UMUR "The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A" is the eighth full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Exodus. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in October 2007. It´s the successor to "Shovel Headed Kill Machine" from 2005 and the album features one lineup change as drummer Paul Bostaph has been replaced by a returning Tom Hunting, who didn´t perform on "Shovel Headed Kill Machine".

The music on the album is in the trademark sharp, aggressive, and raw Exodus thrash metal style. Exodus were never known for being adventurous in terms of song structures or experimental musical ideas, and they´ve pretty much stuck to their concept since the release of their debut full-length studio album "Bonded By Blood" back in 1985, but as always they are full of fierce energy and raw thrashy attitude. It´s now the second album with lead vocalist Rob Dukes and while I don´t find him as distinct sounding or unique as Steve "Zetro" Souza, he does a great job on this album. The songs are all well composed albeit a bit formulaic and sometimes also a bit too long for their own good. Not all tracks needed the vers/chorus parts repeated three times. "Children Of A Worthless God" is one of the highlight of the album (Dukes even adds a bit of clean singing to this track), but tracks like "Riot Act" and "Funeral Hymn" are great tracks too. In fact "The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A" is a strong album throughout, although the riffing style and the formulaic song structures make it a slightly one-dimensional listen.

The album is produced by Andy Sneap, and features a classic Sneap sound production. Meaty, powerful, heavy, and clear with all instruments and vocals audible in the mix. Upon Conclusion "The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A" is another high quality thrash metal album from Exodus, but I do detect a bit of autopilot in the songwriting department. I know this is what the fans expect, but I could do with a bit more experimentation or at least a bit more variation. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Shovel Headed Kill Machine" is the Seventh full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Exodus. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in October 2005. It´s the successor to "Tempo of the Damned" from 2004. An album which was both a comeback album for the band (their last album at the time was "Force of Habit" from 1992) and a reunitement with "classic"-era Exodus lead vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza. The reunited band soon began fighting though as old issues emerged and Souza left again and was replaced by Rob Dukes. There have however been further lineup changes as guitarist Rick Hunolt has been replaced by Lee Altus (Heathen, Die Krupps) and drummer Tom Hunting has been replaced by Paul Bostaph (Forbidden, Slayer). So the only remaining members from the lineup who recorded "Tempo of the Damned (2004)" are bassist Jack Gibson and guitarist Gary Holt. Out of those two it´s only the latter who is a founding member of Exodus.

Holt has however always been the main composer for the band, so multible lineup changes or not the material on "Shovel Headed Kill Machine" is unmistakably the sound of Exodus. Dukes has a relatively similar snarling raw vocal style to Souza, although he is slightly less distinct sounding, but he generally does a great job here carrying on the legacy. Bostaph is clearly a hired gun here, because he adds zero personal touch to the drumming on the album, and more or less just mimmicks the drumming style of Hunting. I count one part with double pedalling bass drums (which is actually nicely refreshing and suits the music well), which is not something you´d hear Hunting do, but that´s about it. Other than that I wouldn´t have guessed it wasn´t Hunting playing if I didn´t know better. Anyone familiar with new guitarist Lee Altus know that he is a very skilled musician, so replacing Hunolt is not an issue.

"Shovel Headed Kill Machine" is an aggressive, fast-paced, and heavy thrash metal release and the natural step forward from "Tempo of the Damned (2004)". The tracks are slighly less memorable and rely more on power and aggression, but that doesn´t mean the tracks aren´t catchy and effectful. This is an album loaded with classic Exodus riffs and rhythms, and the vocals and the lyrics are also reminiscent of preceding output. Tracks like "Deathamphetamine", "Shudder to Think", and "Altered Boy" (featuring lyrics dealing with the many cases of Catholic priests and their abuse of alter boys) are among the highlights, but I could just as well have mentioned tracks like "I Am Abomination" and "Going Going Gone".

"Shovel Headed Kill Machine" and especially poor Dukes often don´t receive praise from reviewers/fans talking about them, but to my ears "Shovel Headed Kill Machine" is a strong release and Dukes performance here deserves a lot more credit than it´s been given. I´d call him a near perfect replacement for Souza (and probably expose myself to the wrath of the hardcore Souza fans). A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Tempo of the Damned" is the 6th full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Exodus. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in February 2004. It´s the successor to "Force of Habit" from 1992 and quite a few things have happened in the 12 years between the two releases. Exodus disbanded in 1994 but reunited shortly in 1997 with original lead vocalist Paul Baloff to play some shows, which produced the "Another Lesson in Violence" live album in 1997, but they folded again in 1998. The untimely death of Baloff in 2002 paved the way for a reunion with lead vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza. There have been a couple of other lineup changes since the predecessor as drummer John Tempesta has been replaced by returning original drummer Tom Hunting and bassist Mike Butler has been replaced by Jack Gibson. Gary Holt and Rick Hunolt as always handle the guitars.

