Exodus
Another Lesson in Violence (Century Media)
by Scott Hefflon
“I’ll teach you a lesson in violence you won’t soon forget,
The pleasure of watching you die is what I will get.”
It’s been twelve years since Exodus released their debut, Bonded by Blood. This Bay Area thrash band practically invented the word thrash, or at least the use of it in metal terms. They inspired later luminaries Testament, Vio-lence (with Machine Head’s Robb Flynn), and more knock-off speed/tech metal bands than I care to list off. And now, recorded live at the Trocadero in San Francisco, Exodus returns from the depths of hell (or at least the bargain bin) fronted by original madman Paul Baloff.
“Plunder your town, your homes we’ll burn to the ground,
You won’t hear a sound until my knife’s in your back,
The Exodus attack.”
Man, no one was as scary as Baloff. Sure, Slayer’s Tom Araya was a menacing, leering beast, but he screamed and yelled about late night news topics, cryptic evils, and metaphorical blood-drenched skies. Baloff growled and yipped (not especially tough-sounding, but pretty freaky when you envisioned his wild eyes bulging, his vocals chords cracking under the strain of his twisted giggle) about ripping your throat out with a rusty knife, calling upon the essence of evil to destroy you, everyone you love, everything you care about, and laughing in your tormented face.
“Lead us into temptation, a reign of terror will begin,
Deliver us to evil, we promise death(?), world’s end.”
And they meant it. Coming down off the false high of Mötley Crüsing-for-chicksters, Exodus held their pentagrams to the dark sky, an offering to “My Lord, my God, Master Lucifer,” well, you’ve never seen mom bug out so badly in your life. Exodus was frightening because they offered extremely violent metalheads a bloody banner to carry. Sure, it was kinda silly, but Bonded by Blood was the fastest, meanest riffing available, providing a standard even they struggled to maintain. (Even though later albums achieved more success, Bonded by Blood is considered a lethal classic. In preparing for the reunion, guitarists Gary Holt and Rick Hunolt had to get their chops back up to snuff, find Baloff, and sober the fat fucker up.)
Production of Another Lesson in Violence, courtesy of Napalm Death/Machine Head engineer Andy Sneap, is shredding – sharp as a blade but heavy as a broadsword. Its 76 minutes include virtually all the tracks from Bonded by Blood, three from the second album,Pleasures of the Flesh, and the first non-bootleg CD appearance of “Impaler” by that alterna-sell-out Kirk Hammett. Whatta wank. Lots of amusing banter by Baloff. He makes Fear Factory’s stage commentary sound enlightening. Duh, that’s an insult. Shut up and “sing” you fuckin’ morons! You may consider this the death throes of a dying band (dead, actually, since ’92), a money-making scheme to put a respectably hardly-known label on the map, or the birth, rebirth, and afterbirth of a new breed of dangerous, bloody metal. And you may be right. Even the flies are getting sick of the stale shit the heavy music industry is releasing, so I for one am glad to have the original line-up back. Let the terror begin!
