Guns N’ Roses are known for being a phenomenal live act. But in its peak success, the band was often chaotic, and their antics frequently translated fluently on stage and off. Exodus drummer Tom Hunting who appeared on the “Appetite for Distortion” podcast, remembered seeing Guns N’ Roses on tour with Aerosmith.

Hunting stated that the band was both a “mess” and “great” simultaneously. As he explained (via Blabbermouth):

“I saw Guns N’ Roses with Aerosmith. They were on tour, and it was in the ’80s, maybe the late ’80s. They were great. They still had Steven Adler on drums back then. And they were kind of a mess and they were kind of great too. They played great. It was just like raw, raunchy rock and roll. Aerosmith was kind of more clean and polished at that time.”

He continued: “As far as the connection to GUNS N’ ROSES. I have none. I’d seen ’em then [in the late ’80s], and I’d seen ’em… They played Hellfest [in France] one time, or at least it was Axl who played, but I haven’t seen GUNS N’ ROSES play since then. I have no connection to them — other than I know that Slash [GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist] knows about thrash and he likes thrash music and he likes hard, heavier bands and stuff like that. He’s just a phenomenal force. He’s one of those guitar players you know when you’re hearing him. They could just step out, hit a couple notes and you know it’s them.”

Tom Hunting continued, noting how time and experience differentiated the bands:

“I got the feeling at the moment that Guns N’ Roses was kind of like living the life that Aerosmith was only 10 years prior, and they had moved on to this cleaner, more polished, less drugs. And I could see that on stage. Not that both bands weren’t great.”

Drummer Tom Hunting is a founding member of the legendary Thrash metal band “Exodus”.

Being influenced by bands such as Motorhead or Iron Maiden, Exodus started off playing melodic hard rock. After some trouble with record labels, which led to several changes among the band members, Exodus changed their style to a more aggressive sound. They finally released their debut album “Bonded by Blood” in 1985, which is still considered to be among the most influential Thrash albums of all time. After more than 30 years of creating music the pioneers of Thrash metal are still active, touring the world and recording new records.

Drummer Tom Hunting is an essential part of Exodus‘sound. His precise timing, consistent speed and enormous volume make him one of metal’s hottest & most respected drummers.

Tom has played a classic black Recording Custom kit for most of his career before changing to the powerful Oak Custom shells in 2009.