Exodus - Exhibit B: The Human Condition

April 15, 2010

Reviewer: Chris

Bay area thrash masters Exodus are back with the follow-up to the amazingly brutal live DVD Shovel Headed Tour Machine and the band’s last full-length studio effort Let There Be Blood. Keeping with the tradition of the thrash sensibility the band was founded on way back in 1980, Exhibit B: The Human Condition is a (pardon the pun) lesson in violence and metal not to be dismissed.

Rob Dukes once again manages to shatter the head with his thrashing vocal delivery right out of the gate on the opening track “The Ballad of Leonard and Charles,” which also incorporates the old-school group vocal effort on certain words and select phrases. The early 80’s thrash that makes the genre so recognizable is evident throughout the album, which is always a plus when it’s difficult to find a weak track anywhere. The latest effort crushes its way through track after track of the best thrash metal has to offer in a world where Metallica forgot its roots and countless others gave up the proverbial ghost in favor of trends. Exodus proves it may well be one of the last holdouts for the “ancient” ways, needing no flavor-of-the-week tricks to produce believable and honest music from the gut.

As usual, Gary Holt and Lee Altus shred their respective way through tracks that seriously amaze the hardcore fan and grant hope to all that the scene is still in the ever-capable hands of the old guard to educate the upstarts. No matter what era of Exodus you choose to engage, the Baloff years or the Souza regime, the legacy that is Exodus is alive with Dukes at the vocal helm and Holt still calling the musical shots. A song like “Beyond the Pale” is precisely what the thrash metal community was built on so many years ago, and the fact that its viability and style still resonate some three decades after the fact speaks literally volumes. The prolonged guitar mastery is not sprinkled in any type of stagnancy or repetitiveness; the feel and solid groove of the track leaves you wanting, needing more. Anyone that feels the old farts should make way for the new militia should check their egos at the iron door and hear how it’s legitimately and effectively done.

“Class Dismissed (A Hate Primer)” sounds like a Bonded by Blood outtake that would fit right in with 1985 and causes some random head banging not recommended for the casual fan. This album is for the true metal rager that knows and employs a lifestyle conducive to this music. With wonderful production throughout, some seriously intelligent, yet fun lyrical prowess and, of course, the musical effort of seemingly Herculean lore, Exhibit B: The Human Condition is one of the better releases of the year thus far. I have a feeling this will make my year-end Top Ten list.          

Standouts include the aforementioned tracks as well as “Downfall,” which moves like a mosh pit bouncing off the walls of your room; it is serious music for the serious fan, no question about it. I’ll be honest, I don’t dislike any track on this CD; it’s an all-around education in the old ways from the old days. It’s Jedi to apprentice, if you like and engage in Star Wars novelty jargon on occasion (which I never do), and we are but the ever-ready students awaiting our daily lesson. With this one, no hate primer required because class is happily still in session. 

Well, okay…hate primer can be good!

Release Date: May 7, 2010   
Label: Nuclear Blast Records

TRACK LISTING

1. The Ballad Of Leonard And Charles
2. Beyond The Pale
3. Hammer And Life
4. Class Dismissed (A Hate Primer)
5. Downfall
6. March Of The Sycophants
7. Nanking
8. Burn, Hollywood, Burn
9. Democide
10. The Sun Is My Destroyer
11. A Perpetual State Of Indifference
12. Good Riddance

Total playing time:  01:14:14

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