Fabulous Disaster

After ten years of perfecting the genre that they invented, Exodus reached their peak with Fabulous Disaster; an ambitious, creative, developed effort that throws in electric banjos and a cover of Lowrider without ever losing its cohesion or turning down the intensity. This is noticeably heavier than the first two records, and my God that guitar tone is massive. Before this, Exodus' production was decent, and the guitars had bite but they were slightly thin sounding. On Fabulous Disaster, however, the mids are turned up, creating a colossal tone that cuts through the mix and makes the music sound chunky and it fits perfectly with the chuggy riffs. This is shown instantly after the opening speech, which is one of my favourite intros to any album. A dark summary of the illusion of freedom that leads into some of the band's darkest lyrics ever.

Anyway, the intro riff to The Last Act of Defiance brings a newfound groove to Exodus, but they definitely haven't left the thrash aspect out of here. Take the title track, with extremely tight riffing and one of the most memorable choruses. Speaking of which, Zetro really has his best lyrics on this record, filled with attitude, a Bon Scott-influenced snarl and really clever for thrash metal, sometimes you'll find yourself stone-faced at the darker material "expressing his feelings not with love but with his fists, the pattern of hurting began generations before," or you'll be laughing your arse off at some of the more light-hearted lyrics near the end of the album "your mother has disowned you, your wife's out getting laid, evicted from your condo, now you're living in a shack, sitting on your ass shooting up and smoking crack."

There's also a huge step up in songwriting, especially on the longer tracks, with a good use of repetition without becoming stale, like the epic Like Father Like Son that shows progressive elements with its bridge that almost completely changes the tone of the song. Sure, most of these tracks are deep cuts, but Toxic Waltz is the most revered Exodus song for a good reason. Watching them play this at Bloodstock while the crowd turned into the zombies from World War Z, was intense to say the least. You've got the iconic chorus and the great lead playing, but for my money the strongest part of Toxic Waltz is the end, with a ridiculously heavy chug that comes out of nowhere.

Exodus has always been heavily reliant on their hooks, and this is no exception. In fact, a lot of their best choruses are presented here, with every single song having a catchy mix of riffs and Zetro's rapid-fire delivery. To top that off, they don't waste time repeating choruses 8 times in a row to stretch a song out to 6 minutes. There's plenty more of variety on the record with arguably their strongest lead guitar work including the Atrocity Exhibition albums. I feel like nothing else in the band's discography compares here, because it's a mix of the fresh, professional production, the early hunger of a band still relatively early in their career, and the pure technicality and energy that represents a matured lineup about to peak in terms of their songwriting chops.

Fabulous Disaster is the best of both worlds in this sense, it offers everything for fans both new and old, although a lot of people would take Zetro's vocals as an exception because he isn't as guttural or straightforward as the other two, but it's his attitude and overall charisma onstage and in the studio that makes him my personal favourite vocalist of the lot. An almost perfect record with flaws too sparse to notice, and a run of songs that just get stronger over time. For me, the best songs have to be Cajun Hell, and Corruption, with its ending having some of Exodus' finest moments, the riff at 4:37 is unforgettable. This goes without saying, but the album is a classic, the first and last time Exodus truly knocked it out of the park, and you're doing yourself and your house a disservice if this isn't on your shelf.

I originally was planning to review the legendary Bonded by Blood. After all, it’s one of my all-time favourites! But with already 23 reviews written and an average score of 90%, there isn’t anything I can really add that hasn’t already been said before. So here I am reviewing Fabulous Disaster, an album apparently not so well appreciated (79% average) that I think deserves more.

Fabulous Disaster starts with the explosive duo of The Last Act of Defiance and the title song. The former, after its spoken intro (similarly to Deranged on Pleasures...), blasts into a super-fast riff-fest, accompanied by Zetro’s frenzied, pissed Bon Scott-like vocals and Tom Hunting’s relentless drumming. It definitely is one this album’s many highlights. The title number, not unlike to the previous song, is another crazed riff tornado but this time, said riffs are much catchier and have a nicer flow between them. If you’d like a foretaste of what Fabulous Disaster sounds like, the title track is the perfect illustration, catchy riffs, silly but fun lyrics, powerful and creative drumming and great vocals.

Speaking of vocals, this is, by a long shot, Zetro’s best vocal performance. He outdid himself so much he makes his performance on Pleasures… sound comparatively much weaker. His unique tone might be gritting to the unwarned listener at first, but once you get accustomed to its uniqueness, you will then realise that Zetro is the perfect voice for this era of Exodus. His vocals fit the razor-sharp riffs perfectly well and most importantly, he gives the sarcasm-filled lyrics a whole new edge. See the excellent “Verbal Razors” to get a showcase of Zetro’s performance.

Fabulous Disaster gets a lot of criticism for its “immature” lyrics. Are you listening to some thrash fucking metal or reading a philosophical essay? As I said earlier, 80% of this album’s lyrical content is full of sarcasm and while, yes, sometimes it gets a tad bit cheesy, I can’t help but smile as I’m reading the lyrics of songs like “Corruption” or “Verbal Razors” (”You can take this all to Hell, shove it up your ass where the sun ain't shining”, fuck yes!).

Now onto the main meal, the riffs! It amazes me how Fabulous Disaster can be this catchy while still showcasing those razorblade riffs that make thrash metal so good. A lot of variety can be found on Fabulous Disaster, from the speed onslaught of numbers like “The Last Act of Defiance” or “Open Season”, to the mid-paced mosh anthem that is “The Toxic Waltz”, to a more ambitious song: “Like Father, Like Son”; instead of being one-dimensional, Fabulous Disaster covers a wide panel of what can be achieved in thrash with great songwriting abilities.

One small taint on an otherwise excellent album is the War cover, “Low Rider”. It is not insulting or anything, in fact it is enjoyable but it breaks the flow of the album. The AC/DC cover “Overdose” (a CD bonus track) on the other hand is really well executed: Zetro does complete justice to Bon Scott. He really does sound like Bon Scott’s bastard son and I mean this in the best way possible!

Overall, if you like mean, ripping fast thrash metal, this isn’t the album for you. If however you like more light-hearted thrash metal, with catchy riffs and gang shouts, get this album as soon as you can if you already own Bonded by Blood (otherwise, get this one first!). Fabulous Disaster stands out as one of the most tasteful offerings to come out of 1989, a year where many bands were just trying to out-thrash each other (not for the worse though).

Favourite tracks in order of preference:

“Verbal Razors” (Zetro’s vocals on that one are KILLER, for the lack of a better word)
“Fabulous Disaster” (Not a single riff of that song goes to waste)
“Like Father, Like Son (Great riffs again and a great song structure)
“The Last Act of Defiance” (Fast as fuck, great riffs)

I believe I go into most albums hailed as classics or at least as very good with an open mind. I certainly prefer variety, but don't require it, so long as I don't feel like I'm hearing the same song over and over again. However Fabulous Disaster is an instance where variety can horrendously backfire.

