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Exodus - Exhibit B: The Human Condition review



Reviewer:
7.7

477 users:
8.02
Band: Exodus
Album: Exhibit B: The Human Condition
Style: Bay Area thrash metal
Release date: May 07, 2010
A review by: BitterCOld


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]

So Exodus is back, again, with Exhibit B: The Human Condition after a relatively short (for them) layoff. The Bay Area Bashers have returned doing what they do best, wreaking havoc and crushing skulls.

The H&H Guitar tandem (this time, Holt and Heathen's Lee Altus) have concocted some monstrously crushing riffs and shredding leads. Jack Gibson provides some great support on bass, Tom Hunting treats his kit like I treat my monkey (he often misbehaves and I must spank him frequently) and the band's third front man, Rob Dukes froths and spits at the mic with fantastic venom, bile, and power... cementing his place as an equal to the monstrous combat boots of his predecessors.

In short, every conceivable component you could hope for in an Exodus (or any Thrash) album is present in droves. Plenty of droves. In fact, too much droves. And that is one of this album's two biggest drawbacks.

The first is "droves". It's seven hours long. Okay, maybe not seven hours, but it feels like it. It's one thing for a doom band kicking out the jams at 5bpm to record a 70+ minute album. It's another for a band with the madcap adrenaline of an Exodus to put one out. It's a test of mental and physical endurance to get through this album on one pass. While they deserve a lot of credit for giving listeners the max (literal) bang for the buck, sometimes, as that horns-tossing metal dude Shakespeare once quoth, "Brevity is the soul of Thrash"... there is a reason the genre's best (Reign In Blood, Bonded By Blood, Peace Sells Blood, Master Of Blood, Eternal Bloodmare, and Darkness Descends... In Blood) all clock in in the 30-40 minute range. It's that everyone needs to visit the little girl's room to take a powder and catch their breath after flailing around the club/dance floor/their room like a crackhead after a fix.

And the shorter the album, the easier it is to be impressed to the point of saying "WHOA! That was awesome! Let's play that again!"

Less Filler. All Killer.

The other is inconsistency. Some tracks are killer, such as "Beyond The Pale" and "Class Dismissed". Others feel a bit like filler, as in "Hammer and Life" and "Democide". With so much material to work with, it seems to yours truly that cutting 70 minutes of bruising material (and even the "B" material of B is bruising) into 40 would have created a legendary thrash album.

That all stated, when Exodus are on, they are ON... full throttle, full bottle. No fucking mercy. This album should be shipped immediately to Team Metallica and the Slayer Squad (and Megadave and whoever the fuck makes up Anthrax this week, just to be safe) as this is how a modern thrash album should sound. The production is fantastic and combined with the execution of the band members, (their playing, not their beheading!) the end result is this album kicks the listeners ass like World Painted Magnetic could only dream of.

"Beyond The Pale", "Class Dismissed" and the fantastic closer, perfect for the spot, "Good Riddance" treat the listener like Mel Gibson treats his ex-mistresses.

And, finally, my favorite track. I just want to say, I fucking hate Los Angeles. I loathe it. A metro area greater in size/populations than some countries chock full of pLAstic people with pLAstic ambitions. "It's not who you are, it's who you know." "What you drive determines who you drive home." Virtually every negative stereotype of Americans can be directed at the vacuous wastes of flesh that live in 902XX... I honestly believe the Earth would be a better place when "The Big One" (that's an earthquake for those unfamiliar with the tectonic habits of the region) finally hits and dumps that shit hole of botox and plastic to the bottom of the ocean. The average Barbie doll contains more humanity than the average Los Angelino. Fuck 'em. Fuck the lot of 'em.

That said and done, "Burn, Hollywood, Burn" is not only my favorite track on the album, but comes dangerously close to catching such stalwarts as "Toxic Waltz" and "Bonded By Blood" as my fave Exodus song of all time. It's my new anthem.

Seriously. If the "buy this reviewer a beer" function worked... and you bastards actually clicked it from time to time, I would bump all proceeds to help score the band some hookers and blow just for this track. Fuck Hollywood, Hail Exodus.

So there you have it, my review of Exodus' latest. If yer a fan, you probably already got it, and if not, I have to question why you clicked the link in the first place, and must urge you go out and hit up the local record store for whatever Exodus they have.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 7
Originality: 6
Production: 9





Written on 10.07.2010 by BitterCOld has been officially reviewing albums for MetalStorm since 2009.

