Force of Habit

Of all the renowned thrash metal cohorts that started marching in the 80’s, Exodus have been the one to continuously slip under my radar. A major reason for that is that said radar hasn’t been programmed to detect every little movement in their camp through the years. I’m not sure why… I certainly liked the debut, which I got some time in the late-80’s, but this slab never fired me up to the extent of tracking religiously every subsequent product of the band. So the next four albums, including the one reviewed here, I got at the same time, in 1995 to be precise, which helped me get a pretty good picture of the guys’ state of affairs, the band doing a fairly good job to keep thrash alive and well in the late-80’s, their actual foray into the next decade’s environment “Impact Is Imminent” included.

With the influx of new music currents in the 90’s, the scenery started to change, and this force of habit here is just another knee-jerk reaction to those changes. Or is it? Provided that it saw the light of day in the summer of 1992, the musicians must have had plenty of time to sit down and premeditate their next step… their colleagues from Metallica struck gold by courting these new sound bites… there’s always room for one more dedicated studious team at the top…

only that there wasn’t. Not for this gang, not for any other one. The band’s impact was felt, sure, but strictly in the slightly above-ground circles. And this is not because they sold themselves cheaply to the groovy vogues with the album here. In fact, this slab seems like a sincere undertaking; after all, we’re talking over one hour filled with music; you’ve got to have put a certain portion of your heart and soul to accomplish this.

And they by all means have. And they should receive kudos just for the sheer scope and audacity displayed… cause this effort spells “ambition”. It’s true that a sizeable part of this ambition has been thrown the modern post-thrashy sounds’ way, but still. This side of the album does sound emulative, but is not really unapologetic, especially on the more energetic material (“Me, Myself and I”) as the real pull-down here are the covers, The Rolling Stones’ “Bitch” and Elvis Costello’s “Pump It Up”, both goofy light-hearted interpretations which bring very little to the table, a disputable presence which only adds to the groovy ballast accumulated elsewhere. The band sweep the area for those but not very assiduously although “Fuel for the Fire” and “Feeding Time at the Zoo” are major thrashy invigorators which even the previous opus lacked. The band’s penchant for lengthy more elaborate excursions goes over-the-top this time with the gigantic 11-min odyssey “Architect of Pain” that inevitably serves less convincing numetal traps despite the several rowdy thrashy riff-patterns roaming within.

A charming but convoluted, overdone conglomerate which by all means contains enjoyable moments, but one can’t help but wonder if the ties to the guys’ earlier output have been inserted as an excuse for their already realised, both in theory and practice, metamorphosis. They do sound like legitimate old-schoolers, nothing perfunctory about them; if they’ve been dropped from the “Impact Is Imminent” recording sessions then here’s an explanation for their existence. A lot of music has been covered, groove, post-thrash, covers, thrash, long sprawling epics… obviously the band wanted this entry to matter, both as a slogan proclaiming their awareness of the new at the time vogues, and as a testimony of their still-standing allegiance to the old school. They by no means managed to fool anyone that the sequel would be “Bonded by Blood II”, but at least there were patches of integrity sewn all over it: this was going to be a gradual shedding of skin, a momentary sitting on two chairs, the gap between them not looking that ominous. The band fans must have been sad, though, as everyone performs pretty adequately here, like again the band have already chosen their divisive ground, Souza in particular, the man pouring his emotions in his staple vociferous but effective high-strung manner; like he really wants to win everyone around for the guys’ new cause…

and he could have probably achieved this; if the band didn’t vanish shortly after this album’s release. So they themselves didn’t believe in this new cause then… or found it too futile to keep marching in groovy unison without the respective lucrative returns. Cause they were only going to do that if their pockets had gotten full of cash, right? Who wants to keep doing something they don’t like just for the sake of it? No such films, and a dissolution was the next natural step, the guys never wasting precious time in analysing the situation, and to find out how on earth this force of habit they put so much effort in, never became the next Black Album. Nope, no such foolish deliberations in the Exodus camp; the band simply upped the tempo after the reformation in the new millennium, bringing back their retro thrash vigour to a large extent, and have been doing pretty well ever since, even during ill-calculated moments like the re-release of their mythical first instalment. Exhibitions, blood, machines, benevolent or otherwise… there’s seldom a dull moment in this camp. And we’re watching it now… much more carefully; cause we don’t want to miss another habitual melting-pot, with all the glaring flaws and redeeming merits enthusiastically blended.

