bioexodus

 

EXODUS, Perhaps the first band ever to play thrash metal. They were definitely amongst the first handful to do it when the band played gigs around San Francisco in the early eighties, the early lineup featured none other than Kirk Hammett (Metallica) in the lineup. But it was their debut album Bonded By Blood from 1985 that really put Exodus on the map.  After that Exodus decided to fire Paul Baloff and continue with Steve 'Zetro' Souza, the result was high qualitative thrash metal but most material ever since has lived in the shadows of the mighty Bonded By Blood. The band continued with Pleasures of the Flesh (1987) and Fabulous Disaster (1989) before signing up to Capitol Records for the releases of Impact Is Imminent (1990) and Force of Habit (1992).

 Those albums didn't make Exodus into superstars and when the grunge wave hit the Bay Area Exodus disbanded until 1997 when the band returned with Paul Baloff once again at the microphone. But he died of a stroke in 2002 but in came 'Zetro' again and Tempo of the Damned was a triumphant comeback in 2004. Over the years the band managed to build a reputation with Rob Dukes as their new vocalist but in 2014 'Zetro' Souza rejoined the band once again.

THE BEGINNING (1979-1983)

Exodus formed in 1979 in Richmond California by Kirk Hammett, Carlton Melson and Tom Hunting. They recruited Tim Agnello who would soon leave the band together with Carlton Melson. They were replaced by Jeff Andrews and Gary Holt. In 1981 Kirk Hammett met Paul Baloff at a house party and he was asked to join. In 1982 they recorded a three track demo tape with the songs Whipping Queen, Death and Domination and Warlords. The demo was very inspired by Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and the band had not yet fully found their thrash sound.

That demo would be Kirk Hammetts only recording with the band before leaving Exodus to join Metallica as a replacement to Dave Mustaine. Metallica spotted Kirk during their gig together with Exodus on the 29th of November in 1982. After trying out different names including Mike Maung and Evan McCaskey (Whom comitted suicide in 1989) but the band finally decided to go with Rick Hunolt. Jeff Andrews also left after that demo tape to form an early incarnation of the death metal legends Possessed and Jeff was replaced by Rob McKillop.

When Metallica went on their Kill 'em all for one tour with Raven in late 1983, Exodus opened up once again for Metallica. L.A's Slayer also came to town in 1983 but Exodus was the headliner even without having an album out yet. In 1984 Exodus recorded another demo called ''Turk Street' demo, which was recorded in the Turk Street studios with Doug Piercy (Heathen) as a producer. At the time Exodus gigged with bands like Mercyful Fate (on their first U.S. tour), Megadeth (who still haven't released an album yet), Hirax and Death Angel amongst others.

BONDED BY BLOOD (1984-1986)

In the summer of 1984 Exodus signed a deal with Torrid records with some help of Sam Kress from the Whiplash magazine, Then Exodus entered the Prairie Sun studios with producer Mark Whittaker and recorded their masterpiece Bonded by blood. Mark Whittaker had recently finished the production of Metallica's Ride the Lightning. Bonded by blood was originally being called A Lesson in violence but it took seven months to get an artwork for the album and the band didn't like it so they renamed the album. Bonded by blood was delayed until April of 1985 and thus jeopardizing the impact the album could have had. But fortunately the album was a huge success and considered to be one of the landmarks in thrash.


The album was originally released by Torrid Records and it was re-released by Combat Records in 1986. The song Impaler was originally planned to be a part of Bonded by blood but when Kirk Hammet left and remade the song into Metallica's Trapped Under Ice, so Exodus chose to not include it. Exodus also gigged with Slayer and Venom in 1985, a concert in New York was taped and later issued as on video as "Ultimate Revenge".

In late 1985 Exodus went on a tour in U.S. and Canada supporting Exciter, but after three gigs the Exciter cancelled because of internal strides and Exodus kept going with different supporting acts such as Slaughter, Sacred Blade, Sacrifice and Blessed Death. After that Exodus got the opportunity to play some gigs in Europe as a support to Venom. Even if Exodus gained a few new fans some of the gigs were cancelled due to bad ticket sales. Exodus toured to promote Bonded by Blood, they played gigs with Venom, Hirax and a gig with Anthrax in New York.

PLEASURES OF THE FLESH (1987-1998)

In 1986 the band started writing songs for their upcoming sophomore album. But in the middle of it all the band decided to kick Paul Baloff and recruit Steve 'Zetro' Souza of Legacy (An early incarnation ofTestament), whom they thought was a better vocalist. In hindsight the band admitted that it was a mistake to kick Paul Baloff. Paul would go on and jam with Hirax and later start the band Piranha. In October of 1987 Exodus would release the follow-up to the legendary Bonded By Blood album. The album was titled Pleasures of the Flesh and it was released on Combat Records. It was Exodus first album out of many with Steve 'Zetro' Souza at the microphone. The album didn't have the same impact or ferocious street attitude as their debut. Even if the bands style had matured a bit and the production values had gone up.

