Be Blood are guitarist Gary Holt and drummer Tom Hunting. The track "Hell's Breath" originally appears on the "1983 Rehearsal" with Kirk Hammett and never was recorded officially.
The Headbangers Ball Tour was a North American tour presented by MTV's Headbangers Ball, which took place in April and May 1989. It was headlined by American thrash metal band Anthrax, and supported by Exodus and Helloween.
Blood In, Blood Out is the tenth studio album by American thrash metal band Exodus. It was released on October 14, 2014 through Nuclear Blast, and is the band's first album with vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza since 2004's Tempo of the Damned. The album also saw a reunion with original guitarist Kirk Hammett, who plays the guitar solo on "Salt the Wound". Blood In, Blood Out received generally favorable critical reviews, and it entered the Billboard 200 at number 38—the band's highest U.S. chart position to date. Exodus promoted the album with its first concert tour with Souza since he left the band in 2004, due to a feud with guitarist Gary Holt. This is also the only studio album the band released whilst Holt did double duties with Exodus and Slayer, the latter of where Holt had filled in for the late Jeff Hanneman until their disbandment in 2019.
Persona Non Grata is the eleventh studio album by American thrash metal band Exodus, released on November 19, 2021. It is their first studio album since Blood In, Blood Out in 2014, and their second to feature vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza since he returned to the band that same year. This album also features guest appearances from former Exodus guitarist Rick Hunolt and guitarist Lee Altus' bandmate in Heathen, Kragen Lum, who both provide guitar solos on one of the album's tracks, "Lunatic-Liar-Lord". This is the band's final album to be released through Nuclear Blast, with whom the band signed in 2003.
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