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Exodus: Exhibit B - The human condition

09/07/10 || Smalley

Exodus is one of the oldest thrash bands still around and kickin’ (if not the oldest), but they definitely aren’t showing their age on “Exhibit b: the human condition”; this underrated bunch of Bay Area shredders have produced a record that runs fucken circles around what their more successful, much more tired peers (Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer, etc.) have been creating lately, and if you’re an old-school headbanger looking for an album that’ll make you feel like you’ve gone back in time to that now almost-mythical land of denim, leather, and bad poodle perms, “condition” is just the ticket you need. This was almost worth that two year delay, even!

Album opener “The ballad of Leonard and Charles” has a number of things you’ll be expecting if you’ve been following Exodus recently; a slick production, with all the usual Andy Sneap trademarks (prominent bass undertone, tap-y drums, and so on), Rob Dukes’ rough, aggressive bark of a voice, and violence-fixated lyrics. But, on the other hand, the song’s serene (and very well-executed) acoustic intro isn’t expected at all , nor is its surprisingly epic scope (with a running time of 7+ minutes), and while recent Exodus usually has good solos, the dueling solos here, courtesy of Gary Holt & Lee Altus, are really, really fucken good. But besides the usual suspects/unexpected surprises on “ballad”, in the end, all that matters is that the song’s a catchy, crunchy, high-energy thrasher that proves Exodus still has that energetic spark that so many of their peers lost a long fucken time ago.

From there, energetic, shred-tastic cuts like “Beyond the pale”, “Hammer and life”, hell, just about every single song here, will keep on kicking your ass and have you begging for more, with Dukes bellowing out vivid manifestos of violence, and Lee Altus cranking out intense riff after intense riff without forgetting to infuse them with the sinister sort of catchiness that they need. I also have to praise how effective some of the gang vocal choruses are here (no, they don’t suck all the time!), as well as how Andy Sneap gave the rhythm guitar a slick, but still abrasive sound, sort of like the musical equivalent of a shiny length of deadly razor wire, a nice contrast to the dull guitar sound on certain other Sneap-produced records (coughenemyofgodcough).

And, while the majority of the songwriting here does get a little less ambitious after “The ballad…”, with smaller scopes and less surprises (even the unexpected Peter Tägtgren cameo on “The sun is my destroyer” doesn’t change things much), Exodus executes everything so well here, there’s really no reason to be disappointed at all, with “Exhibit b” never becoming a repetitive or tiresome listen at any point. This is ass-kicking modern thrash metal at its best, and if you like thrash at all, “Exhibit b” will have you fucken frolicking through an old-school metalhead’s paradise.

8,5

Information
Released: 2010
Label: Nuclear Blast
Website: Exodus MySpace
Band
Rob Dukes: vocals
Gary Holt: lead guitar
Lee Altus: rhythm & lead guitar
Jack Gibson: bass
Tom Hunting: drums

Tracklist
01. The Ballad Of Leonard And Charles
02. Beyond The Pale
03. Hammer And Life
04. Class Dismissed (A Hate Primer)
05. Downfall
06. March Of The Sycophants
07. Nanking
08. Burn, Hollywood, Burn
09. Democide
10. The Sun Is My Destroyer
11. A Perpetual State Of Indifference
12. Good Riddance

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