Band:	Exodus
Album:	Exhibit B: The Human Condition
Style:	Bay Area thrash metal
Release date:	May 2010

01. The Ballad Of Leonard And Charles
02. Beyond The Pale
03. Hammer And Life
04. Class Dismissed (A Hate Primer)
05. Downfall
06. March Of The Sycophants
07. Nanking
08. Burn, Hollywood, Burn
09. Democide
10. The Sun Is My Destroyer
11. A Perpetual State Of Indifference
12. Good Riddance
13. Devil's Teeth [bonus]

With the birth of The Big Four, we have all basked among the glory of albums like Master Of Puppets, Reign in Blood, Peace Sells and Among The Living, and also the tier two bands such as Testament, Death Angel, Overkill, Annihilator and yes, Exodus. The only difference though is that The Big Four started to slowly descend from their holy rankings. Have the tier two bands descended down yet? Not even close.

When I first got this album, it was because of the positive comments on this site. The skepticism I had for this band was another main reason for buying this album, and I was missing out! This is my first enlightenment about Lee Altus Gary Holt's ass kicking, frantic-like style of soloing and riffing such as "Good Riddance" and "Beyond The Pale": nothing like I've ever seen before. You've also got Tom Hunting, with beastly drumming only comparable to Paul Bostaph (who played with Exodus before on 2005's Shovel Headed Kill Machine), you also got Jack Gibson with notable moments in "Downfall" and "Nanking" and finally you have Rob Dukes. Probably the most hated person in Exodus to die-hard fans, actually has made me want to become a singer! The man has aggression written all over him, and with songs like "Burn Hollywood Burn" and "Class Dismissed," it's definitely proven that he is my favorite thrash metal vocalist (no disrespect to Baloff though).

The problem with this album though is that, despite the high praise I give it, all of the songs follow a similar structure: intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, instrumental section (which is done for quite a while), solos, verse, chorus then finally outro. A bit irritating for me, because I like a bit of diversity. I've heard better sound quality too, but it doesn't mean the sound is terrible, it means that there are better albums with better quality (Tales From The Grave In Space is a good example).

So, thanks to this Bay Area band, I've learned to explore other bands and to not quickly judge albums by the first 30 seconds of a song, because Exodus delivers like none other. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get Let There Be Blood.

Notable Songs: Burn Hollywood Burn, Beyond The Pale, Good Riddance, March Of The Sycophants