Guest review by
ProjectEndgame
Rating:
8.7
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.

Read more ››
published 27.11.2010 | Comments (14)


Comments

Comments: 26   [ 1 ignored ]   Visited by: 408 users
10.07.2010 - 10:43
Rating: 7
vezzy
Stallmanite
I usually dislike these kinds of reviews, but nice job. Except the "droves" overexaggeration.
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10.07.2010 - 12:49
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Paragraphs Mr. COLD! Paragraphs!
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10.07.2010 - 16:11
Rating: 8
Ag Fox
Angel No More
Elite
Sums up everything nicely. *thumbs up*
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loves 小巫
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10.07.2010 - 19:15
Got Mayhem?
Burn , Hollywood, Burn is indeed one hell of a song. It constantly puts my neck in serious danger of snapping off. Absolutely correct about the length of this album as well. It isn't that thrash can't have long songs and still be brilliant ( Vektor are one of the best examples), it's just that it doesn't really work with this kind of thrash.
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10.07.2010 - 19:20
Rating: 7
Daggon
Underpaid M.D.
This is one of the greatest reviews I've ever read here in Metal Storm, fuck those boring and soulless reviews!

As you said, they all are masters in what they do, I mean, no one, really NO ONE can play like Gary Holt, his guitar riffing is the band's trademark, add Lee Altus to the equation and you got deadly package more dangerous than Tango & Cash.

Gibson and Hunting are great as always in the album. And I'd like to give my sincere congratulations to Rob Dukes, I think he is getting better and better with each album, now he really sounds like a fucking Exodus singer!

And as you said Mr. BitterCold "Less Filler, All Killer", 70 minutes! 70 freaking minutes!!! Really, I don't know why they write long songs, why do you write a 7 minute song when you can write a 4 minute unforgettable anthem? I really don't know.

Amazing review! You made my day with this
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"Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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10.07.2010 - 19:28
His Eminence
Account deleted
Great review. I agree with pretty much everything here.
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10.07.2010 - 20:06
Rating: 7
vezzy
Stallmanite
Written by Daggon on 10.07.2010 at 19:20

This is one of the greatest reviews I've ever read here in Metal Storm, fuck those boring and soulless reviews!

As you said, they all are masters in what they do, I mean, no one, really NO ONE can play like Gary Holt, his guitar riffing is the band's trademark, add Lee Altus to the equation and you got deadly package more dangerous than Tango & Cash.

Gibson and Hunting are great as always in the album. And I'd like to give my sincere congratulations to Rob Dukes, I think he is getting better and better with each album, now he really sounds like a fucking Exodus singer!

And as you said Mr. BitterCold "Less Filler, All Killer", 70 minutes! 70 freaking minutes!!! Really, I don't know why they write long songs, why do you write a 7 minute song when you can write a 4 minute unforgettable anthem? I really don't know.

Amazing review! You made my day with this

I take it you aren't a big fan of Herzebeth's reviews.
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Relinquish proprietary software for a greater GNU/America.
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11.07.2010 - 00:25
oroboros
Written by vezzy on 10.07.2010 at 20:06

Written by Daggon on 10.07.2010 at 19:20

This is one of the greatest reviews I've ever read here in Metal Storm, fuck those boring and soulless reviews!

As you said, they all are masters in what they do, I mean, no one, really NO ONE can play like Gary Holt, his guitar riffing is the band's trademark, add Lee Altus to the equation and you got deadly package more dangerous than Tango & Cash.

Gibson and Hunting are great as always in the album. And I'd like to give my sincere congratulations to Rob Dukes, I think he is getting better and better with each album, now he really sounds like a fucking Exodus singer!

And as you said Mr. BitterCold "Less Filler, All Killer", 70 minutes! 70 freaking minutes!!! Really, I don't know why they write long songs, why do you write a 7 minute song when you can write a 4 minute unforgettable anthem? I really don't know.

