Long hailed as the band that spawned the burgeoning Bay Area Thrash scene in the early ‘80s, one cannot discuss the power and influence of EXODUS without going into the genealogy of metal music. The most important thing for everyone to know is this: the words “quit” and “surrender” do not exist in Gary Holt’s vocabulary. Surviving decampment (original guitarist Kirk Hammett left to join Metallica in 1983), death (original vocalist Paul Baloff died in early 2002), untimely disaster (long-time second vocalist Steve Souza abandoned the band in 2004 on the eve of a South American tour), dejection (drummer Tom Hunting was incapacitated by panic attacks in May 2005), and drug abuse (guitar comrade-in-arms Rick Hunolt’s resignation in June 2005 was due in part to addiction issues), Holt is the last man standing after forming EXODUS with Hammett and Hunting in 1981. While others would interpret these events as a message to retire, it was through the sheer will of his defiant determination that founding member/lead guitarist/Songwriter-In-Chief Holt recruited an exemplary (and literally unreal) new line-up for the band’s 2005 release, Shovel Headed Kill Machine. Placing a jackhammer to the heads of all those who did not believe in his ability to carry on, it came as no surprise that this most recent resurrection left all doubters with remnants of their bleeding, broken skulls in their hands.

At the beginning of their career, EXODUS gained huge notoriety in the international underground scene as a result of the tape trading community. Innovative song writing and explosive live shows made all the difference in becoming a popular act. Bringing Bay Area Thrash to a worldwide audience, EXODUS inspired the likes of Metallica, Testament, Death Angel, and Vio-lence (which later evolved into Machine Head). By 1983, the band line-up included guitarist Rick Hunolt and bassist Rob McKillop. Their debut album, the immortal, must-have, undisputed thrash classic Bonded By Blood was released in 1985 and a vast tour with Slayer and Venom proceeded to make EXODUS a household name.

Shortly before recording their second album in 1987 for Combat Records, Pleasures Of The Flesh, Baloff left the band due to personal and musical differences and was replaced by ex-Legacy vocalist Steve “Zetro” Souza. The collective creativity that resulted led to Combat’s 1989 release Fabulous Disaster, whose success awarded the band with a major label contract with Capitol Records. 1990’s Impact Is Imminent and 1992’s Force Of Habit had EXODUS steadily touring with Pantera, Suicidal Tendencies, Anthrax Motörhead, Black Sabbath, Metallica, and Megadeth; however, the changing musical climate brought on by the commercial infiltration of grunge spelled the beginning of the end for the majority of the scene’s metal bands, including EXODUS. A brief reunion with original vocalist Baloff occurred in 1997 long enough to recruit bassist Jack Gibson (Vile), tour through Europe and North America, and record the band’s second live album, Another Lesson In Violence.

Four years later, EXODUS’ future convened in an unexpected way on August 11th, 2001. Holt, Hunting, Baloff, Hunolt and Gibson were invited to participate – alongside the Souza-led Legacy, Heathen, Forbidden Evil, Anthrax, Death Angel, and Vio-lence – in the spectacularly billed Thrash Of The Titans benefit show for Testament singer Chuck Billy, who was suffering from cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. Originally intended as a one-off show by many of the enlisted performers, Thrash Of The Titans single-handedly paved the way for the reunion of many Bay Area thrash bands that had literally vanished from the scene. Following the benefit, EXODUS began writing music again, but Baloff’s untimely death from a stroke on February 2nd, 2002 placed the reformation attempt on hold. Launching a search for a new vocalist, it was Souza who ultimately returned to the microphone to help record EXODUS’ 2004 visceral comeback album, Tempo Of The Damned. Produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered by Andy Sneap (Kreator/Arch Enemy/Nevermore) and featuring artwork by Jowita Kaminska, the universal euphoria generated by TOTD (which landed on innumerable “Best Of 2004” lists in magazines around the world) suggested an invigorating new start for EXODUS, but the subsequent exit of Souza, Hunolt, and Hunting within a year depleted the band of three classic members. Since Holt’s seasoned resilience trained him to overcome most any fathomable obstacle, restoring a legacy to the EXODUS name was a war he was willing to fight with his bare hands and his guitar as his only weapons.