A bold claim I know, but not one that I have taken lightly.

Typically with thrash metal bands you can see a trajectory where their skills improve and they release their most professional album somewhere around the 4th or 5th offering. This is where the band seems to be the tightest, with the best production, and where the band seems to have spent the most time on their songwriting.

This is also the trajectory that Exodus had. Although most thrash bands when they reach that zenith they change their sound to be more more palatable and more commercial, Exodus still retain more of their signature thrash sound in 1992 than most of their Bay Area thrash contemporaries.

This album has a few obvious things going against it, but these things are ultimately not very consequential in evaluating the album's quality. The most obvious is that eyesore you see that they call an album cover that they obviously overspent on. Another warning sign is that the band has changed their logo, which by 1992 we thrashers all recognized as a sign that the band was trying to appeal to mainstream rock audiences.

This album has 13 songs, but it doesn't need 13 songs. Some of these songs are horrible, and are best not ever listened to. A good thrash album doesn't need more than 45 minutes or so of good material, and the way that I look at it is that Exodus generously donated to us an additional 20 minutes of material that should've been used as B-sides or Japanese bonus tracks. In short, I don't consider extra lousy songs to be a detriment but I do consider a lack of good songs to be a detriment.

This album has the best guitar work that Exodus ever had. A lot of the great Exodus characteristics are still to be found here, but this time they are played tighter than ever. This band clearly knows how to develop riffs and string them together into songs with a sense of movement.

This album has the tightest drumming and best drum patterns that they ever had. Tempesta just brings out the best in these songs and is right in the pocket. It's little surprise that he had such an upward trajectory in the rock scene, later playing with Testament, White Zombie, Rob Zombie, Prong, Helmet, and The Cult.

This album has the best production that they ever had. This is not a maxed-out, Andy Sneap-triggered, album created with ProTools. These organic tones and performances were obviously the result of a lot of rehearsals and not digital trickery.

This album has the best guitar solos that they ever had, from both players. I don't think this is even disputable. The H-Team was one of the strongest selling points of this band in general, and by this point they were masters of their craft.

This album features the longest, most epic thrash song ever recorded: "Architect of Pain", which should've been the title track of the album. They swore they'd never do a ballad, but there were no rules against epic thrash. It's a shame their later longer songs are not written half as well as this one. It features several movements and variations of some main riffs, as well as an excellent lead break. This is Exodus's "Stargazer", a song that I could listen to on repeat and not get sick of.

Zetro briefly tries a new lower, cleaner vocal style on "Good Day to Die" that works surprisingly well and that he should've tried more often, the way that Chuck Billy can effectively mix different vocal styles.

It's a shame the band talks this album down to this day. They seem to be content now to fan service their way through heavier but far less interesting music.

When it comes to Exodus post-Bonded By Blood, it isn't controversial to say they were hampered by a lack of consistency. I would *love* to love the band after their genre-defining debut; all the right elements are there for me: maniacal but tune-carrying vocals from Souza, the ability to write a killer riff, and a dark sense of humour. Sadly, I feel it only all came together momentarily on Fabulous Disaster, itself flawed by inconsistencies of song quality. Whilst the follow-up album Impact Is Imminent offered as much regression as it did progression, any momentum built up over the last three albums is side-stepped entirely on Force of Habit.

For Force of Habit, Exodus take their cover of AC/DC's "Overdose" from Fabulous... and run with that style for an hour. If you fancied Exodus as mid-tempo thrash rockers with half-baked hooks and poppy choruses, then you're sniffing in the right dark corner. Their massive "Toxic Waltz" sound is retained, but proves inappropriate for the style they've adopted, and the end result is an album of Exodus originals that come off as Exodus covers. The likes of Van Halen, AC/DC and ZZ Top are filtered through the Exodus lens, with thrash metal further taking a back seat to some rancid 90s alternative metal elements. This isn't quite as embarrassing as Risk, which signalled the tragic conclusion of Megadeth's arrogant commercial (d)evolution; a better comparison would be Annihilator's stylistic derailment from Never, Neverland to Set The World On Fire, though it is more pronounced in this case. In short, Force of Habit masterfully follows the trope of a classic 80s thrash metal band having an almost instant and catastrophic identity crisis at the turn of the decade.

