EXODUS — Force of Habit (review)

EXODUS — Force of Habit album cover Album · 1992 · Groove Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
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to "Impact Is Imminent" from 1990 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as bassist Rob McKillop has been replaced by Mike Butler.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.
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