Slayer guitarist Gary Holt recently spoke with IndyWeek.com about replacing the late Jeff Hanneman, dealing with haters in the crowd, and the difference between working with Slayer and Exodus. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

Q: You were in Slayer for a bit while Jeff was alive. How strange was that?

Holt: "Yeah, I was filling in. But it was still his band, and it’s still his band now. I still come out on stage trying to make Jeff proud. He will always be a part of Slayer. He passed away, but that doesn’t mean he’s no longer in this band. He’s in this band forever."

Q: When you play old Slayer songs, how much are you trying to simply play Jeff parts versus reimagine them as your own?

Holt: "I try to be myself, and the band has never asked me to be anything but myself. On some of the older songs, Jeff had a lot of little melodic bits and pieces to his solo, and I try to keep those in there. I don’t think I would be doing him or myself any justice to try and go out and play Jeff’s solos. We are two totally different people. What I try to do is mimic a vibe—if he was playing something chaotic and fast, I’ll be chaotic and fast. I’m not out there trying to substitute completely ill-fitting chops into spots where he did something totally random."

Click here for the complete interview.

Streaming below is the official teaser for the brand new Slayer music video, "You Against You”, directed by BJ McDonnell. The track is featured on the band’s latest album, Repentless, and the full video will be released soon.

Catch Slayer on tour in North America with Testament and Carcass.

Tour dates:

March
2 - Capitol Theatre - Port Chester, NY
3 - The Fillmore - Philadelphia, PA
5 - The Fillmore - Silver Spring, MD
6 - The House of Blues - Boston, MA
8 - LC Pavilion - Columbus, OH
9 - The Orpheum - Madison, WI
11 - Myth - St. Paul, MN
12 - Civic Auditorium - Fargo, ND
14 - MacEwan Hall - Calgary, AB
15 - Shaw Centre - Edmonton, AB
17 - Revolution Event Center - Boise, ID
19 - The Paramount - Seattle, WA
20 - Roseland Ballroom - Portland, OR
22 - Warfield Theatre - San Francisco, CA
26 - The Joint - Las Vegas, NV