There's only a whiff or two of genuine thrash to be found, and you'll be glad of it. "Count Your Blessings" rips off "Verbal Razors" and "Impact Is Imminent" before launching in to a goofy, tough-guy singalong (a la the worst of Jeff Waters). The pure thrashing "Feeding Time At The Zoo" is as daft as it sounds, and in the context of the preceding material, feels like self-parody rather than a return to roots. But why properly honour your origins, when you can create atrocious faux-metal in the form of "One Foot In The Grave" and "Good Day To Die"? Both sound as though they were composed as wrestling theme songs, and the latter arguably represents the band's lowest ever point musically - with Souza inexplicably adopting a croon somewhere between Gene Simmons and Axl Rose.

Bizarrely, Exodus chose to cover The Rolling Stones and Elvis Costello here - uncreatively updating "Bitch" and "Pump It Up", and now twice removed from their 80s selves: a thrash metal band imitating a hard rock band covering rock and roll and new wave. And yet the album is not wholly irredeemable. Like 90s Kreator and (briefly) Anthrax, sometimes a change in direction can be interesting. The first third of the album isn't particularly distinctive, but the clunky choruses are catchy enough, and the Van Halen homage "When It Rains It Pours" perks things up towards the end. Special mention should also be made of Tempesta's drumming, which adds much needed intensity to the often flat songwriting. Drop the half-hearted thrashers and macho-metal, shave 10 minutes of fat from what remains, and you're looking at an album of quirky B-sides. Or, release this mess unedited and then go on hiatus for 12 years.

Spin to Win:
"Me, Myself & I"
"Fuel For The Fire"

There seems to exist an unwritten law. It stipulates that there comes a day in the life of each and every appreciated band when it releases a more or less gruesome album. In terms of American thrash metal, these flops have names like "Diabolus in Musica", "Souls of Black" or - you guessed it - "Force of Habit". But however, let´s face the truth.

The album clocks in at almost 69 minutes. Such an extraordinary quantity can be a sign of creativity. But it can also indicate helplessness. How many tracks do we have to record so that everybody finds at least two or three songs that meet his taste? This seemed to be the initial question for the band during the production process. In my humble opinion, Exodus delivered only one number that could be compared with their old classics. They hide it on the last position as if it was suitable to damage their reputation. This positioning showed their twisted thinking. In fact, exactly the opposite was true. "Feeding Time at the Zoo" stood in the tradition of frenetic songs like "Deranged" or "Parasite" and was the light at the end of the tunnel. Its sharp riffs and speedy drums merged to an aggressive thrasher. The amazing guitar solos also made an important contribution. Due to the vehemence of this conclusion, it seemed to be a forgotten track of the "Impact is Imminent" session. Anyway, this song also emphasized my annoyance, because it proved that Exodus were actually still able to compose gripping speed metal eruptions.

But they preferred to record completely worthless cover tracks of the Stones or Elvis Costello. And I am sorry to inform you that this was just the tip of the iceberg. Lame mid-tempo tracks lengthened the album in a nerve-shattering way. The more melodic approach did not work and Exodus found itself caught between a rock and a hard place. Their name was associated with pure thrash massacres, although they also had already offered slightly progressive tunes like "Chemi-Kill" or robust songs such as "The Toxic Waltz". But "Force of Habit" did not only suffer from too much foreign influences like wind instruments or slide guitars. The majority of the compositions just lacked of quality. For example, the chorus of the title track did not add any value to the boring piece and the same applied for the amateurish chorus of "Fuel for the Fire". The fairly solid riffs failed to create an intense aura, not only because of the low average speed of the tracks. An additional factor was that the songs were too long. Who needed expanded songs like "Count Your Blessings" (seven and a half minutes) with its horribly squeaking guitars or "Me, Myself & I" (five minutes)? Admittedly, the longest song of the album, "Architect of Pain", was among the better tracks of this record. Due to its - you guessed it again - mid-tempo approach, it bobbed up and down like an abandoned rowboat in a lonely bay. But it scored with its dark aura and the passionate vocals of Zetro who gave us an insight into the life of Marquis de Sade. But it did not take a lot to belong to the "highlights". Songs like the miserable "When It Rains It Pours" demonstrated that impressively. Once again, the chorus seemed to be the work of absolute beginners and I had to puke in view of the infelicitous rock´n roll elements of the song.