The album featured songs like Chemi-Kill, Pleasures of the Flesh, Brain Dead, Deranged and Parasite amongst others. Pleasures of the Flesh was a good album but it had a hard time competing with albums like Master of Puppets, Peace Sells and Reign in Blood.

FABULOUS DISASTER AND IMPACT (1989-1991)

In 1989 Exodus released their third studio album called Fabulous Disaster, which would be their last album on Combat Records before signing up to the major label Capitol Records. The band recorded a music video for The Toxic Waltz and the video got some airtime on MTV's Headbangers ball. They also toured with Anthrax and Helloween during this time. During this time original member and drummer Tom Hunting left the band and in came John Tempesta. Fabulous Disaster was a smaller step towards a more mainstream sound with Steve 'Zetro' Souzas Bon Scott-like voice. The album was very popular but it also got some criticism for being childish and not on par with what the band had achieved before. The band recorded two covers for the album, one War cover (Low Rider) and one AC/DC cover (Overdose). The biggest hits from the album was songs like: The Last act of defiance, Fabulous Disaster and The Toxic Waltz.

In the summer of 1990 the band was ready take the next step with the backing of Capitol Records, the result was titled Impact Is Imminent, the songs were still thrashy but the albums production fell a bit flat. The album didn't propell the band into stardom they hoped for. In 1991 the band released their first live album called Good Friendly Violent Fun.

FORCE OF HABIT AND BREAKUP (1992-1996)

In 1992 Exodus released their Force of Habit album, which had a strange cover art and a few moments inspired by the alternative rock sounds of the 90's. The album is in retrospect seen as one of the bands weakest moments. By then the band had a new bassist in Michael Butler who replaced original member and bassist Rob McKillop. Some time after the Force of Habit-album the band decided to part ways and Gary Holt cut off his long hair.

THE COMEBACK AND THE DEATH OF PAUL BALOFF (1997-2003)

In 1997 Holt and Hunolt reunited with singer Paul Baloff and drummer Tom Hunting along with new bassist Jack Gibson. They released a live album in 1997 titled Another Lesson in Violence. However, the group disbanded again the following year, in part due to a falling out with record label Century Media over the way promotion for the live album was handled. The live album would be the last time Exodus recorded with Paul Baloff at the microphone before he passed away in 2002.

In 2001 the band reunited and did the Thrash of the titans concert in benefit for Chuck Billy and Chuck Schuldiner. Around this time Paul Baloff suffered a stroke and his speech became muddy and about a year later he got an even bigger stroke that would take his life. Once again Steve 'Zetro' Souza stepped in to fulfill the bands upcoming live shows.

TEMPO OF THE DAMNED AND ROB DUKES ERA (2004-2010)

In 2004 Exodus would release their first album since 1992's Force of Habit. The album was titled Tempo of the Damned and it was released on Nuclear Blast. The album was a tremendous success and it put Exodus back on the map again after years of silence. The band wa heading for metal stardom once again but then a huge setback came when Steve 'Zetro' Souza left the band after personal and business issues with the band. Exodus replaced Zetro with newcomer Rob Dukes. A year later long-time guitarist Rick Hunolt left the band to focus on his family and to become clean from drug abuse.

But if that wasn't enough original drummer Tom Hunting left the band once again from personal issues. Gary Holt wanted to keep the band going and he recruited Paul Bostaph (formerly of Slayer and Testament) and Lee Altus (Ex-Heathen). In 2005 the band released Shovel Headed Kill Machine, an album that had a more modern sound, which many of the old fans didn't like. The same can be said about the band's 2007 release The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A. In 2008 Exodus re-recorded their 1985 album Bonded By Blood with modern studio techniques, critics say that they did it to cash in but the band said the reason was to give the songs a more updated sound and also as a tribute to Paul Baloff. In 2010 Exodus recorded their last album with Rob Dukes called Exhibit B: The Human Condition and it was released on Nuclear Blast.

BLOOD IN, BLOOD OUT (2011-2017)

In 2011 Exodus toured with Slayer on their Hell on Earth tour. During this time Jeff Hannemann of Slayer became very ill and Gary Holt jumped in to play a few gigs with Slayer. In 2012 Rick Hunholt came back and did a few gigs while Gary Holt was away with Slayer. During this time the band started to write new songs for their upcoming album. But out of the blue vocalist Rob Dukes was fired and Steve 'Zetro' Souza rejoined the band once again. Which was a very popular decision and it would be the first album with 'Zetro' since their popular Tempo of the Damned-album from 2004.

In late 2014 Exodus released Blood In, Blood Out and it scored good reviews. Despite Gary Holt spending a lot of time in Slayer, So things have been a bit delayed lately in the Exodus camp.

PERSONA NON GRATA (2018-2021)

In 2021 Exodus drummer Tom Hunting was diagnosed with Cancer, So their new album Persona Non Grata was delayed but in 2021 it was finally released. Due to Covid the band had to scrap a lot of their planned gigs but John Tempesta filled in for Tom Hunting on a handful of shows. Slayer has also disbanded now so Gary Holt has a full focus on Exodus from now on and he has said that there won't be seven years between future Exodus albums.