Words and pix by Robert Forte
Exodus’ single greatest accomplishment nearly fifty-years after their formation in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s may simply be that they’re actually still very much alive and kicking.
On the surface the aforementioned statement may come across as somewhat of a knock, however, it’s much more of a testament to the fact that Exodus’ music has stood the test of time despite four decades of largely being ignored by mainstream radio.
The band has also managed to deftly navigate the landmines of the music industry over the course of the last forty plus years, as simply convincing record labels to continue supporting their cause, despite their lack of overall industry support, has been somewhat of a small miracle in and of itself. Should anyone not be familiar with Exodus’ history as it pertains to their past and current line-up, well, for one, there isn’t a founding member still touring with the band currently.
Exodus was initially formed in 1970 by Metallica’s very own Kirk Hammett, fellow guitarist Tim Agnello, vocalist Keith Steward and the band’s longest tenured member, drummer Tom Hunting. Hunting is technically still with Exodus, however, due to his ongoing health issues, he continues to remain unable to tour with the band.
Exodus’ debut album line-up wasn’t completed until Hammett left Exodus for Metallica in 1983 only to be replaced by band roadie and close friend Gary Holt and when lead vocalist Paul Baloff came into the fold as well. Following Baloff’s exit following their first recorded studio effort, Bonded by Blood, Exodus recruited bay area thrash vocalist Steve “Zetro” Souza who’d help lead the band to probably their most commercially successful run from the mid 1980s through the early 2000s.
Following Baloff’s death in 2002, Zousa returned to front Exodus briefly, only to be replaced by Rob Dukes up until 2014 when Zousa returned to front the band once again. Exodus’ line-up has largely been stable since the early 2000s with Holt leading the band alongside Hunting, bassist Jack Gibson and guitarist Lee Altus with again, the only consistent change throughout this period being the rotation of lead vocalists.
That brings us to the band’s current era, which, again, unofficially began with Zousa returning to the Exodus fold in 2014.
Since then, Exodus has released two critically acclaimed records in 2014’s Blood In, Blood Out as well as the highly underrated Persona Non Grata, the band’s last studio album for long-time label Nuclear Blast Records.
So what can fans expect from Exodus’ current tour, dubbed The Battle of ‘24 featuring fellow metal brethren Dead Heat, Candy as well as Denver, Colorado thrash heroes Havok? In short, an unhinged night of thrash metal insanity that comes across as both entirely genuine and, for the lack of a better term, downright fun.
Anyone that showed up to the Baltimore Soundstage early must have quickly ascertained that they were going to be in store for something special, as it’s not all too typical for venues to have near full capacity for a thrash metal show that begins at 6:30 PM.
Perhaps the overarching theme of the show in Maryland was simply how not only fired up the fans were to engage with and take in all four bands live sets but how the bands themselves responded in kind with crushing sets that were as brutally epic in tone and delivery as they were with unbridled emotion and gratitude. Having not toured with the band on this current run I was curious as to how an insider may have felt about the show’s intensity inside the confines of the Baltimore Soundstage, so I reached out to Exodus’ current touring lighting director, Chris Lawrence via Instagram.
Lawrence went on to confirm that the show in Baltimore was indeed one of the craziest the band had borne witness to on the entirety of their current run. Speaking of lighting, this is actually the first tour in the band’s entire history that they are touring with a dedicated light engineer and I have to admit, that kind of production being added to Exodus’ arsenal in a live setting only made their set in Charm City that much more engaging as well as flat-out entertaining to take in.
As for highlights, this was one of those rare live shows where the performance itself from all four bands, was the highlight. There were no soft spots, slow downs or even the slightest moments of boredom in Baltimore from the very first note played by show opener Dead Heat, to Exodus’ curtain call to eventually close out the night.
Dead Heat, Candy, Havok and of course Exodus likely made many long-time and older fans in attendance in Baltimore feel like they were transported back to the late 80s or early 90s as laughter, metal horns, mosh pits, hugs, high-fives and four sublimely talented thrash metal bands made more than a few grown men feel like kids again. If that feeling could only be bottled and sold, some metal head out there would be Elon Musk kind of wealthy because of it.
Here’s looking forward to what Exodus has planned for their legions of fans worldwide in the future, which by all accounts, includes a new album in 2025 set to be released on Napalm Records. Come on 2025, get here already!