Finally, I did not like the production, although it did not suffer from major deficiencies. I have to admit that my aversion against the mix was probably just the consequence of my disappointment about the unattractive and partly imbecile compositions. Of course, every band has the right to change its style. But this does not mean that this is a good idea in each individual case. Worse still, Exodus did not impress with a new style. They just offered (too) many songs that had nothing in common except their mediocrity. No doubt, it was time for a break.

Exodus altered their sound in the early 90s with Force of Habit, focusing on slower songs with downtuned guitars and a number of experimental elements. However, following the album's release, Exodus were unwilling to compromise their sound anymore for the changing music trends - and broke up. And since then, Gary Holt has expressed a hint of regret in having done this album, which is quite a shame, because it's definitely not a bad album. Different, but not bad. It's actually quite ambitious at times - there is much to be discovered within this 68-minute, 13-track album.

Many of the song titles are existing figures of speech, although it's not clear whether it is coincidental or if the band intended to use them for most of the titles. The lyrical themes of the album vary, such as a love of thieving on the title track, and an anti-suicide message in the slow, almost-grungy "Good Day to Die". The album also contains two unlikely covers in "Bitch" originally by the Rolling Stones, and "Pump it Up", originally by Elvis Costello, and they actually work pretty well, all things considered.

Also, the album differs to previous Exodus releases in the way that the instruments are played and how they stand out. The bass guitar, in particular, has much more of a chance to stand out on its own on several occasions than on previous Exodus albums, though this may just be because they replaced their old bassist Rob McKillop with Michael Butler before work on the album began, and their playing styles just differ. There is also a heavier use of acoustic guitars, such as on the end of the otherwise heavy "Count Your Blessings", "Good Day to Die" and also the 11-minute slow moving and haunting epic "Architect of Pain", which is amongst the album's standout tracks. The drumming style throughout the album feels consistently thrash-oriented despite the multiple shifts in musical style that are included.

I do feel that the album's production could have been somewhat better. The songs all sound fairly muddy and flat in the mix to me, which may have been okay for a more traditional Exodus album, but not so good for an album that tries to shift away from thrash and incorporate a variety of elements. It is worth noting that Force of Habit was released on a major label, and the band were probably feeling pressured into changing their sound whilst they attempted to retain elements of their old sound, even if it meant making sure to achieve that through the production and mixing. Perhaps if the band properly embraced a change in style, it would have resulted in more suitable production and a more-confident sounding album.

All in all, Force of Habit is a transitional album that is full of songs that vary in their moods and styles. Some tracks are winners whilst others fall flat, but that's to be expected in an album of its length. It is, however, quite a shame that they didn't make more albums similar to this one and decided to break up instead, but if Exodus didn't want to change in the first place, there's nothing more that can be said and done about how they may have sounded if they stayed together. When the band reformed, returned to their roots and finally did a new album in 2004, fans welcomed Exodus back with open arms, which is understandable as the modern Exodus material has remained consistently strong and impressive, but most importantly - it's thrash. But this promising album serves as a reminder of what briefly was, and what could have been.

The fifth and final album released before Exodus' first disbandment is frequently seen as being one of the band's most unusual releases. It features the band going into many different directions with predictably varying degrees of success. This was also the last album to feature drummer John Tempesta as well as the only album to feature Jetboy bassist MIke Butler.

In terms of both music and style, this album may very well be one of the most confused ever released by a thrash metal band. The songwriting style of the past pops up a lot with several tracks featuring elaborate structures and sometimes excessive choruses, but the album spends a lot of time experimenting with a bunch of different sub-genres. Driving numbers such as "Thorn In My Side" and "When It Rains It Pours" make up a good chunk of the songs on here but you've also got several mid-tempo tracks ("Force of Habit," "One Foot In The Grave," "Climb Before the Fall"), borderline progressive numbers ("Fuel For The Fire," "Count Your Blessings"), a Southern flavored tune ("A Good Day To Die"), doom metal ("Architect of Pain"), and an old school thrasher in the vein of "Deranged" ("Feeding Time At The Zoo").

As much as it goes against everything Exodus has stood for, I think "Architect Of Pain" is the best song on here and perhaps the greatest Exodus has ever written. The track is full of building riffs, a strong vocal performance, an awe inspiring chorus, and a nice tempo change at the end to keep things interesting. I also have a soft spot for "Thorn In My Side" but also enjoy "Climb Before The Fall" for its solid grooves and "When It Rains It Pours" for its bombarding hooks.

