Band:	Exodus
Album:	The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A
Style:	Bay Area thrash metal
Release date:	October 23, 2007
A review by:	Baz Anderson

01. A Call To Arms
02. Riot Act
03. Funeral Hymn
04. Children Of A Worthless God
05. As It Was, As It Soon Shall Be
06. The Atrocity Exhibition
07. Iconoclasm
08. The Garden Of Bleeding
09. Bedlam 123

The mighty thrash juggernaut Exodus is back after two years with the first of the two planned "The Atrocity Exhibition" albums, "Exhibit A" and they are here to take no prisoners and make no friends. Exodus has always been about thrash metal, but since the return of these monsters of the genre in 2004 with "Tempo Of The Damned" they have been going from strength to strength as thrash metal rises in popularity once more.

"Exhibit A" launches properly with "Riot Act" and an astounding, razor sharp guitar riff like you have never heard before slices through your ears in true Exodus style. This is as sharp as guitar playing gets, each riff sounding like a razor blade cutting through steel. Fast paced, pounding drums, thundering bass guitar and the howls of Rob Dukes on vocals. The last three years have not been the easiest for Exodus, band member changes always seem to follow the band, but the thing with Exodus is that they keep going just the same as they always have, seemingly regardless of the members. The title track "The Atrocity Exhibition" possesses an almost haunting riff reminiscent of what people would associate with the "devil's music" this is really unlike any sound Exodus have made before. The three tracks after this demonic statement are also three of the best on this modern thrash opus.

Track lengths have grown and grown with Exodus, on an album with eight songs - five of them weigh in at a hefty eight minutes or longer which of course is a great thing if the tracks stay interesting, always have something going on in them and are sure to keep your attention. Unfortunately this is not exactly the case with this offering. "Riot Act", the title track and tracks after that are great songs - the album has its fair share of numbers that will impress, but also it has its share of songs that will leave the listener wishing the band would just pick up the aggression like we know they can do so well. "Funeral Hymn" and "Children Of A Worthless God" are both long songs and together are a significant chunk of the album, yet neither seem particularly inspired or are as extreme as we know Exodus can be. This is off-putting but if you can stay awake through the calm after the original "Riot Act" storm, the reward, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, certainly come towards the end of the album.

Produced by Andy Sneap we know this album will sound good, but the production and sound of the guitars on this album are seismic, probably the sharpest album I have ever heard. Another thing that never fails to disappoint with an Exodus album is Jack Gibson always finding ways of getting his bass guitar heard among the oratory, guitar and drumming assault. This album could not have been produced better.

"The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A" is a fabulous album of galloping, thundering thrash metal in true Exodus style and a good edition to the Exodus catalogue. It may have its placid moments, but this album also has its moments of sheer thrash attack. Alas you cannot help but wonder how much of a classic album it would have been if they had used the best tracks from "Exhibit A" and "Exhibit B" just for one single album. Still, the Exodus juggernaut continues to roll, crushing everything it its path.