History

Open your ears, brace yourself and step into a metal time machine. The date is now 1982. Tom Hunting and Kirk Hammett, followed soon after by Gary Holt, form Exodus. They searched in vain for a frontman to complete their band, until the fateful day Rich Burch introduced them to one Paul Baloff. They became hugely popular amongst the worldwide underground tape trading community, with the first 'Demo' (with Geoff Andrews on bass). Within a couple of years the metal scene is exploding all over the world but the San Francisco Bay Area in particular, is exploding with a new brand of aggressive metal all it's own.

Unquestionably, it was Exodus's innovating song writing and explosive live shows along with their brutally sick attitudes that spawned the Bay Area thrash scene. Exodus was instrumental in pioneering this style of music and soon became the toast of the Bay Area metal scene, in the process inspiring a host of other groups such as Metallica, Testament, Death Angel and Vio-lence (which Rob Flynn would later leave to form Machine Head). "If it wasn't for Exodus there would be no Machine Head," is how Rob Flynn recently evaluated Exodus's immense impact and influence on his bands current musical direction. Metallica were impressed enough by Exodus to recruit Kirk Hammett as the replacement for Dave Mustaine following his departure from the Metallica ranks in 1983. Gary, Paul and Tom forge on and create a whole new world musically, they go through several other guitar players until they find Rick Hunolt and then they add Rob McKillop. The machine is born and they soon become the holy men of metal. Completed nearly a year before it's eventual April 1985 release, Exodus's debut album, 'Bonded by Blood' (originally titled 'A Lesson in Violence'), was a groundbreaking effort that is still being regarded as one of the greatest and most timeless classics the metal genre has ever produced. They set out on tour with Venom and Slayer and leave a path of sick & disgusting, torture and destructive violence.

Personal and musical differences led to Paul Baloff's dismissal before the release of the bands second album 'Pleasures of the Flesh'. This featured new singer Steve "Zetro" Souza (ex-Legacy front man). Legacy later went on to change their name to Testament.

Exodus went on to obtain greater commercial heights with some of their subsequent records ('Pleasures of the Flesh', 'Fabulous Disaster' (1987), 'Impact is Imminent' (1989) and 'Force of Habit' (1992)) and tours (which included gigs with the likes of Pantera, Anthrax, Motörhead, Suicidal Tendencies, Black Sabbath, Celtic Frost, Megadeth, Metallica and Ice T's Body Count.

After experiencing a host of record company and personal problems that added further pressure on the already fragile relations within the band, Exodus eventually split up in 1992, just a short time following the release of their final studio effort entitled 'Force of Habit'.

In late 1996, nearly 13 years after Bonded by Blood was recorded, vocalist Paul Baloff, Gary Holt, Rick Hunolt, Tom Hunting and new bassist Jack Gibson were reunited. On March 8th 1997 at a sold out performance in their hometown of San Francisco the show was recorded and a "live" album was released entitled 'Another Lesson in Violence' and a full tour of Europe and North America followed. After the tours were completed, the band once again went their own ways. Everyone would have to wait until September 2001 for Exodus to reunite again, they came to the aid of "Testaments" Chuck Billy. "The Thrash of the Titans'" the show was a benefit that featured Exodus, Legacy, Anthrax, S.O.D. and Death Angel, after the benefit Exodus begins working on new material for another album and are starting to play more shows again, when on February 2, 2002 Paul Baloff suffers a stroke, which ultimately takes his life. The rest of the band feels compelled to soldier on for Paul.

Launching a search for a new vocalist, it was Souza who ultimately returned to the microphone to help record Exodus' 2004 visceral comeback album, 'Tempo of the Damned'. Produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered by Andy Sneap (Megadeth, Arch Enemy, Kreator etc.) and featuring artwork by Jowita Kaminska, the universal euphoria generated by 'TOTD' (which landed on innumerable "best of 2004" lists in magazines around the world) suggested an invigorating new start for Exodus, but the subsequent exit of Souza, Hunolt, and Hunting within a year depleted the band of three classic members... And the future looked grim.

Yet, in less time than most people have ever seen a band emerge from member loss-induced hibernation, Holt recruited two long-standing musicians who lived and breathed the same Bay Area vitality that flowed in Exodus' blood. On the drum throne, he appointed one of the most highly credentialed metal drummers in the world: ex-Slayer/ex-Forbidden/ex-Testament/ex-Systematic Paul Bostaph. To pick up where Hunolt left off, Holt selected godly Heathen guitarist Lee Altus who admittedly waited 20 years for the invitation to join the band. To replace Souza, a daring choice was made in enlisting a virtually unknown singer: guitar-tech-turned-lead-vocalist Rob Dukes, who had enough hate and vitriolic venom within him to convincingly spit out Holt's murderous lyrics. The internal restructuring skyrocketed Exodus' talent meter, making this a dream line-up for legions of thrash metal fans all over the world.

Produced by Gary Holt, mixed and mastered by Andy Sneap, and armed with the necessary maniacal passion, pain, and conviction to battle adversity, 2005's 'Shovel Headed Kill Machine', Exodus' seventh studio album, upheld the musical veracity of thrash metal's very foundation and pillaged straight ahead like a lead-filled battering ram into the "top 5 albums" year-end poll by Decibel Magazine. It was time for the original drummer Tom Hunting to return to the fold.

Imported from England in the summer of 2007 to re-join Exodus at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California and record what will surely become a career- and genre-defining album was producer Andy Sneap. Featuring artwork by Seth Siron Anton (Vader, Decapitated, Belphegor) and upping the ante for all other thrash metal albums to be released this upcoming year, 'The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A'.

In 2008, the band surprised their fans by re-recording their debut album, and releasing it under the name 'Let There Be Blood'.

(source: the official Exodus website, December 2008, edited by AM)

(discography incomplete)