Of course, there are a few tracks that are rather questionable. Like "Fabulous Disaster" before it, the cover songs on here stand out in the worst ways possible. They're generally out of place in terms of genre and make even less sense than "Low Rider!" A few originals also don't catch on with "Fuel For The Fire" taking a little too much time to build its atmosphere and a few groove-oriented tracks sounding rather similar to one another...

As with any other Exodus album, the lyrics are pretty noteworthy in their extensive topics and mixed feelings. To start things off, forget about the violence that made older Exodus songs as fun as they were. While there are a few songs relating to sadism and war, most of the lyrics touch on personal/realistic issues. Unfortunately the band doesn't go about this the right way and songs such as "Count Your Blessings" end up sounding preachy and condescending. Fortunately, there is still some sense of fun on some tunes such as "When It Rains It Pours" and the completely ridiculous "Feeding Time At The Zoo."

With everything else to take into consideration, the band itself manages to do a decent enough job. The guitar playing isn't quite as strong as on past efforts but the bass does manage to stand out more than the last one. Zetro's vocals also manage to be even goofier than before though he does pull out a cool sounding croon during the verses of "A Good Day To Die." If only they could've found a way to use it more often...

All in all, this album is a strange mixed bag that is rather hard to recommend to old and new listeners alike. I like it enough and there are some cool songs on here, but the more experimental moments do make it an acquired taste. And as "Architect Of Pain" plays on my stereo, I can't help but wonder how cool it'd be if Gary Holt got Zetro back and started work on a doom metal project. I can dream, can't I?

My Current Favorites:
"Thorn In My Side," "Me Myself & I," "Climb Before the Fall," "Architect of Pain," and "When It Rains It Pours"

Occasionally, fantastic and even genre-breaking artists suffer major recorded missteps; some of these are sudden and unforeseen, others are part of a long progression of poor albums that may span several years. Great metal bands of all sub-genres have, at one time or another (or perhaps almost continuously for the better part of their careers) fallen victim to a bad album or string of records. Think about it: Metallica, Black Sabbath, Megadeth, Napalm Death, Anthrax, Celtic Frost, In Flames, Carcass, Sepultura...heck, and that's just a short list comprised of a few more recognizable names. I prefer to scratch my head over what the heck happened to Katatonia, why Extol slowly decided black metal wasn't their thing anymore, or laughing with a few good friends about the attempted late nineties comeback of a certain unspecified glam metal band named after a particular mammal classified under the order "Rodentia." Come to think of it, it is nearly impossible to find a band who HASN'T suffered this specific pitfall, not taking into account the handful of bands not around long enough to screw up very badly.

Why am I going on about this? Because Exodus are, or at least were, a great band, who, while not revolutionary in every sense of the word were extremely influential in formulating not only the sound of classic bay area thrash but of metal in general. Kirk Hammett got his start with Exodus, "Bonded By Blood," while arriving a little late on the scene (in LP form, at least...rumor has it that any true metal head worth his denim jacket already had a copy of it on tape long prior to it's "vinyl incarnation") was a landmark record with all the elements of that classic thrash sound, and the band was comprised of some great musicians. That being said, "Force Of Habit" is an absolutely terrible album.

Now, to be fair, the 1992 incarnation of Exodus has already weathered plenty of storms since the early 80's, and this must be taken into account. The loss of Paul Baloff, the stress associated with being on a major label, the band's admitted drug problems, and the passage of time and musical tastes; all in all, this was not the same Exodus.

First and foremost, I am personally of the humble opinion that things REALLY went downhill with the loss of the aforementioned Mr. Baloff, and Steve Sousa is without a doubt the number one reason this album is laughably awful. Sousa's "delivery" for lack of better or more civilized terminology, has been described several (hundred) times by myself as being a mixture between a bored, high school science teacher and a middle aged man who has smoked one too many cigarettes. He literally croaks like a frog, and his attempts to sing in tune with the music are cringe-inducing. After hearing this album, a good friend of mine jokingly stated that Exodus had swept the finals in his list of the top ten worst vocal performances of all time, "placing first, second, and third."

