EXODUS

EXHIBIT B: THE HUMAN CONDITION

Released May 2010

1. "The Ballad of Leonard and Charles" – 7:14
2. "Beyond The Pale" – 7:40
3. "Hammer and Life" – 3:31
4. "Class Dismissed (A Hate Primer)" – 7:15
5. "Downfall" – 6:22
6. "March of the Sycophants" – 6:45
7. "Nanking" – 7:22
8. "Burn, Hollywood, Burn" – 4:05
9. "Democide" – 6:36
10. "The Sun Is My Destroyer" – 9:33
11. "A Perpetual State of Indifference" – 2:25
12. "Good Riddance" – 5:33
13. "Devil's Teeth" (Bonus Track) – 4:14

With Thrash Metal making a resurgence as the newer crop of bands dip back into history’s rich vein of long forgotten treasure and repackage it for the iPod generation, the originators of this genre of Metal are still slogging it out to various degrees of success – many of the bigger bands have altered their sound to suit the times ( no names work it out yerself ) but setting aside the famous ‘Big 4’,the next tier of the Original Thrashers such as Exodus , Testament and Kreator are IMO consistently producing some of the best metal in the past 5 –10 years without any compromise of their original sound. In fact better production and recording methods are enhancing their sound.

Formed around ’80 in the Bay Area of San Francisco, Exodus are best known for being Kirk Hammet’s band before Metallica, and have survived many line-up changes over nearly 30 years of recorded output, Exhibition B : The Human Condition being the 9th Exodus studio release.

Following on from the 2005’s Shovel Headed Kill Machine & 2007’s Ehibition A: The Atrocity Exhibition, Exodus once again produce a high quality batch of truly epic songs with many exceeding the 7 minute mark but the music is so groove and solo laden that you lose track of time as you are mesmerised by the riffage. At around 78 minutes you could barely squeeze another note on the disc.

Opening with a ‘ballad’ about Sado-sexual perversion, Exodus really should be labeled ‘Murder and Mayhem’ metal as each track is an account of violence in some form be it a serial killer ( 'Beyond the Pale' ) or Armageddon ( 'Downfall' ) with 'Class Dismissed' being about a Columbine-like school massacre. Highlight tracks are the brooding and brutally chugging 'Nanking' describing the events of 1937 documented as the Rape of Nanking ( look it up ) and my personal favourite 'The Sun Is My Destroyer', a 9 minute epic about a Vampire-like creature, with a thrashing start leading into a stoner groove and bluesy as fuck middle guitar and bass solo section then returning to thrash out the last 3 minutes.

Other tracks point the finger at Religious hypocrisy ( 'March of The Sycophants' ) and the sleaze of Hollywood. A short instrumental is followed by 'Good Riddance', a rollicking thrasher about wanting an armchair seat as the world implodes amid it’s own decadence which finishes off in fine style with a brilliant twin solo in the middle. There is also a bonus track titled 'Devil’s Teeth'.

Rob Duke's vocals perfectly suit the Exodus sound – clean and precise but also raw and brutal and it is no coincidence that Exodus have produced some of their best material since he came on board in 2005 ( also check out the live DVD / CD Shovel Headed Tour Machine ).

The one constant in Exodus is the excellent shredding of Gary Holt who displays a mastery of his axe ably supported by Lee Altus with synchronised twin soloing and crunching riffage being a highlight of the album. Bassist Jack Gibson and drummer Tom Hunting are a blunt edged weapon pummelling away in support of the screaming guitars and the resultant sound has been produced by the excellent Andy Sneap ( Megadeth / Kreator ) .

If you like Metal, especially fast, twin guitar, double kick Thrash metal you should be wearing this disc out, but if you also appreciate good musicianship, production and violent, cathartic, dare I say even thought provoking themes you will get something out of Exhibition B : The Human Exhibit.. No come to Australia and play this live guys !!

Metal Billy