The album starts out well enough. A little too well enough, as even when taking the oncoming problems out of the equation, the title track and The Last Act of Defiance are by far the best songs on here, and certainly two all-time great songs from the band. Whether or not they measure up to the songs on Bonded By Blood/would have been better off with Paul Balloff is completely missing the point, the point is to slam your partner against the wall, kick your friend in the head and have a ball.

And....heh, well this certainly is awkward, it is these exact same instructions that are part of what sinks this album to unrecoverable depths of the ocean. Kids, Toxic Waltz blows. That's all there is to it. There's nothing wrong with metal songs about metal or participating in the various "dances" of metal, but this? I swear it sounds like Overkill rejected it off of The Years of Decay for being too insipid. "I used to do the monkey, but now it's not cool" I could make a two page review on the awfulness of this lyric alone, but I'll keep it simple. The fact that you used to do ANYTHING but no longer do because 'it's not cool' is the dictionary definition of a POSER, the group of people Exodus were known for hunting. Matter of fact, I'm pretty sure this very phrase is used as a sentence example in the definition of poser. Bet whoever wrote that lyric wasn't thinking too far ahead about how one day the so called "Toxic Waltz" would be uncool. Now, there's nothing offensive about this song. It doesn't poison metal by advocating any groove, DJs, scooped midrange or rapping. It's a serviceably average thrash song. Therein lies the problem. It would be one thing if this was the first track, or maybe even the last track on the album, but coming off of the chaos that was "Now you can see what this all means to me when the bomb comes falling down," average thrash just isn't going to cut it. The happy go-lucky goofy lyrics are really what ruin the immersion here. If these were the lyrics to Scar Spangled Banner, then maybe we can work with something...scratch that, this third track SHOULD have been Scar Spangled Banner.

Nothing that a skip button can't fix, right? Unfortunately, up next is the cover of Low Rider, and THIS is where the album takes a kamikaze nosedive into unsalvageable territory. Look, I like Cheech & Chong as much as the next guy, and Low Rider has its place in musical folklore: the comedy section. But on an album of the second most violent thrash band next to Slayer? Hell, no. Irony and humor has to be handled very carefully in metal. Unfortunately, it's all too easy to step into self-parody, but that's just the nature of the beast. One thing that makes Eternal Nightmare so much goddamn fun is this very execution in concept. However a big reason it works there and not here is because Sean Killian's vocals have this absurd, amorphous quality that allow mean spirited humor to be showcased. Steve Souza on the other hand sounds like Bon Scott's slightly more Marlboro savvy older brother (I don't even like Overdose as an AC/DC song all that much but he pulls off the cover perfectly). Now, Bon Scott can be coy and sly in the way that your cool uncle would show you R-Rated movies and teach you how to get chicks, but even he knew that works as punctuation grammar rather than the whole sentence. Rock & roll, specifically thrash, should be a bar-room brawl.

As I said, the album never really gets back on track after that. We're greeted by crickets and a swamp, and I couldn't be any less interested. I get that Cajun Hell is supposed to be going for a rapey, Deliverance type of vibe, but after that one-two punch of weirdness what your average thrasher wants is to be bashed over the head with a solid riff. This album might have been able to recover if Open Season or Verbal Razors followed Low Rider, but they don't. I'm sure some rabid Souza fan will tell me how the rest of the songs outside the context of the album are underrated and wonderful, but by the time in the album you actually get to Verbal Razors you just don't care anymore. You just want the thing to end and in this day and age where there are a thousand different ways to entertain one's self, that is the number one musical crime an album of any kind can commit.

If you must get this, bargain bin it or just download the first two songs from iTunes for your Exodus playlist. This is the most famous outing from Souza, so this didn't leave a good mark for him. Thankfully he would redeem himself about 15 years later.....

Unbelievable. For years, I always considered Exodus to be a thrash band to be respected, even though they didn't appeal to me at the time. In my teens, growing up listening to the Big 4, I somehow overlooked these guys, totally oblivious to the immense power they hold. I started properly listening to Exodus at the end of 2015, at the age of 21. Within minutes of listening to Piranha, Chemi-Kill and The Toxic Waltz, I was listening to the albums in their entirety, screaming the latter at the top of my voice while driving to the pub for drinks on Christmas Eve.

As soon I heard the opening riff to The Last Act of Defiance, I wanted to go outside and slam the first bugger I happened across into a wall and mosh with them. Such a powerful riff (beware, that may be repeated) so powerful you physically cannot resist banging your head to this thrash onslaught. The rest of the album continued to leave me hooked, countlessly repeating each song until I reverted back to Pleasures of the Flesh, to satisfy my thrash fix. Steve Souza's vocals are grittier than ever before, with such roars that grab you by the throat each time. Gary Holt and Rick Hunolt are once again a force to be reckoned with, churning out mind-blowing solo after solo, each laden with fantastic scales and ear-splitting whammy squeals. Tom Hunting is the ultimate powerhouse drummer, each drum hit clear as day, with the glorious shimmer of vintage Paiste cymbals washing over them. Rob McKillop's bass is sadly lower in the mix but can still be heard quite clearly at times, such as after the first chorus in Corruption or the intro to Cajun Hell. Nevertheless, the man was a solid foundation to the band, and did not receive the credit he deserved.

The songs themselves have evolved since their sophomore effort, still retaining the classic thrash power, i.e. Last Act, Fabulous Disaster and Corruption, yet also making a bold move by covering War's Lowrider, one I consider one of the album's weakest but still catchy enough to listen to. Cajun Hell showcases a gorgeous blend of thrash and Deep Southern American folk stylings, complete with swamp sound effects, bluesy acoustic guitars and a harmonica. A slower/mid-paced approach is noticed on Like Father, Like Son, which also happens to be the longest track on the album. The tempo changes are perfectly timed, almost teasing the listener with faster passages, only to revert back to the slower tempos at the last minute.

Open Season, while it is a good track, doesn't personally grab me by the balls and possess me to give myself a headbang headache. Just not as catchy but still worth making it a good album closer. Another AC/DC cover of Overdose doesn't really appeal to me either, nor does it to many other users I've seen review this album, while the live versions of the title track, The Toxic Waltz, Corruption and Cajun Hell are phenomenal, so good that I also bought the 1991 live album Good Friendly Violent Fun, only to discover that the songs off there were identical to the ones off this special edition.

As much as people say Bonded by Blood is the best album Exodus ever made, I disagree. If I was to recommend an Exodus album to a new listener, I would choose this in a heartbeat. This album rightly deserves its place in the best thrash albums of 1989 category, and my personal favourite in their entire 31 year old catalogue. If you haven't listened to it, please, for everyone's sake, go listen to it now, you'll thank me later.

