By: Anders

Posted: Dec 1, 2005

A pissed off and very aggressive Exodus is what we get here. I guess there are enough things to be pissed off about, if your name is Gary Holt and your band is named Exodus. Exodus is merely Exodus these days, the only original member left is Holt, by his side he has bassist Jack Gibson, who joined the band for the first reunion in 1997, and has stuck around since. New from the last album '03's "Tempo Of The Damned" are the 2 well known names Lee Altus known from Heathen and Paul Bostaph who used to create mayhem with Slayer and Forbidden. And then the new vocalist, the rather unwritten page Rob Dukes.

Though I am pretty sure this album will make Dukes known and there will be written a page or 2 about him and his performance. His vocal is like an aggressive Paul Baloff, the screaming is reminding me a lot of him, though a bit more aggressive and it fits the music of Exodus good, so I guess he was the right choice for the band.

The compositions are very direct and in the face, killer aggressive riffs are spewed from the guitars, relentless and fast and very hurtful for the neck. The leads and solos are blistering as well, flawless and powerful guitar work, nothing less than expected. The drumming from Bostaph is also really good, I was one of those who didn't like him in Slayer, and to be honest I think his style fits much better with Exodus. Straight ahead powerful drumming, with a lot of kick drum blasts and good cymbal work. The bass from Gibson is also shining through and letting us all in, on its powerful rumbling and neck snapping groove.

The production of "Shovel Headed Machine" is also good, there is a lot of power behind the instruments, and they all have a lot of space. The mix is good and places the instruments well and unites them in an all out assault on the listener.

This is a hard hitting record Exodus has made, even more powerful and clean hitting than "Tempo Of The Damned". It didn't catch on as fast as "Tempo Of The Damned", but in the length it turned out to be more persisting, aggressive and plain out brutal. A good slap of thrash that lasts a good while and earns many spins. I didn't think the band would come strong out of all the line-up trouble, but damn I was wrong, and I am kinda glad that I was.

Rating: 8/10

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