Hanneman died two years ago this week (May 2) after Exodus leader Holt had already spent two years covering for him due to illness. He'll make his first album appearance when the thrash icons release their 11th album later this year.

Holt tells Loudwire: "Some people say I should play Jeff's solos the way Jeff did. But I don't think that's doing him justice, trying to copy him. From the riffs to the solos, they were uniquely him.

"I keep little signatures and melodies, particularly in their early songs. But I always say, if you want someone to play them exactly, there's a million guys in Slayer tribute bands who'd do a better job than I am."

Slayer and Exodus became friends during the thrash movement's formative days - and Holt recalls the night the bands met in the early 1980s. "We just destroyed their hotel room," he says."With their permission, of course. The cops came in and we scattered like cockroaches.