The third work of a band is usually regarded as the "make it or break it" album. But "Fabulous Disaster" does not clearly tend to right or wrong. Instead, it holds a couple of intriguing riff attacks, but it also contains some unappetizing farts. One might have thought that the crummy cover artwork represents the worst detail of the album, but I am speaking of much more serious problems. Do you want to know my interpretation of the album's title? Some songs are fabulous, some are a disaster. However, first of all, I would like to draw your attention on the jewels of the full-length.

The title track is a real monster and belongs to the best songs of their entire oeuvre. Despite the expressive vocal performance of Zetro, the "H-Team", Holt and Hunold, offers the most fascinating part. Their solos after the first chorus lead directly to somersaulted riff cascades that get more and more intensive. The variations of the song's main riff demonstrate the energetic force of the entire genre in a glorious way. This track and especially the worthy opener carry on the approach of "Pleasures of the Flesh". These songs are driven by the belligerence and restlessness of the band and draw the listener into the album. The B side also starts with two thrash detonations. The cross-generational "Like Father, Like Son", equipped with much more nightmarish lyrics than all these ridiculous "I kill all Christians"-songs of some black metal scatterbrains, and "Corruption" are replete with cutting riffs. The lyrics of the latter also holds a remarkable line ("shove it up your ass where the sun ain't shining" - really?) Too bad that the band failed to offer consistently songs of this quality.

The cover of "Low Rider", thank God, I don't know the original version, seems to be performed by drunken weekend musicians. Any elements of thrash metal do not show up. Guess it was the soundtrack for a hula hoop session in the rehearsal room of the band. Swing your hip, if you really feel the urge to do it, but first make sure that the earplugs are seated properly. "Cajun Hell" also fails to hit the mark. In accordance with the lyrics, the music conveys a swampy feeling. Some casual riffs valorise the tune, but it lacks of power and determination. Not to mention the last two tracks of the album that fail to enrich the catalogue of Exodus. Inconspicuous and without outstanding characteristics, these tunes just pass by without leaving a trace. I cannot believe that the guys themselves did not realize their mediocre quality. Or could it be the case that I am wrong? Maybe this is the problem, because I also do not highly appreciate "The Toxic Waltz", although the vast majority of Exodus fans seems to love exactly this stomping piece. Irrespective of some mid-paced songs on "Pleasures of the Flesh", "The Toxic Waltz" became the most prominent track of the group that did not focus on sheer velocity. Don't ask me why. In my humble opinion, the term "acceptable" describes this darling of the public sufficiently...

...and the same goes for the production. It appears to be incorrect to say that the mix lacks of penetrating power, because back in 1989, I was fine with the album's sound. From today's perspective, however, it leaves a fairly antiquated and frumpy impression. Nevertheless, it goes without saying that friends of Exodus must have this full-length, because four of its tunes show the institution in top form. But if you are not especially focused on the works of the band, you better write dozens of other thrash albums on your shopping list.

Anything could have been a step up from "Pleasure of the Flesh". I felt that album was a serious misstep, a good attempt at bigger, more technical thrash but spoiled by an overtly clean production and a lack of imagination. Exodus put out their 3rd album, "Fabulous Disaster", close to the ass end of 1988. Everything that could have been done right on "Pleasures" is done, well, fabulously here.

First off, the production. We thankfully go back to a loud, raw style reminiscent of "Bonded" that nicely compliments the band's attitude and style. Second, the writing. The attempts at humor on "Pleasures" was infrequent and poorly thought-out, while here we get a wild plethora of fun sarcasm and irony added on to the usual thrash aggression.

Third, the band. The same group from "Pleasures" shows up here, and on this album they clearly sound like they're having a blast making these songs. Zetro's vocals are wilder and a bit less clean here, his style coming full circle. Still raspy and ragged, with his notable sense on self-awareness and sarcasm coming through in the singing, as it were. Holt and Hunolt's guitars really rip on this record. Very sharp, still highly technical, and solos of really heavy quality to be found here, though any major main riffs are still hard-pressed to be found. McKillop's bass is still a bit hard to hear, but not too bad; just listen to that great, razor-sharp hum. Hunting's drumming, however, is a bit more bland here than his work on the last two. Not bad, just okay and competent. Don't expect as much of the guy's usual aggression.

The songs suffer slightly from the odd intro or sound bit or some so-so filler moments, but the tracklist here is mostly a pretty solid listen overall. Starting off with the one-two punch of "Last Act of Defiance" and the title track, the latter of which has another lengthy intro, we are treated to hyperactive solos and ruthless guitar work, with Zetro's crazed vocals. The great "Toxic Waltz" follows; it's catchy as holy hell, and the lyrics are some of the most fun on the album. After the first three, "Fabulous Disaster" sorta goes hit or miss. The cover of "Low Rider", while not terrible, sounds out of place. The song "Corruption" also kinda goes nowhere; there's nothing too terribly special about it. The other good ones are the epic, evil, mid-paced "Like Father, Like Son" with its HUGE, awesome solo, the extremely aggressive "Verbal Razors" with its spitfire vocals and guitars, and the fun "Open Season" with more entertaining lyrics, and of course killer guitars. That Holt is a fucking madman genius.

Overall, it does carry a few of the problems "Pleasures" came with (ie sound bits/intros, some off humor,a few skippable songs), but it's far more few and far in between here. The performance of the band is infectious, and the better songs on the album are a damn blast. Recommended to compliment that ever-growing thrash collection of yours.

This is Exodus's third effort, The album feels very lacking. To begin with, There are 2 covers in a full-length release, One of which is a joke, The other isn't bad. Like the previous album, There are a few really good songs but the album seems to fall apart very soon after that.

The opener is a decent track, But does one really need a 40 second spoken intro on all exodus albums?. The previous album had it and it nearly ruined the whole album. Who would want to wait a good minute before they actually hear any kind of music?. Fabulous disaster is a cool title track but the lyrics are really pointless, maybe not as bad as the ones found on 'Impact is imminent' but still pretty bad. Then we have a really pointless cover song 'low rider'. What purpose does it have in an official release album?. The ac/dc cover is pretty good, Souza sounds a bit like the original singer and he does the song justice but the problem is that the track never really fits into the album in the first place.

'Toxic waltz', Old timers reading this should remember it back in the headbanger's ball days, It enjoyed some very good success and it really kicks ass live, The energy translates very well into live performances, makes you want to 'kick your friend in the head and have a ball'. 'Verbal razors' is another good track, Souza does his maniacal singing as usual, Gary holt and crew produce some crushing riffs and drumming is not bad. Overall, These two tracks are pretty much the highlights in the album.