Moving on from what is, simply put, an embarrassing aspect to this record, take a look at what Sousa is whining about. Many of these songs are funnier than an eight dollar trip to the movies for the latest comedy film and simply must be read to be believed. The pinnacle of absolute idiocy is the title track, a song chronicling the mental state of a compulsive thief attempting to make the argument that, "it wasn't me, yeah you know it wasn't me. It must have been someone who looked like me!" However, my personal favorite being "When it Rains it Pours," with it's tale of an unfortunate individual who has the luck of, well, this band; and I quote:

"So I'm sittin' in a cell for 48 hours,
Keepin' company with thieves and drunks;
I'm free to go but my car's impounded,
and I'm thinkin' 'bout becoming a monk;
So I'm wandering around in a catatonic daze,
now barely a shell of a man;
I look like I live out of a shopping cart,
and I'm picking up aluminum cans"

That's just the vocals.

Gary and Rick were known in their eighties heyday for being one of thrash metal's best guitar teams, embodying the genre with a knack for frenetic, fractured leads, and most importantly, fast, grooving riffing that made you bang your head (even against the stage, in some cases) and absolutely assaulted the senses. The riffing on "Force Of Habit" would possibly have been tolerable if the band had decided to play more than one riff per song. Literally. Once again, the title track comes to mind immediately. I could be hearing incorrectly here, but it seems like the entire song is one riff. There is simply no variation. The riffs presented here are nearly all mid-paced, plodding affairs that sound as tired and boring as this band that have jumped boldly over the self parody line. Occasionally, a respectable, or dare I say interesting, lead or riff will pop up ("Me, Myself & I", "feeding Time at the Zoo") and many of the solos are enjoyable, but this is hardly excuses the rest of the records flaccid guitar playing and overly fuzzy production values(yeah, it sounds heavy when blasted through a car speaker, but is still not a great sound in my book).

Concerning the rhythm section, the bass is intelligible, but nothing worth mentioning in terms of playing ability or tone. Drummer John Tempesta is really the only noteworthy musical performer on this record, keeping things solid with some interesting and occasionally fancy stick work.

There are legitimately a few decent sections of this record, but as a whole it is an ugly abomination that eschews the greatness of the band's classic works. It is the sound of a tired, dirty old band content to rest on their ugly, drug-addled laurels, serving the rest of us with a "what not to do" manual for songwriting, as well as providing a viable, inexpensive source of entertainment, at least for those who find brainless lyricism and song writing amusing.

Force of Habit should be analysed in the 90s conception of thrash metal. This album shows heavier groove signs that already came out on the previous Impact Is Imminent. The period was becoming quite tragic for this genre and lots of bands already went downhill in inspiration, violence and speed. Many filled their sound with progressive influences and other ones with the groove virus. Exodus belongs to this last category and this album is the definitive proof of a new style of playing thrash metal. By the way, the Exodus groove is not that excessive or annoying like in several other bands and the dynamism is always quite present even if the riffs and the speed of the previous albums cannot be beaten.

Probably the main problem about this album is the “one way” it is played in most of the parts. The riffs often settle down on the same grooving style and the drumming is on perennial mid-paced beats for the biggest part of the excessively long length here. “Thorn on My Side” is already quite long and the tempo changes are not that used. By the way, the riffage is quite dynamic and surely better than the following “Me, Myself and I” that shows a goodish chorus and a better central break with different riffs and different structures. Steve Souza is very good at vocals and he tries to be always nasty, powerful and childish. Well, he achieved the goal and I like his style a lot. The production, as you can imagine, is very good and typical of the beginning of the 90s, in order to give power to the crunchy guitar tone.

The quite hard and massive guitars work on the riffs is undeniable, but the problem is that often the riffs are always the same and after awhile the risk is to fall into boredom. The title track is more of the same but the middle section is remarkable for the good lead lines and the guitars solos to add atmosphere. “Bitch” is a Rolling Stone cover and its presence could be easily thrown away. The structures are, as you can imagine, totally different and the trumpets sound in some parts is just irritating. The catchiness is the main word and that’s normal but I really don’t like this track. “Fuel for the Fire” is even longer than the previous songs but shows also the very first fast parts! The bass drums are far faster and the snare is on up tempo. The riffs go back to 1989 and this is perfect to break a bit the monotonous groove tempo. However, don’t expect another “Piranha” because there’s always the mixing of fast to far less impulsive moments.

