from CHEMICAL BREATH was another one. Because we always had problems finding a second guitar player, and with FLIP leaving the band, the rest of us decided that was the end of EXOTO. That was our first stop, in 1996, after playing for six years.
BUT LATER, EXOTO GOT BACK TOGETHER.
That was when FLIP started talking about a reunion. Not everybody was in to that at first, but eventually, we got together for a first rehearsal in the facilities of EXTERMINATOR. Not everybody in EXOTO had kept their equipment , so we needed gear to play on. During that rehearsal. it felt like we never stopped playing. 15 years after our initial stop, it felt all natural. By the time I got home from that rehearsal, my voice was completely gone though. The medical verdict was that I stretched the limits of what my voice was capable of. That posed a problem, because I wouldn't risk my voice, just to play in a band for our own pleasure. A bit later, FLIP got some health issues himself, wat lead to another inactive period for EXOTO.
About two years later - I started working at GRASPOP METAL MEETING by then - I met someone from our old EXOTO team. She started asking for another live show by the band. In the same period, while packing to move to a new adres, I found some old EXOTO stuff. Almost together with MOLLY (Drummer, since the passing away of DIDIER) I had the idea to digitalise those records, and place them on social media. As an archive for the future. That page was picked up by that old team member, and she kept talking about one more show. She even had a place in mind. Somewhere in an industrial hall in Dessel. I challenged her to get that page to 200 likes before the end of GRASPOP METAL MEETING. She made it, and EXOTO sat down to look at the options. We played the show in Dessel, and agreed to play for fun a couple of times. One of those shows was at FRIETROCK, in nearby Retie. FLIP started writing again. He dropped of 9 songs, for us to chose from to record. Immediately, it became clear we didn't like the same songs, and that was the end of the short return of EXOTO. We played a farewellshow, because we couldn't do that back in 1996, and that was it. We just took some time to record our old songs, with the current lineup and modern equipment, and
that was that. But the metal scene is a small world, and word got out about that recording. Our intention was to keep it for ourselves, as a memorandum for EXOTO. But Dutch label VIC RECORDS contacted us and they wanted to publish it. Even with a recording that was done without any budget, these recordings became a CD. Call it a best off if you like.
AND THEN, in 2016, EXOTO suddenly returns with a remake of CARNIVAL OF SOULS.
In 2014, EXOTO left me with the feeling that I wanted to do something with music again. Not EXOTO par force, but something with music. I wanted to return to the hard sound of the early days. Death metal of the likes of HYPERBLAST and KATAKLYSM. I started looking for a line-up. I found bass players and guitar players, but I couldn't find a drummer. Up to the point where I dropped the idea all together. But people around me, kept telling me to restart EXOTO. In the mean time, the facebook page kept on growing, and more and more people told me they would love a renewed version of the band. In the end, all those people motivating me, and me thinking back on the days with DIDIER on the drums, made that I wanted to start over.