This was the point in exodus's career when groove metal started replacing the crushing rhythms of old. The sound production feels very groovy and 'digital'. The drum sounds decent but not as destructive as the first album. The album is a bit too long, The lack of good songwriting makes it feel even more mediocre. Gary Holt still produces some very crunchy and original riffs and solos but they just aren't enough to save this album. Steve "Zetro" Souza's voice gets annoying after a while, The brain-dead lyrics don't do much help.

This isn't exodus's worst album, Nor is it their best. If you're a die-hard fan and are able to avoid the half a dozen bad songs on this album and focus on the good ones, Then get this. 'Toxic waltz' is a classic, Much in the same way as 'Whiplash' or 'Overkill'. Download the song and skip the album. If you're looking for a better album by this band, Try 'Bonded by blood' or 'Pleasures of the flesh'.

I read the reviews of this album which praise it as being perfect thrash, great thrash, aggressive thrash, and I can't even think of this as a thrash album. Three fast tracks out of nine (ten if its the 1999 cd version) does not make a thrash album. But the fact that this is a slow album isn't my problem, its the fact that its boring. Slow tracks can be heavy, aggressive and raw, just as fast tracks can, but Exodus just couldn't manage it on this release.

I guess this is where I kind of gave up on Exodus. We all know that Bonded By Blood is in the top three or four all time best thrash albums, comprising raw aggression and speed, and heaviness coupled with an almost punky attitude. Then came Pleasures Of The Flesh, an album which is very underrated in my opinion, but ruined by a poor production. Then we got Fabulous Disaster, released at a time when thrash was teetering on the brink of imploding, the bubble was about to burst, and it was albums like this that helped that bubble burst.

Starting off the album we do have a great thrash track, The Last Act Of Defiance, followed by another good thrasher, the title track. But then what follows are six, yes six, tracks of nothing more than mediocre, lightweight plodding metal that really does bore the shit out of me - Cajun Hell, Like Father Like Son, Corruption, Verbal Razors - all sub-standard and dull. To top it off, track four, Low Rider, is a cover version and sounds like a TV advert. Its embarrassing.

The album (the original, not the later release, which has an AC/DC cover as its final track, for fucks sake) closes with a good thrash track but its not enough to save it. This exemplifies how major labels fucked the thrash scene by encouraging bands to slow down, to put cover versions on albums and to generally put material out that would appeal to more people and therefore sell more (it happened to Slayer, Metallica, Testament, Anthrax, Megadeth and many more too).

I will always hold Exodus dear to my heart for releasing Bonded By Blood, but there is very little of theirs post-1987 that I could recommend, and I am still left scratching my head as to how people rate this as a classic.

66% of it is some of the dullest stuff you'll hear.

Whereas ‘Bonded By blood’ consisted of high quality yet straight-forward simple-riff-based early thrash metal and ‘Pleasures of the Flesh’ was a transitional album on which Gary Holt and the crew were riff wise and compositionally defining their own style while blending in Ex-Legacy vocalist Steve Souza, their best was still to come with ‘Fabulous Disaster’. A lot of people still consider ‘Bonded’ the ultimate Exodus album but I have always disagreed. Nothing beats Fabulous Disaster!

Guitarists Holt & Hunolt are really at their peak here, delivering one brilliant riff after another and constantly interacting in the most creative thrashing ways possible. The manage to even incorporate some groovy riffs but because of the arrangements and drums it still sounds like thrash. This is quite an achievement. The title track ‘Fabulous Disaster’ and ‘Verbal Razors’ for example really stand out here and can be considered the best two songs on the album and even in their entire career.

With a song like the mid paced classic ‘Toxic Waltz’, built around a catchy main riff and ditto catchy vocal lines, the band paid tribute to the pit, even resulting in an excellent music video. ‘Cajun Hell’ incorporates other influences than metal as well and together with the happy cover ‘Low Rider’ giving the album an extra dimension of musical fun and preventing it from getting too one-dimensional or monotone.

The production is tip top. Being transparent and aggressive at the same time but never too heavy (thrash has got to have sharp guitars, not heavy ones!). The sound feels alive and breaths. There’s no technical mumbo jumbo here to make up for shortcomings. You hear the band as it is. In your face and honest.

As said the guitars sound sharp, clear, ripping and fortunately in those days down tuning thrash metal too much was still considered lame. Just from E to D# at most but never go below D or you will sound sludgy and you’ll be shaving your head and growing a small beard soon. On this album Exodus understood that. Sharp guitars, lots of hair banging around the place, fast drums and sneakers but still with some technically impressive song writing.

Tom Hunting does a more than excellent job, drumming all these riffs and changes together into songs. Zetro is on a roll here as well. And his intentions just ooze out of your speakers and he sounds way more convincing here than on Pleasures Of The Flesh. Bassist McKillop however is hardly present in the mix but who cares really since bass guitar has never been that important on Exodus studio albums except for gluing the sound.

The lyrics vary from good to generic and the worst part is the album cover. So for that 2 points less. Still remaining 98 points for one of the greatest thrash metal albums from the eighties!

Yes, I'm afraid to say, this is better than Bonded By Blood. I appreciate Blood had a bigger impact, was more special in it's day, and deserves all due credit for that, but when it comes down to which I'd rather listen to, Fabulous Disaster wins out (indeed, Bonded By Blood only gets third place in Exodus' catalogue, Tempo of the Damned also beating it). Bonded By Blood is more of a straightforward blast of thrash, pure and simple. Fabulous Disaster perfectly represents the wild, fun, almost punk side of Thrash. Indeed, the atmosphere and vocals do evoke a kind of punk feeling, and it's just plain great. One look at the lyrics of Toxic Waltz tells you just what this album is all about: it's not raising big socio-political issues, or challenging the world. It's just a fun ride of thrash. Another example: Low Rider. Exodus aren't taking themselves too seriously, they're just out to play great thrash, and this song sounds great done in this style, it's not at all out of place, and it personifies that punkish feel of just not caring. They don't roar defiance in the face of society: they ride past in a car making rude gestures out of the window and laughing all the way, that's what Fabulous Disaster feels like.

There are three things that really make this album the beauty it is. Firstly, the overall sound, the production. It's got that very raw edge that thrash needs, but everything is so clear. It's really quite special to me, given it's year of release: not many can equal this in clarity and great sound. Very chugging, very vicious, but never sounding tinny or too quiet. It makes it much more catchy, and it really sticks in your head.

Second, and kind of tied into that, is the riffing. Oh the riffing. Simply some of the best. Here Exodus have come up with some incredible guitar work, and they know it, flaunting it beautifully. In particular it's the catchy, rough riffs that make Fabulous Disaster itself and Verbal Razors stand out. They don't change much, but they're really put to good use. They mesh perfectly with the vocals, and will be stuck firmly in your head on the first listen. This, combined with the production I mentioned, really helps the tracks stand out from one another and become instantly identifiable.