One of the first things you notice when listening to "Tempo of the Damned" is how sharp and powerful sounding the production is. This is an Andy Sneap production which suits the material perfectly. Exodus had a couple of releases in the past which featured sub par production jobs, but that´s certainly not the case with "Tempo of the Damned", which ranks among their best produced albums. The sound production provides the already powerful tracks with an extra boost and makes them even more powerful sounding than they already are.

So the sound production gives the band the best possible conditions to shine, and shine they do. "Tempo of the Damned" not only features high level musicianship on all posts but there are many well written, catchy, and raw thrash metal songs featured on the album. "Scar Spangled Banner" is a perfect way to open an album, and it´s Exodus at full force with a raw screaming Souza in front. It´s almost impossible to think of a better way to make your return to the scene. The following trio of tracks "War Is My Shepherd", "Blacklist", and "Shroud of Urine" continue the strong opening of the album. The album then continues with more great tracks like "Culling the Herd" and "Sealed With a Fist", and even the AC/DC cover "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" is delivered in great style. The groove laden Pantera influenced "Throwing Down" is quite different from anything I´ve hear from Exodus before and wasn´t initially a favorite, but it´s grown on me since. It may not be the most remarkable track on the album, but it´s still a good quality track.

The basic vers/chorus structure of the tracks are a minor issue to my ears, as it does become a little structurally formulaic and just slightly more creative song structures could have made the overall listening experience a little more rewarding. On the other hand there is also come comfort in vers/chorus structures, and when the material are as well written and powerful as it is on this release, my minor issue with the formulaic song structures becomes less important. "Tempo of the Damned" is through and through a high quality release and a 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Force of Habit" is the 5th full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Exodus. The album was released through Capitol Records in August 1992. It´s the successor to "Impact Is Imminent" from 1990 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as bassist Rob McKillop has been replaced by Mike Butler. "Force of Habit" was the last studio album by Exodus for a number of years, as internal turmoil and the shifting musical climate of the 90s made the band consider their options and disband in 1994. Lead vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza had already left in 1992, but the band continued to play shows after he jumped ship. Exodus would reunite shortly in 1997 with original lead vocalist Paul Baloff to play some shows, which produced the "Another Lesson in Violence" live album in 1997, but they folded again in 1998. The untimely death of Baloff in 2002 paved the way for a reunion with Souza, which resulted in the band releasing their comeback album "Tempo of the Damned" in 2004.

Stylistically the material on "Force of Habit" is unmistakably the sound of Exodus. Raw, aggressive, and highly energetic thrash metal played by technically skilled musicians featuring Souza´s sandpaper raw vocals in front. So far so good. The material on the 13 track, 68:40 minutes long album are well written, relatively catchy, and well produced too. Compared to the raw and unpolished sound production on "Impact Is Imminent (1990)", this one is a much better produced album. While the material are well written and the band also make sure there are some variation on the album in the form of the more traditional heavy metal/hard rock styled track "Good Day to Die" and the covers of "Bitch" by The Rolling Stones, and "Pump It Up" by Elvis Costello, almost 70 minutes of playing time is at least a couple of tracks too long.

In many ways though "Force of Habit" is Exodus back on track after the slightly disappointing "Impact Is Imminent (1990)". Unfortunately for Exodus it was pretty much released on deaf ears, as their brand of thrash metal had become out of fashion by 1992 faster than you could say death metal/alternative hard rock. The music industry and music consumers can sometimes be faithless/illoyal when bigger money/something new and more interesting appears. It´s a shame because although "Force of Habit" is not the most remarkable Exodus release, it´s still a good quality thrash metal album and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is fully deserved.

Kev Rowland It took me a long time to get into Exodus, probably not listening to them properly until the turn of the century, and for a long time thought of them just as the band which Kirk Hammett left to join Metallica. This probably was not helped by some seriously naff album covers such as for ‘Bonded By Blood’ and ‘Impact Is Imminent”, but over the years I have started to enjoy what they produce even though they have had a somewhat interchangeable line-up. However, they have managed to calm that down over the years and since singer Steve Souza returned in 2014 the line-up has been constant, and the last truly new person to join was guitarist Lee Altus in 2001. Although not a founder member, Gary Holt has been the one constant since his arrival in 1982, and alongside drummer Tom Hunting are the only two which played on their debut some 35 years ago. This is their 12th studio album, but their first since 2014’s ‘Blood In, Blood Out’, so what is it like?

Although the production is modern, and there is more bottom end than there would have been back in the day, what we have here is a thrash band who have been around for 40 years and see no reason whatsoever to change their style. Some bands have progressed into different areas, some have regressed into a shadow of their former selves (even though they have made millions), while there are others who have just kept pushing along in the same vein, and that is very much the case with Exodus. The guitars crunch, we get pounding drums, shredding solos, a singer who sounds like he has bene gargling with whisky who is not shy of going up the register, a bassist often playing as if he is on a third guitar linked with the melody, and it is a load of fun. There is nothing new in what they are doing, but Exodus are not attempting to start a new thrash movement, they haven’t finished with the last one yet! An important part of the story at the very beginning, they are still going as if it is still the Eighties, and there will be many metalheads who will happily lose dandruff to this album.