“One Foot in the Grave” is utterly slow and groove. The only different section is the one of the guitars solos: the atmosphere is different and the riffs change to sustain a different sound. “Count Your Blessing” is definitely faster and that is perfect. The galloping riffs are once more there to create insanity in my headbanging and bring the listener to life. As always, don’t expect continuing fast parts but surely the structures are more dynamic and aggressive. Here Exodus really demonstrates they can still play hard. “Climb Before the Fall” has the typical stop and go riffs by the guitars and the return to mid-paced, grooving tempo. Actually, as I said before, this kind of groove is quite tolerable for me because it has still the thrash metal distortion along with few other elements.

“Architect of Pain” is a truly long song with its 11 minutes. The tempo is once again mid-paced with good lead lines parts by the guitars. Well, there’s no variation and this is too heavy to digest. “When It Rains It Pours” has a more compact and direct progression but nothing spectacular and at this point I’m turning a bit tired due to the excessive length and the always identical style of tempo and riffs. “Good Day to Die” has a country beginning with more mid-paced riffs and slow beats. The chorus is well-recognizable but…oh my…I’m too tired. “Pump It Up” is another useless cover to increase the length and nothing more. Yes, some restarts are faster but stop it…

“Feeding Time at the Zoo” is the last chapter of this long, long album. After the funny intro, the tempo is finally fast and this shows the Exodus greatness when it comes on the speed. The riffs are fast, dynamic and the band seems far more charged to destroy everything. This last track woke me up immediately thanks to the sheer violence. Thanks! At least there’s something really thrash here! By the way, without joking, this album is not bad at all but it’s too long to feature continuing mid-paced parts and groove riffs. The production is very good but sometimes it’s not enough and I would have preferred a more various album (to notice that I haven’t said “fast”). That could have been enough for me, for example like the huge The Years of Decay album by Overkill that is a perfect example of technical, not that fast, thrash metal.

It's 1992, and thrash is on it's last legs, this would be the start of grunge, but still, some bands managed to still release some solid albums, Exodus being one of them, as proven with "Impact is Immiment" in 1990.

Now this album takes a different direction, it's still thrash, but it's more midpaced/groove, it can be compared to Testament's "The Ritual", it's like nothing Exodus released before.

The production is absolutely amazing, if I could change it today, I would not, as everything sounds right in the mix...even the bass.

Another small line-up change for this album, Mike Butler replaces Rob McKillop on this one, and does an admiral job.

Now if I explained all the song, I would be here all day, because theres 15, so I'll mention the ones that I think stand out, first off, the opening track "Thorn in my Side" is a great opener, with a killer sludgy main riff, and it all flows nicely, sets the tone for the rest of the album, next, the title track, this just shreds, this is more like Impact is Imminent, great chorus and a shredding solo.

"Fuel for the Fire" Has some great catchy leads and riffs, and great vocals as always by "Zetro", next off is "One Foot in the Grave" this is a really slow, grinding tune, kind of like the title track on Testament's "The Ritual" and it's heavy as all hell, with another great solo.

"Architect of Pain" Now this, I think, is the best song on here hands down, it features some great melodic leads, and it changes tempo quite a bit throughout, and it has time to, as it's 11 minutes long, the song itself is a journey, the longest song Exodus ever did, "Good Day to Die" is very different, Zetro's vocals change in this one, from a more clean sound, to his more known raspy snarl, but it works well.

Last is the closer "Telepathetic" as you probably guessed, it's against telepathic related things, it's pretty fast throughout, with alot of riot shouted vocals.

Now, theres other good songs on here, but there are too many to list off, bottom line, if you like, say Testament's "The Ritual" then you should like this, you need to have an open mind, they tried something different with this album, and it worked for me.

Thanks to Chris Tsangarides who did the production on Painkiller (need I mention the band?) Exodus have released one of the deadliest sounding albums I've ever heard...listen to those EMG's crunch! When I say deadly, I mean deadly...this disc killed my stereo system in my car back when I was in high school. Lesson to be learned...Exodus are a force to be reckoned with mother fuckers! This was their last album to be released on Capitol records before being dropped by the label and pretty much vanishing for the next 5 years.
For some reason, unknown to me...this album gets very little recognition as being a great album. Everyone always seems to say, "Exodus...oh yeah, bonded by blood, or Fabulous Disaster". Are those albums great, YES, but by point of fact, everything that this band does is great...As far as I'm concerned this is the most mature sounding Exodus album of all time, the musicianship is top notch...especially from Gary and Rick who are undoubtebly the best guitar duo in the history of Thrash Metal. This album also marks the first time that Zetro ever did any clean style vocals (see Good Day To Die), and he executes them perfectly with melody and creative feel that is both rich and textured.
No point in breaking down every song, since every song is worthy to be heard. Aquire this album wherever you can find it...your metal collection is simply not complete without it.