And thirdly, but by no means least, the vocals. Again, I'm a bit of a heretic: Paul Baloff might have been a good vocalist, but Steve is something else. His nasal, slightly high voice marks him out, and he makes very good use of it, it's unique and sometimes hard the describe, the only real comparisons I can think to make are Dave Mustaine or AC/DC, that kind of style. It conveys insulting, wild aggression well, and fits in perfectly with this punk-influenced style of music. You will know him right away whenever a song is playing that he's singing on. Also, I can very clearly make out what's being said, so the lyrical side becomes all the more powerful and core to it. Thus it feels much more complete as an album. I can air-guitar and sing along properly, something sometimes absent from early thrash records I'm sorry to say. With few other releases do I have so little need to look up lyrics to know them, and he always carries so much energy. That vast list of vicious insults in Verbal Razors sounds so genuine and real, so simply honest, you can't help but try to sing along as soon as you know the words well enough.

In particular what Fabulous Disaster does better than most albums is make use of both vocals and instruments. Neither sounds like they're just backing up the other. Sometimes one leads, sometimes the other, but they're always consistently strong. It's truly crafted, not just thrown together. In Verbal Razors, Fabulous Disaster and Like Father, Like Son the vocals fly at you rapid-fire, just like the guitar. When it slows down, so does Steve. Take a look at the drums too: they know just when to stop to put emphasis on the guitar and when to beat along with it. Every part of the band supports everything else, and as I say, it makes it feel much more complete. At around the five minute mark in Like Father, Like Son, for example, it cuts into a fresh riff, and at first just focuses on the guitars. Lets you get that riff stuck in your head, then the rest blasts back in. All very well done, and while these techniques are by no means exclusive to Exodus, they master them.

Open Season is a really good example of doing something fairly common in thrash, but much better: the main riff and feel of it is oft done, but in this mix the drums are much more at the fore, pushing forward the pace that is so crucial to that style. It's not afraid to vary it too, sometimes tracks like that don't change much and become boring, but Exodus throw in half a dozen other great moments to break it up, and all the way through Steve is keeping it fresh with his memorable and perfectly audible vocals. Still aggressive, still raw, but not sacrificing simple clarity.

There really aren't any duff tracks, although there are a few that stand out for me as particularly special. Verbal Razors is a machine-gun-pace tirade of hate (but as ever, done in a lively way rather than relying on sheer brutality) which breaks half way through into some of the best and more gorgeous soloing I've ever heard. Fabulous Disaster is likewise a heck of an angry rant, and yet it never takes itself overly seriously (e.g. the Dr. Ruth reference towards the end). It's also worth noting that with the current political climate and so on, it's a surprisingly relevant song even today. The other big winner for me is of course Toxic Waltz, the perfect song for any fun-loving mosher, it personifies that slightly insane feeling of merry moshing; "Everybody's doin' the toxic waltz, Good friendly violent fun in store for all, Get up off your ass and toxic waltz, If you hit the floor you can always crawl!". Having said all that though, this is all good stuff. Perhaps the only track that breaks slightly from this wild merriment is The Last Act of Defiance, which feels distinctly more brutal than the others, reminding me of the likes of War Is My Shepard or any from Shovel-Headed Killing Machine from later work. But it just nicely varies things further, and still has plenty of playfulness to be found, especially in those solos which, like the rest of the album, are all about injecting even more energy into the song.

Here Exodus take what they had on their first two releases and really master it all. It's a beautifully crafted piece of thrash, some of the best I've heard. It's not the most technical, intellectual or brutal (although it's certainly not lacking in those areas either), but it's perfectly catchy, fun and above all thrashy. If you fancy a bit of raw thrash with plenty of fun-tinted anger and healthy doses of skill and mastery, this is for you.

This album manages to take all of the best aspects of thrash metal and throw them into a killer CD. It's fun sounding, yet heavy. Usually I'm more into brutal thrash metal, and not melodic thrash. Fabulous Disaster falls into a great spot inbetween.

I actually hear a lot of east cost thrash influence here. Yes, it's Bay Area as Bay Area can be, but the guitar work and beat of most songs screams Anthrax to me. This is what makes the album so good. It's upbeat, but there's that nice crunch that the Bay Area bands always cram into their albums.

If you're reading this and don't understand what I mean by "fun sounding thrash", listen to the third track, Toxic Waltz. After kicking off the album with two straight forward (but not in a bad way) tracks, Toxic Waltz comes in and lifts the entire albums atmosphere. The fun doesn't stop there, as the next track is a cover of "Lowrider", which I thought was pretty funny for a thrash band to do. That being said, it's really good! I love that tune played on a crunchy-sounding thrash guitar.

After that song ends and we get a strange little southern-ambient intro and Exodus get a little more serious for Cajun Hell. This is followed by the strongest song on the CD, Like Father, Like Son. This song has a great main riff, slowed down and epic. It's not without its sped up thrash though. The great thing about Fabulous Disaster is the distinct differences from song to song. As with any genre, occasionally thrash CD's have a group of songs together without any big difference between them. This album is one of the farthest from that definition.

One of the strongest point of this-era Exodus to me is vocalist Steve Souza. He is made to do vocals for a thrash band. I say vocals rather than "sing" because this isn't a band like Forbidden or Overkill with a traditional metal vocalist, but rather a pissed off metalhead yelling obscenities. I really wish he had been in Exodus for all of their releases, including the most recent ones.

Fabulous Disaster has a little bit of everything for every thrash fan. There's the ultra heavy and ballsy Like Father, Like Son. There's the fun-loving yet violent Toxic Waltz. There's even some covers (well, one unless you get the CD I picked up that has a cover of the AC/DC song Overdose). This is one of the first thrash albums I'd recommend to a new fan.

In 1985, Exodus shocked the metal world by putting out the aggressive and destructive thrash-fest album known as Bonded by Blood. The album was an all-out thrash attack, with no room to ballads or almost any melodic breaks. Then, Pleasures of the Flesh came out, and got some fans disappointed because it sacrificed some of the brutality of the debut in order to release a "happier", more acessible album, in the vein of Anthrax or Testament. In Fabulous Disaster, Exodus did not return to the brutality in BbB, but decided to make a change for the best and, even if this album is still more "commercial" than that riff-fest of a debut, it's still a thrash metal assault that will make you headbang as if there was no tommorrow!