Amazing review! You made my day with this

I take it you aren't a big fan of Herzebeth's reviews.

lol
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11.07.2010 - 01:36
Rating: 8
Kwis
Compared to Mr Dukes, Mr Mustaine and Mr Hetfield (post 2000's) really do sound like 3rd grade vocalists. It's scary how heavy this sounds in comparison with Death Magnetic.
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11.07.2010 - 02:54
frankeli
Account deleted
It is a killer album. The perfect blend of chopping riffs and melody. In my opinion, it deserves a much higher ranking.
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11.07.2010 - 18:03
Rating: 7
K✞ulu
Seeker of Truth
I agree with most points... indeed, why the heck did they make the album that long? After reading the review I decided to give it a listen again, and I've got to say that it actually does kick ass. Just great thrash assault; a treat to my ears.
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Savor what you feel and what you see
Things that may not seem important now
But may be tomorrow

R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner

Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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11.07.2010 - 20:30
Rating: 9
BudDa
Elite
Probably, it would be safe to listen to this album in bits. Theres tons of stuff in here to make me wet my pants for a whole week. The shorter tracks esp Devil's teeth and Burn Hollywood Burn are superb. Some longer tracks need time getting into but they are still fantansic when listened to time and again. I also quite like Democide

Nice review BitterCold
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Freeze! Step away from the hubris.
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11.07.2010 - 21:09
Rating: 8
sbgmetal
I do believe this album was way awesome and way heavy! fav tracks are the first two and the sun is my destroyer the rest is also very good... i also dont believe that the long songs are a bad thing its almost like having a thrash journey of heavy fast riffs and solos
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12.07.2010 - 00:26
Rating: 7
Daggon
Underpaid M.D.
Written by vezzy on 10.07.2010 at 20:06

I take it you aren't a big fan of Herzebeth's reviews.

I do love Herzebeth's reviews, but oh well, he left the site a long time ago, so I haven't seen a review like this in a while
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"Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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16.07.2010 - 07:42
Rating: 8
BitterCOld
The Ancient One
Admin
Written by Daggon on 10.07.2010 at 19:20

Amazing review! You made my day with this

thanks for the compliments. i was pretty drunk (and jacked up on the actual album) when i wrote it. glad to see it well received!
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get the fuck off my lawn.

Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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18.07.2010 - 20:48
DoomGuard
This is probably one of the funniest, and most entertaining reviews on this site. The droves exaggeration was hysterical, the Hollywood bit was funny, and you described everything so well. I'm a big fan of Exodus, and am ashamed I don't have this album yet. But I'm definitely going out to get it now!
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20.07.2010 - 03:39
Dream Taster
The Enemy Within
Staff
Written by DoomGuard on 18.07.2010 at 20:48

This is probably one of the funniest, and most entertaining reviews on this site. The droves exaggeration was hysterical, the Hollywood bit was funny, and you described everything so well. I'm a big fan of Exodus, and am ashamed I don't have this album yet. But I'm definitely going out to get it now!

I second that big time. That review made my day (in unrelated news, my life is pathetic).
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05.02.2011 - 21:03
Rating: 8
DirkLizzard
Great review., I fully agree, though 'The Sun is My Destroyer' is my favourite song.

And hey, if "The Big One" doesn't show up, you can always drive around Hollywood with your windows down and this monster roaring from your speakers. I'm sure the plastic people will get a headache from that .
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I really want to here some intelligent melodic technical brutal shredding relieved by some serene atmospheric unsettling moments
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03.03.2011 - 14:32
Rating: 8
VloRD
Awesome Review, 'Class dismissed' was my favorite song
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17.07.2011 - 03:11
Mattybu
Very good review. Not only was it funny, it got the point across very well. Burn, Hollywood, Burn is one of my favourite songs as well
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13.10.2011 - 22:55
Lit.
Account deleted
Agreed that the length kills what could've made this a damn fine album, but it's got a lot of awesome bits like Burn, Hollywood, Burn; Beyond the Pale; and my personal fav, The Ballad of Leonard and Charles.
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18.11.2011 - 05:13
sepulkisser
Awesome album!
To me 10... like all Exodus album!!!:banger2:
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18.11.2011 - 06:26
Rating: 8
BitterCOld
The Ancient One
Admin
Written by sepulkisser on 18.11.2011 at 05:13


To me 10... like all Exodus album!!!:banger2:

aren't you a discerning, well spoken, fan.
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get the fuck off my lawn.

Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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24.02.2012 - 11:03
Valentin B
Iconoclast
I love Beyond the Pale, totally ripping thrash, with some obscene lyrics.
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22.01.2013 - 16:06
Rating: 6
Kuroboshi
If they chopped 2 mins off each song, it would be a nice album.
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07.08.2014 - 23:24
Zap
Holy shit, why did I never read this review? It might be the best one I've ever read on Metal Storm.
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