This is the last full length studio album that Exodus have released...and really is quite good. My first impression by the opening riff on Thorn in My Side is to scream "Thrash!!!"..and for the most part...that is the proper way to go...but the album is a bit on the hard rock side...let me try and explain. In a way...the style of Thrash greatly reminds me of Overkills style of Thrash...a product that isn't too intense (but nonetheless substantially intense)..but is full of power and pure energy...you know...Thrash that rocks. But in another way...this album reminds of bands like Skid Row...no...not the rocker ballads...pop in "Slave to the Grind" and you will understand what kind of rocking metal style I mean. Anyways, this album is just a rocking Thrash album...not insanely intense and in your face like their early stuff...but full of power nonetheless.

The album starts out with killer riffs like I said...and continues to pound out some pretty awesome riffs throughout the album. The guitar tone is a bit questionable though...at times it seems fitting...but for the most part is a quite a bit bass heavy and can get a little bit iritating at certain points (EDIT - The tone isn't really bad at all once you listen to a few songs...it really works for the album and its heavy riffing that comes into full effect around track number 5 or 6 and hits a peak at "Architect of Pain"). The vocals can also get a little bit iritating as Souza has a tendency to be a little bit weak and unpowerful at times...though he does quite well of this album. Good soloing and pretty decent lyric writing...creative melodies also...so for the weaknesses of this album..they are made up for well.

The best songs on the album are probably Thorn in My Side, Fuel for the Fire, Count Your Blessings...infact I am listeing to CYB right now and this song is absolutely fucking crushing man....I would rank this with some of the best Exodus songs....also add Architect of Pain to that list of great Exodus songs...this song is absolutely awesome...reminds me of Deliver Us to Evil...anyways....most songs on this album are actually pretty damn good...with the exception of the cover of the Rolling Stones - Bitch...which isn't bad..just doesn't really suite my fancy or mesh with the album as well as another song would have...although it does mesh simi-well. As I listen to this album I am really noticing how well it flows from each song to the next. There are a ton of awesome tracks on this cd. At first listen it might be a little tough to stomach though...but even if you compare it to...lets say "Bonded By Blood" I don't think it will take very long for anyone who is into Thrash or Metal in general to appreciate it. This is one of those high end good...but not great Thrash albums that are overlooked...there seems to be an absolute plethora of those.

This album is heavy, musically intelligent, well-produced, and well written. FULL OF FUCKING HEAVY ASS CREATIVE RIFFING!!!! If you are even a remote fan of Exodus you should own this...and if you are a fan of Overkill's work..then you will appreciate this album....since Souza sounds a lot like Blitz..especially on this album...and since the approach they take to this album is very similar to Overkills approach to Metal...comparable to "Horrorscope" in my opinion. A very safe buy for any Metal Head.

One day I was at Record Exchange looking for a good haul. I meet this guy who was my age but during the 80's and totally into thrash metal. He recomended me this album. I was a little leery at first cause I heard so many bad things about it. Well I bought it and at first I didn't really care for it. But the other day I got it off the shelf and decided to give it another spin. This album has got some fucking killer riffs. It definitly isnt like there earlier album, Bonded by Blood. But thrash was starting to die off in the 90's and bands were having trouble staying true. The album starts off with Thorn in My Side. This song gots some good heavy riffin some good singing. The song definitly sets the tone for the rest of the album displaying a good try for thrash but just not. Me, Myself & I has a kick ass intro... but the chorus lacks a bit, still a good song. I'm going to skip through the album cause "most" of the songs are good but not worth a whole lot of mentioning. Good Day to Die has a very awesome acoustic intro, probably my favorite song on this album. Feeding Time at the Zoo tries to be thrash, doesnt quite succed but the funny lyrics makes a good mix for the song. There really are some weak songs on here. The song Bitch mixes some kind of groove rock with brass instruments and totally doesn't work. Pump It Up would be another song I would say is weak. Its got this cool bridge riff, but the verse and chorus riffs clash to much with the crappy vocals at this part making it sound terrible. I recomend this album if you really like Exodus, but if your looking for a thrash metal album this isn't for you.