First of all, you'll notice the great and creative riffs. The title track, "The Toxic Waltz", "Open Season", "Verbal Razors"... there's a lot of strong technical riffage on this album, and even if a little slow and upbeat at times, it's still a shitload more aggressive than many thrash releases that were coming out at the time. Gary Holt and Rick Hunolt complement each other perfectly, either when soloing or riffing, making this album worth it just because of the guitarwork. Vocally, Steve "Zetro" Souza sounds like the evil version of Bon Scott. His voice is more varied and cleaner than his predecessor Paul Balloff (altough not as bad-ass as that one), with that amazing 70's heavy metal pitch (quite high to show you're a good singer). And mainly, what makes Steve's voice good is the ironic tone he puts in some songs. To be a good thrash singer, you have to either sound evil as fuck (Tom Araya, Mille Pettroza, Schmier) or you have to sing with the correct amount of irony (Dave Mustaine, Joey Belladonna, and of course Steve Souza!). The other high point of the album is the highly technical drumming, that does more than just rythming the songs, becoming a valuable force in some tracks. Altough Tom Hunting would get even better on later works, he already shows a lot of talent in here.

BEST SONGS:

The Last Act Of Defiance: starting with a spoken introduction, the song soon follows to a brutal riff rythmed by some powerful blastbeats. Steve soon rips the song with it's vocals and it's impossible to resist to shout along with the chorus: THE LAST ACT! OF DEFIANCE!

Fabulous Disaster: The best riffs in the entire album are here. It's impossible not to headbang. The lyrics are also great, with some cool and funny rhymes showing up in the verses: "And forever after, you can hear the laughter, world's getting plastered by an evil bastard, exterminating faster, devastating plaster, fabulous disaster..." Steve once again shows his amazing vocals here with some fantastic high-pitch screams in the end.

Toxic Waltz: A classic in thrash metal... I mean, who doesn't know it? The great starting riff, the fantastic soloing, those hillarious lyrics... great track.

Open Season: The closer of the album (in some versions of the album the closer is a cover of AC/DC's Overdose) starts with an upbeat riffage that quickly changes into an headbanging monster guitarwork. It's the most "evil" song in the album; darker than all the others, with some violent lyrics contrasting to the humour present in the other songs (except of course Like Father Like Son and Last Act of Defiance).

WORST SONGS:
Well, no horrible tracks here... Cajun Hell is a little weird, mainly because of that silly intro, but it's still good. Corruption is more hardcore than thrash, but it's a good and fast hardcore song. Though the chorus sounds kind of uninspired, the soloing saves it. These could be considered as the worst tracks, and they still kick a lot of ass.

You know what you get when you listen to Exodus. This album is plain good technical thrash, that mantains aggressivity enough to avoid becoming "happy" thrash metal. Melodic and still destructive, that's a fabulous disaster!

Yes, that's right, Fabulous Disaster is the best of Exodus. I think it tops the renowned Bonded By Blood.

The album starts out gritty and fast with The Last Act Of Defiance. Even though Exodus played some of the fastest, most raw, and cutting edge thrash of the era, they still managed to incorporate a melodic flow into their music. Fabulous Disaster is a brutal song with a catchy melody and killer riffs. If that wasn't enough Gary and Rick throw in a few glorious solos to add the final touches to a flawless song.

After two great opening tracks one might predict that the remainder of the album would be a let down. The Toxic Waltz expunges all doubts. Everyone's heard this song, it even got play on MTV’s old HeadBangers Ball. It's a rough and amusing masterpiece with a catchy melody. You can bet the crowd went crazy when they played this live. "Kick your friend in the head and have a ball, Come on and do the Toxic Waltz, And slam your partner against the wall!" Low Rider is another merry song, the old War cover that every ear has heard. It keeps an energetic, almost happy pace amongst the other more barbaric and violent songs. On to track five, Cajun Hell is a good song about some crazy southerners who hunt alligators and live in a swamp. Many bands use raspy vocals and sound like shit, but Souza has perfected the art. He's like a more brutal form of ACDC's Brian Johnson. Gary Holt and Rick Hunolt are masters at the guitar, and the longest running members of Exodus, along with the respected drummer Hunting.

Like Father Like Son, what can I say, besides another great thrash song. A little slower than most tracks, but top-notch none the less. Corruption picks up the pace with an angry and crude song about dirty politicians. Exodus wants to know where their tax dollars are going! I can't blame them. Verbal Razors is a gritty piece with magnificent riffs and a gnarly chorus. Open Season is another damn good thrash song. Saturated with murderous riffs and lyrics, it’s one of my favorites. Overdose, a sweet AC/DC cover concludes the elite Fabulous Disaster.

Chances are you've heard of Exodus and are familiar with Fabulous Disaster. If not, and you're a fan of heavy metal, thrash, speed, etc. go for it. You really can’t go wrong with this album.

A smashing thrash album here, not quite to the strength of their great latest album, but as soon as the first riff bleeds out of the speakers after the spoken intro, the album is clearly set to kill. A few minor setbacks don't hurt it too much, and it's an definite improvement over the last album, though it has a lot of strange similarities. The opening track is almost a carbon copy of "Deranged" from the previous disc, and is a well rounded slab of fast, chaotic thrash, and overall the better of the two songs. It's all the album needs to set itself up, so it takes a twist into the catchy, time changing "Fabulous Disaster", with that infectious chorus and once more lightning fast. The band are working a lot better together making the playing much tighter and focused, and Zetro is venomous.

Mosh anthem "The Toxic Waltz" is a heavier beast with a more controlled, moderate pace and adds a sense of fun into the album. The song is definitely designed for the subject of its lyrics, and those headbanging riffs are in supplied in plentiful amounts. One of the highlights here. But what happens now...? A thrash cover of "Low Rider"? It annoys the hell out of me really, and doesn't fit in well placed here. It's totally B-side material that was a bit of a misjudgement to put on here. But why the hell are my toes tapping to it... goddamn it! Well maybe it isn't completely horrible, but it really does reek of B-side that should be on an E.P or something.

One hell of an intro opens itself up into "Cajun Hell", yet more thrashy fun that would follow on smoothly from "The Toxic Waltz" with some neat guitar work and lots of that Bay Area crunch. They take a maybe unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome epic turn here and what comes out is a very heavy, thundering song piling up the riffs and intricacy with "Like Father, Like Son". My pick for the best track on this album. Zetro is very pissed on this song and the guitar work is equally angry and devastating with lead guitar often frantic. Next up is "Chemi-kill part II" aka "Corruption", more political attacks, more pissed off band members! Which is definitely a plus, since we get another solid crunchy song, especially in that enraged chorus. Reminding of Megadeth's "Liar", "Verbal Razors" melds some decidedly more witty lyrical content which also shows a sense of humour with a song that is a little plainer to start with, but unfolds neatly by the end.

