Where is everyone?
Like Biomechanical, Exodus suffered from the same venue afflictions which seriously put dampeners on their performance. But like true experienced metal heads they got off a plane, only five hours before performance time, and played a show. The obligatory intro tape saw the band kick straight into 'Bonded by Blood' to the delight of the rather sparse crowd. For a band that commands a lot of respect in the rock media, both for their early material and excellent reunion releases, the turn out was pretty poor. This didn't stop the band's performance however, as they followed the opening track with the awesome 'Raze' from the new album 'Shovel Headed Kill Machine.'
I was initially sceptical about new vocalist 'Rob Dukes.' His performance on Exodus's new album was adequate but it wasn't in the same league as Steve Souza's vocals on 'Tempo of the Damned.' But tonight he convinced, not only myself, but perhaps the on looking punters that he was a great choice to replace Souza. His vocals were excellent and suited the music perfectly. His spit and rasp was almost laced with venom as he ripped through 'Scar Spangled Banner' and 'Last Act of Defiance.' He's bypassed the barbers and avoided the electric shaver over the past 12 months causing him to look strangely like Jamie Hooper from 3 Inches of Blood. He looked the part of a thrash metal vocalist and, for this reviewer at least, was the highlight of the Exodus performance.
The band played a good mix of old and new material, plucking 'Piranha' and 'Brain Dead' from the early years, and blasting 'Blacklist' and '44 Magnum Opus' from post reunion albums. Sadly, apart from 'Blacklist' most of the songs were of the same ilk, and with the trashiness of the sound there was little to differentiate between the songs. Gary Holt's ego couldn't keep itself in its place and jumped on the microphone for some crowd banter, but Dukes was doing an admirable job by himself, and Holt's interjection just left embarrassed silences and stumbled any flow the band managed to create. Exodus finally chugged out the set highlight 'Death Amphetamine' and would have made a brilliant concert closer, but after this immense song the only way was down. Because of 'Death Amphetamines' the rest of the set seemed to drag towards the end, perhaps over staying its welcome by twenty minutes, however 'War is my Shepherd' livened up the crowd somewhat as they encores came and went. It wasn't a slick performance by any stretch of the imagination, the sound was poor and the set was a little samey, but even with all these factors Exodus still managed to deliver the goods. Great songs and great individual performances won the day and I can't wait to see them again but in a bigger and better venue, let's hope the Manchester Metal Contingent remember to turn up next time.