Eleven-year-old guitarist Maya Neelakantan from Chennai, India recently joined the iconic thrash metal band EXODUS on stage at the House of Blues in Orlando, Florida, performing their song “Brain Dead.” Fan-captured footage of her impressive appearance showcases the young musician’s skill and confidence.
Maya has been making waves since her viral audition for America’s Got Talent in August, where she rocked the quarterfinals with her intense rendition of METALLICA’s “Master of Puppets.” Before that, she had already wowed audiences with a cover of PAPA ROACH’s “Last Resort,” performed in front of a packed audience.
Gary Holt, guitarist for SLAYER and EXODUS, recently spent time with Maya and praised her dedication. TOOL guitarist Adam Jones was also impressed after seeing her cover of TOOL’s 16-minute “7empest” and gifted her a custom Gibson Les Paul. Maya first gained popularity in 2023 when she performed a mashup of 22 TOOL songs in a single take.
Neelakantan explains, “I have been listening to SLAYER, METALLICA, SLIPKNOT, EXODUS and LAMB OF GOD ever since I was two years old. I loved thrash metal because of how energetic it sounded. Every time it was playing, I always jumped up and down.”
“My dream is to create a genre of my own. Something that merges all of my musical interests together. It’ll be a combination of extreme thrash metal and intricate Carnatic music in its traditional form. And it will be something as crafted as TOOL music,” she continues.
Watch Maya Neelakantan perform with EXODUS below.
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