exodus live

"Well basically I'm not going out there 'cos I'm quite scared of the crowds.."

So said one Gary Holt in a video magazine interview back in '89, with his tongue firmly in cheek, one would assume. Funny thing is, it wasn't far from the truth, and indeed his band were equally worthy of a fearsome reputation. It was certainly true back then - I witnessed several of their performances back in the old days, and they are stuff of 'friendly, violent' legend. I have witnessed them several times since that hallowed era, and I am glad to say that some things never change. They have a consistant and brutal recorded output, and thier live shows are every bit as fiery as they always have been. Tonight's show here in Nottingham really is no exception. If anything, this band are EVEN MORE hardcore these days - frontman Rob Dukes is a lunatic legend of startlingly epic proportions - and would easily scare the living shit out of any lesser metal mortals - hell, the guy threw up all over his monitors tonight - real casual - didn't so much as turn a hair. He just carried on. Definitely among the top ten 'most thrash metal' things I've ever seen!

Unfortunately the first song, The Ballad of Leonard and Charles was swathed in a muddy sound, which thankfully subsided in time for a truly blistering rendition of newie Beyond the Pale, and from then on its all systems go. And then some. What followed was a veritable feast of all things Exodus - all delivered with corking precision; Children of a Worthless God, Deathamphetamine, War is my Shepherd, and the classic Piranha all recieved suitably lunatic reactions from the assembled nutty hordes... yours truly included!

However they had left a particularly potent salvo for the encore, coupling Bonded by Blood, title track of their essential debut album, with a song that they had said on numerous occasions that they would never play again, The Toxic Waltz, complete with a vicious crowd 'wall of death' which was quite a feat in a venue this size! Awesome stuff!

Their fearsome reputation is safe. Another lesson in violence is delivered. Long may they reign.

by Rod Boston