Exodus (band)

Exodus

Exodus is an American thrash metal band formed in 1980 in the San Francisco Bay Area, California by guitarist Gary Holt, current Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett, and drummer Tom Hunting.

Spanning a career of 30 years, Exodus has gone through numerous lineup changes, two extended hiatuses, and the deaths of two former band members. With nine studio albums, two live albums and two compilations, Exodus has released a total of thirteen albums since their debut in 1985. Gary Holt remains the only constant member of the band, appearing on all their releases. Drummer Tom Hunting is one of the founding members, and departed from the band twice but has since returned to the lineup. Their most recent album is Exhibit B: The Human Condition, released in 2010.

History

Formation (1980–1982)

In 1980, Kirk Hammett met El Cerrito resident Paul Baloff at a North Berkeley house party, a friendship that was started - according to aspiring guitarist Hammett - by both's admiration for punk rock and 1970's heavy metal music. With intentions to start a band based on these influences, Hammett recruited his Richmond and El Sobrante-area friends Tim Agnello on second guitar and Tom Hunting on drums. Initial bassist Carlton Melson would soon be replaced by Jeff Andrews. Before deciding the band name "Exodus" or any songwriting had completed, Agnello would leave the group (and music) forever to pursue a life of ministry in Stockton, California, and would be replaced by Hammett's guitar technician, Gary Holt.

Early years (1982–1991)

By 1982, Exodus' line-up consisted of Kirk Hammett and Gary Holt on guitars, Paul Baloff on lead vocals, Jeff Andrews on bass and Tom Hunting on drums, and recorded a demo cassette. It would be Hammett's only recorded contribution with Exodus, and Jeff Andrews would leave immediately after the tape to start an early incarnation of pioneering death metal band, Possessed, in 1983. The same year, Hammett left Exodus to join Metallica and was replaced by guitarist Rick Hunolt, while Rob McKillop replaced Andrews on bass. This line-up recorded and released their debut album, Bonded by Blood in 1985. Audio engineering college student Mark Whitaker, who had attended high school with Paul Baloff, oversaw management and record production for the band at the time.

Shortly after the recording of Bonded by Blood, Paul Baloff was fired from the band and replaced by Steve "Zetro" Souza, who had previously been the lead vocalist for Legacy (an early incarnation of Testament). Baloff later went on to form the band Piranha.

Exodus' line-up remained fairly stable for the next few albums, and the underground success sustained with "Bonded" would lead to the group's signing to Sony/Combat Records, who respectively distributed the band's second effort, Pleasures Of The Flesh, in 1987. Although receptively mixed by both fans and music critics, the group's third album, Fabulous Disaster would be met by more positive regard, with the music video for song The Toxic Waltz getting consistent rotation on MTV's Headbanger's Ball in 1989.

After 1990's Impact is Imminent, the band released their first live effort, Good Friendly Violent Fun.

Force of Habit, hiatus, and reformation (1991–2004)

After the release of Good Friendly Violent Fun, the band toured sporadically for a year and released another studio album, Force of Habit. This album was a departure for the band, containing several slower, "heavier" songs with less emphasis on the speed/thrash basis of their older material. The 11-minute song "Architect of Pain", is a good example of the change of direction, being a much slower, grindier song than the usual high speed thrash they were known for. After a few dormant years, Exodus released another live album in 1997 titled Another Lesson in Violence and featuring the return of vocalist Paul Baloff. Exodus disintegrated again, partly due to a falling out with record label Century Media over the way the live album was promoted, and over an aborted attempt at a live concert video which was filmed but never released due to a financial dispute.

In 2001, Exodus reformed again, initially to play the Chuck Billy benefit, the Thrash of the Titans mega concert. There was talk of recording a new studio album and the band continued to play local gigs in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. In February 2002, Paul Baloff suffered a seizure/stroke and died. Former vocalist Steve Souza was recruited back into the band to finish the rest of their concert commitments. Although it appeared to outsiders that with Baloff's death Exodus would cease to exist, guitarist Gary Holt was determined to release a new studio record. The result was 2004's Tempo of the Damned released on Nuclear Blast Records. An oddity of the recording sessions was that one track, "Crime Of The Century", was dropped under mysterious circumstances. The song chronicled Exodus's time under Century Media (of which Nuclear Blast is a subsidiary). Although it was publicly denied, rumors swirled that Century Media forced the song off the record. "Crime" was replaced with "Impaler"; a song written back when Kirk Hammett was still in the band, and which was featured on the Another Lesson In Violence live record.

Band members

Current members

• Rob Dukes – vocals (2005-present)
• Gary Holt – guitars (1980-1993, 1997-1998, 2001-present)
• Lee Altus – guitars (2005-present)
• Jack Gibson – bass (1997-1998, 2001-present)
• Tom Hunting – drums (1980-1989, 1997-1998, 2001-2004, 2007-present)

Former members

• Paul Baloff – vocals (1981-1986, 1997-1998, 2001-2002)
• Steve Souza – vocals (1986-1993, 2002-2004)
• Rick Hunolt – guitars (1983-1993, 1997-1998, 2001-2005)
• Rob McKillop – bass (1983-1991)
• John Tempesta – drums (1989-1993)
• Kirk Hammett – guitars (1980-1983)
• Paul Bostaph – drums (2005-2007)
• Jeff Andrews – bass (1980-1983)
• Michael Butler – bass (1992-1993)
• Keith Stewart – vocals (1980-1981)
• Chris Kontos – drums (1993)
• Evan McCaskey – guitars (1983)
• Matt Harvey – vocals (2004)
• Steev Esquivel – vocals (2004)
• Tim Agnello – guitars (1980)
• Carlton Melson – bass (1980)
• Mike Maung – guitars (1983)
• Gannon Hall – drums (1993)
• Perry Strickland – drums (1989)

Discography

For all releases, see Exodus discography.

• Bonded by Blood (1985)
• Pleasures of the Flesh (1987)
• Fabulous Disaster (1988 in Europe, and 1989 by Combat/Relativity Records in the United States)
• Impact is Imminent (1990)
• Force of Habit (1992)
• Tempo of the Damned (2004)
• Shovel Headed Kill Machine (2005)
• The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A (2007)
• Let There Be Blood (2008)
• Exhibit B: The Human Condition (2010)

External links

• Official site
• Official MySpace page
• Exodus – Gary Holt interview @ Metalfan.ro – English