"Open Season" is back to the successful formula that began the album complemented by a great thrash break that comes straight at you out of nowhere. On the CD version, there's an AC/DC cover that concludes things. However, not being much of a fan of the band, I tend not to listen to it, but if you like them this might be worth a listen.

Despite some small inconsistencies, the band is on fine form belting out some great thrash tunes with conviction. Not the best album in this style, but it's one to come back and listen to over and over again. It has plenty of lasting appeal.

Exodus paradoxically improved themselves on this album, by moving further in the direction away from Bonded by Blood, as they had done on Pleasures of the Flesh. However, this one succeeds where that one had failed, as that one was neither as above, nor so below. It was not the evil hard-hitting "all poseurs must be trowelled in the cunt... if they did not bring their own cunt, one will be provided for them" deathfuck of Bonded by Baloff. Nor was it this album, which goes all-out leftist-political a la so many other 1989 thrash bands, and puts in a generic late 80s production, a la so many other 1989 thrash bands, and generally is not particularly brutal.

But, it is enjoyable... because half the songs here were not written in 1986 for Baloff to do, and then hastily rezetrolated for mass distributed. This album shows Exodus more comfortable with their new direction, and out come a bunch of competently assembled packages of verbal razors.

Speaking of... that's one of the highlights of the album. Imagine Megadeth's "Liar", except with Zetro providing the insults, not Mustaine. Now Mustaine is genuinely angry, and out of that comes a blockheaded rage meant to actually cut down - while Zetro, that happy-go-lucky little bastard, knows that an insult is best when it gets a good laugh. So here, straight from the "make yourself at home, Frank - hit somebody!" school of thought comes Verbal Razors... a strung-out fucking junkie with a college degree!! Add the speeding destructive riffs, showing that no matter how much their production will get toned down, the Slayteam of Holt and Hunolt will never get mistaken for the plodding stupidity of James Hetfield or Eric Peterson, or whatever the fuck the dudes in Forbidden and Sacred Reich are called. There is only one H-team, and it is on proud display here.

Throw in a slightly, slightly odd guitar tone that manifests itself every once in a while in the riffage - like intro to the title track (THE absolute best shit on here), which also combines a frightfully great vocal delivery with insane bullet-to-the-head riffage. That's when the album is greatest, when it rings like a nail, to the head. The vocals and riffs follow the same absurdly fast melody line, and the resonance is far more than the sum of its parts. Add in a slightly different riff at every line of the verse - holy crap, this song is impressive.

At times we move into more epic territory... for example, "Like Father, Like Son", which goes through more riffages than any three other songs in its over eight minutes - entirely enjoyable, especially when the middle break comes a-thrashing at 5:01... and even the opener, The Last Act of Defiance - there is a certain atmosphere here that is missing on so many whiffle-thrash albums of the world.

The album does, however, kinda fade at the end... with the sorta recycled-sounding Open Season... by that point it doesn't really add anything to the band's career, sounding half Verbal Razors, and half Faster Than You'll Ever Live to Be. Also, Corruption is pretty good in the verses, but suffers from a Big Dumb Chorus.

Then of course we have the usual noise that plugs up later Exodus albums... the silly intro to open the track, and the obligatory No-Love-30-Seconds interlude, which manifests itself as the intro to Cajun Hell... then the War cover, Low Rider, which is nowhere near thrash, but is completely enjoyable in the same way that Brain Dead was from the previous album. There aren't any really completely losar moments on the album, and it passes under both casual and intense listening - the riffs are creative enough, especially in the beginning few songs, to distract the technically minded, and there is enough variety and catchiness to make it worthy of being played 7 times in a row in the car.

Oh yeah and there's the Toxic Waltz. It's basically this band's "Breaking the Law". So completely inane that you can't help but love it.

GET UP OFF YOUR FEET, DON'T LOOK SO OBSOLETE, AND THRASH LIKE AN ATH-UH-LETE.

Fabulous Disaster is pretty damn wobbly if you ask me, something several of my fellow reviewers commented on quite ably. The band doesn't seem to be taking an album this crucial as seriously as they should be, recording a pair of covers and even ending the album with one. "Overdose" is a pretty good AC/DC cover, sorta hammering home the fact that Zetro sounds a bit like Bon Scott even if the man doesn't have a tenth of the commitment and attitude ol' Bonny had in his pinky finger. Alas. The other cover, "Low Rider" is a hokey piece of crap, really chopping into the considerable slam-bang momentum the band had been building up, breaking up a streak that would've stretched from "Last Act of Defiance" through to "Like Father, Like Son". It's well played, but you'll never really want to hear it again after the first time.

The band goes way over the top with "Verbal Razors" and "Corruption" with the big gang vocal style chorus (see virtually any band on Metal Blade at the time) that generally annoys me to no end. It doesn't sound big, it sounds really fucking cheesy. That's all. It taints not a few of my favourite thrash records. To be fair, the lyrics on both of these songs never fail to bring a smile to my face and the guitar sound on "Corruption" is gold.

Still, nothing beats the slam-bang instant connectivity of "The Toxic Waltz". The song plays like a less serious "Whiplash" (or to be less creative, "Brain Dead"), right down to name-dropping the name of the band, the inherent silliness of the lyrics just plain working because of the perfect riff. It's a metal dancing song that works, and I'd be hardpressed to find a dyed in the wool metal head of a certain age who didn't get all wistful about all the dead braincells sacrificed to the manic kick of this track. I think the slow-down is unnecessary (the moshing was going quite fine without the obligatory 'mosh break', thanks), but hey what are you gonna do? Obviously Exodus knew they had something on their hands as they drop a little reprise in at the end of "Open Season".

Obviously the big, long epic is gonna merit examination over and above that afforded to the rest of this infectiously catchy rogues gallery (have I mentioned that no other thrash band released a record even near this catchy?) and it's attention well deserved. The damned thing actually manages to tackle a real subject and tackle it well, looking beyond the traditional 'daddy beat me up!' songs (KoRn, I'm looking at you) to the source of the problems, the way violence is passed down generation to generation. Zetro is maybe a little melodramatic in places, but the constant riff changes and oddly doomy scope of the thing really holds up, more so because it doesn't have very many melodic sections like most big NWOBHMish epics ("Heathen's Song", "Armed and Dangerous", "Fade to Black"). The vaguely eastern lead licks are particularly grandiose.

I could do a song by song, but it's not necessary. This album features good songs ("Fabulous Disaster", "Cajun Hell", etc.) and songs unlikely to be recalled by the band when picking out the sets, or by fans requesting them. The album certainly is unique, and at only $4.99 Canadian, it was more than worth the cost. Pick it up if you're a fan of Bay Area Thrash on the lighter side, but if you don't like humour in your metal, you might want to avoid it.