In less time than most people have EVER seen a band emerge from member loss-induced hibernation, Holt resurfaced after choosing two long-standing musicians who lived and breathed the same Bay Area vitality that flowed in EXODUS’ blood. On the drum throne, he appointed one of the best known and highly credentialed metal drummers in the world: ex-Slayer/ex-Forbidden/ex-Testament/ex-Systematic Paul “I dream in double-bass” Bostaph. To pick up where Hunolt left off, Holt selected a member of famed thrash act Heathen (and ex-Die Krupps): godly guitarist Lee Altus, who admitted to waiting 20 years for the invitation to join the band. To replace Souza, a daring choice was made in enlisting a virtually unknown singer: guitar-tech-turned-lead-vocalist Rob Dukes, who indisputably had enough hate and vitriolic venom to convincingly spit out Holt’s murderous lyrics. This internal restructuring skyrocketed EXODUS’ talent meter, making this a dream line-up for legions of thrash metal fans all over the world, and while Holt may be the sole original EXODUS member remaining, his ceaseless vision and sense of purpose ensures EXODUS will always retain their inimitable sound.

Triumphing over adversity and armed with maniacal passion, pain, and conviction, EXODUS’ seventh studio album, Shovel Headed Kill Machine, maintains the same musical veracity that is the very foundation of the thrash genre. “Punishing” is how Guitar World Magazine described the album that went on to garnish commercial metal radio airplay and dominated college radio charts following its release in October 2005. It was clear that SHKM had only one gear: straight ahead like a mechanical battering ram, which explains why it went on to rank #3 in a nationwide “Top 5 Albums of 2005” poll by Decibel Magazine. “When it comes to writing and performing the thrash metal they helped invent more than two decades ago,” cited Outburn Magazine, “EXODUS can hold their heads high as the reigning kings.”

Produced by Gary Holt, once again mixed and mastered by Andy Sneap, and graced with the artwork of Anthony Clarkson (Hypocrisy/Blind Guardian/One Man Army), EXODUS’ attitude-driven sound is carried out with the brutality of military vengeance. Punctuated by the wide range and reckless fury of Dukes’ caustic, cholera-infested vocals and replete with gang vocals, SHKM spills over with raw, heart-racing Holt/Altus lead guitar riffs and solos that give the record its soul. The thunderous pull of Gibson’s precise bass work locking in with the furious abandon of Bostaph’s breakneck double-bass beats and complex snare and tom patterns results in an undeniably bestial rhythm section. “Standard metal sounds like love songs compared to the musical violence of EXODUS’ Shovel Headed Kill Machine,” commended DRUM! Magazine, and no truer words could have been spoken.

Addressing issues such as the blatant pedophilia rampant in organized religion, drug use, retribution via death, and the impermanence of sanity in an insane world, SHKM’s quotient for violence never diminishes. Focused and unyielding, the sonic impact is felt from the first note of the album’s opener, “Raze.” Fans will easily lose themselves in the dangerous beauty of “Deathamphetamine” – better known as “an eight-plus minute ass-kicking in auditory form.” The demon-driven riffs in “.44 Magnum Opus” are enough to make you feel the sting of front row-induced whiplash. One listen to the double-bass flurries and the erupting guitar solos in “Going Going Gone” will not only make your arm hairs stand on end, but it will cease ANY claims that EXODUS’ musical direction has changed.

SHKM not only recaptures the Bay Area’s best days, it exceeds them because Holt proudly holds fast to what made EXODUS legendary to begin with. Every last track on this musically evocative album is a classic of technical prowess primed for immortality and carries irresistible appeal for thrash fans of all ages and from all generations. Not once does the raging talent of EXODUS’ now stable line-up falter or fall below expectations. These seasoned veterans get the job done like well-trained hit men.

It’s no mystery that musicians cull their inspiration from their life experiences. EXODUS drinks from the same abyss of pain, conviction, integrity, and restless courage that most musicians do, but they differ in one very important way: absolutely NOTHING can kill this band. Not drugs, not unnatural disasters, not even death itself, and this has already been proven many times over. Not since the glory days of the 1980s have these Bay Area exports sounded so positively seething. Despite the member rotation over the years, this one thing will always remain unchanged, and that is EXODUS’ unyielding mission to seek out and obliterate the weak or, when necessary, bury them alive.