Stand-Outs: "The Toxic Waltz", "Like Father Like Son", "Fabulous Disaster"

EDIT: I'd like to apologize for the original opening paragraph of this review which went as follows:

"To start off this review, I'd like to talk not about the album but rather about the review of the album tucked in after the lyrics to "Open Season" on the '99 re-issue that I have. Why exactly the label thought that anyone would care about a review for an album they'd already bought from a no-name reviewer working for a bushleague and probably long out-of-business metal mag is beyond me, but nevertheless I'll play along. The reviewer, one B0rivoj Krgin of Metal Forces magazine (seriously, that's how it's spelled in the booklet) gives the album a healthy 90 and to the label's credit does include some reasonably accurate criticism, some of which I share. However, he seems hell-bent on including the word 'crunch' in just about every other line of the review, and his hopeful prediction that Exodus would only go up and up from here on is almost laughable. Dunno why I decided to share that, but anyhow there's an album to reviewed here."

Since the initial publication of this review I have become more aware of the historical significance of Mr. Krgin and the Metal Forces 'zine and a little more respect was in order. Krgin's review is rather bland and it is a pretty cheap and needless extra but that's beside the point. Well, it isn't really. But, like, I should've been nicer about it or something. - OSS

"Fabulous Disaster" seems to be greatly loved among Exodus fans, and hailed by many as the definite album by this band. And while it certainly is an awesome thrasher, "Bonded By Blood" is definitely above it. But nonetheless, this has its fair share of relentless riffing combined with insanely catchy songwriting, just like any classic Exodus release.
And that’s pretty much what the main focus here is. Riff after riff, most of them very memorable and containing some good abilities to repeatedly bash your brains on. On top of this Zetro does some damn memorable and catchy vocal lines (especially on the title track, one of the catchiest thrashers I’ve heard and definitely the best song on the album). Combine that with very solid, varied and often snare-heavy drumming courtesy of Tom Hunting. The basswork however is pretty inaudible from time to time, and doesn’t do much for the record.
But what I want when I listen to Exodus is mainly the guitarwork of the H-team, and I get just want I want.

We start up with 2 fast-paced thrashers, "The Last Act of Defiance" and "Fabulous Disaster", two definite highlights on there. Especially the latter, which has that one insanely cool, foreboding and catchy-as-hell opening riff kicking into the monster main riff... man, that is some catchy shit. Steve Zetro Souza meanwhile delivers some rapid-fire vocal lines that just keep on coming. ”And forever after, you can hear the laughter, world’s being plastered, by an evil bastard, exterminating faster, devastating plaster, fabulous disaster! Now you can see what this all means to me, when the bomb! Comes falling! DOWN!” Aaaaagh, headbanging madness!

And more madness is to follow – Everybody’s doin’ THE TOXIC WALTZ! The pace slows down somewhat compared to the first two. "The Toxic Waltz" rages away at a still very efficient pace with some absolutely crushing riffs, that were very obviously designed for moshing madness. “Everybody’s doin’ the toxic waltz, kick your friend in the head and have a ball!” Hell yes, this rules.

But after this, the album drops in quality for a short moment. First up is the War cover, "Low Rider", which is completely thrashed up compared to the original but still feels really weak and harmless compared to the crushing first three songs. Still, some nice groove and catchy vocals are to be found on here, and it’s not at all a bad song, just doesn’t quite work with the overall vibe of the album so far.
But things stay less serious anyway, with "Cajun Hell" being next up. The lyrics are silly and fun, but the riffage also makes a welcome return here, although it begins with a fun country-ish intro. Though this song stands out as one of the weaker songs on here, mostly cause the vocal lines seem somewhat forgettable and the gang chorus feels slightly forced. Still, the riffwork is catchy, and it's not a bad song.

Then we have "Like Father, Like Son", which takes us back to the more serious subjects. Lots and lots of riffs and tempo changes abound, and the song never stays the same for long. We start off with one slow, and absolutely crushingly heavy riff, then things speed up into an über-catchy and vicious verse, to then slow down again with a sinister melodic riff over, and… well, then it goes on like that for about 8 minutes, shifting tempo countless times, blasting out numerous riffs and blistering solos, and then has the wicked atmosphere to boot. This owns you, like all fucking hell, and is another Exodus classic.

But then, the quality makes a sudden drop again, with "Corruption". This has it’s share of nice riffwork like any song on the album, but nothing that really grabs you, neither in headbangability (I know that isn’t a word) nor in extreme catchiness, so eventually it just comes off as somewhat uninteresting. The extended bridge has some potential with some more gang vocals and cool lyrics, but somehow it just fails to deliver. Another sub-par song.

But then, oh man, we jump straight back into the ownage. "Verbal Razors" has some of the cleverest lyrics I’ve read: “You said your father died in Vietnam, but you’re a bastard son with a whore for a mom! Mirror magnet, smelling like a rose, you plastic motherfucker, all you do is pose! Conceited, self-righteous and arrogant, your head is so hollow, there’s enough room to rent! Little big man, so full of shit- Just shut up, you pathetic hypocrite!” Holy fucking fuckshit yes, this is genius.
Oh yeah, and there’s more. The riffs are unbelievably catchy and vicious as hell at the same time, and the shouting gang vocals give the vocals and lyrics an even more in-your-face attitude. Relentless, catchy as hell thrashing at it’s very best, this is.

"Open Season" has a far darker feeling and atmosphere, which is evident right from the first foreboding, sinister riff, which then kicks into more relentless riff madness. Vicious, fast-sung vocals with lyrics about brutal murder (“I’ll hunt you down and kill you for no apparent reason!”) and of course the crazy riffwork. Yet another magnificent track, proving that Exodus was definitely one of the main forces of the Bay Area thrash scene.

We close with yet another mediocre cover, this time of AC/DC’s "Overdose", which just doesn’t do anything for me at all. A big meh, I say- they should’ve kept this off the album and closed with "Open Season". And yes, I am aware that some copies don’t include this song – but none of them should’ve. It’s not a downright bad song, just pretty pointless. It's just a weaker version of the genius original.


Okay… so "Fabulous Disaster" has some of the greatest Exodus tunes ever, but also a few weaker ones. The two covers plus, and also also "Corruption" are all quite subpar, and make up nearly half of the album. And then "Cajun Hell" is pretty damn good, but not at all as neckbreakingly awesome as some other stuff on here.
But this album is definitely not a complete waste, because the other stuff is SO FUCKING GREAT! "The Last Act of Defiance", "Fabulous Disaster", "The Toxic Waltz", "Like Father Like Son", "Verbal Razors" and "Open Season" all own beyond belief, I’d say they’re all 10/10 in my book in fact. So all thrashers should definitely get this album, cause it has some of the best songs in the career of Exodus, it’s just that the quality doesn’t maintain throughout the entirety of the album. Oh well, Exodus still own you.