Exodus is an American
thrash metal band formed in 1980 in
San
Francisco
, California
by guitarist Gary
Holt, current Metallica guitarist
Kirk Hammett, and drummer Tom Hunting.
Spanning a career of almost 30 years, Exodus has gone through
numerous line-up changes, two extended hiatuses and has seen the
deaths of two former band members. With eight studio albums, two
live albums and two compilations, Exodus has released a total of
twelve albums since their debut in 1985. Gary Holt remains the only
steady member of the band, appearing on all their releases. Though
drummer Tom Hunting is one of the founding band members, he has
made two departures from Exodus but is currently the band's active
drummer.
Their eighth studio album,
The Atrocity
Exhibition... Exhibit A was
released on
October 23,
2007 in the United States and
October 26,
2007 in Europe.
Their most recent album is
Let
There be Blood, which came out in 2008 and is a
rerecording of their debut,
Bonded
by Blood.
History
Founding and Debut (1982 - 1985)
In 1982, Exodus included Kirk Hammett and Gary Holt on guitars,
Paul Baloff on lead vocals, Jeff Andrews on bass and drummer Tom
Hunting. This lineup recorded the band's
1982 Demo.
In 1983, founding member Kirk Hammett left Exodus to join
Metallica and was replaced by guitarist Rick
Hunolt and Rob McKillop replaced Andrews on bass. This line-up
recorded and released their debut album,
Bonded by Blood in 1985.
"Pleasures" to "Violent Fun" (1986 - 1991)
Shortly before the recording of
Pleasures of the Flesh in 1987,
Paul Baloff was replaced by
Steve "Zetro"
Souza, who had previously been the lead vocalist for the San
Francisco band Legacy (later
Testament). Baloff later went on to form
the band Piranha.
Exodus' line-up remained fairly stable for the next few albums but
the band never garnered the success of their peers. After two
studio releases (
Fabulous
Disaster and
Impact is
Imminent) the band released their first live effort,
Good Friendly Violent
Fun.
"Force of Habit" to the hiatus (1991 - 1998)
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 probably the
slowest song Exodus ever recorded.
After a few dormant years, Exodus released only 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.
Rise, Fall, Rise Again (2001 - 2004)
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' 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.
2005 - present
In 2005, Hunolt decided to leave the band to concentrate on his
family life. He was replaced by
Heathen guitarist
Lee
Altus. Tom Hunting also left, citing strong personal objections
over some of Holt's anti-Christian lyrics. Hunting was replaced
with
Paul Bostaph who had previously
played with
Forbidden,
Slayer and
Testament.
Souza also left under disputed terms in 2005. Rumors swirled that
the reason for Steve Souza's departure was a dispute during a show
in New Jersey. Sources say that three minors ran away from home to
attend the show and the band was notified and was well aware of
this before their set. Souza insisted that the police should be
notified but the band let it slide and went on with the show; this
apparently led to Souza's departure. He was replaced intitially by
Steev Esquivel (ex-
Defiance and
Skinlab) and then later by Rob Dukes whose
first recorded performance for the band is 2005's
Shovel Headed Kill Machine
The ensuing tour for the latest album has led to extensive touring
of the US and Europe, as well as Japan, their first-ever visit to
Australia and much more. Tom Hunting returned to the band in March
2007.
The band released their 8th studio album,
The Atrocity
Exhibition... Exhibit A, in late
2007 and performed at Wacken Open Air
Festival in the summer of 2008.
The band have completed work on a re-recording of their 1985 debut
album, "Bonded by Blood". Gary Holt has released the following
statement about the band's decision to revisit their debut
album:
"After many years in the planning and discussion stage, we have
finally completed the re-recording of 'Bonded By Blood'. We have
decided to call it 'Let There Be Blood' and it is our way of paying
homage to [original, late singer] Paul Baloff by showing how
relevant these songs we had written together still are. We aren't
trying to replace the original; that's impossible anyway. We are
just giving these songs the benefit of modern production. It's
something we talked about before Paul's death and it's always been
important to us to do. We were super excited about entering the
studio once again to record these classics, and now it's back to
writing the next studio record!"
"
The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit B" is
anticipating a 2010 release.
In April 2009, Exodus embarked on a co-headlining North American
tour headlined by
Kreator, featuring
Belphegor,
Warbringer, and Epicurean.
Members
Current members
- Rob Dukes – Vocals – 2005-present
- Gary Holt – Guitars –
1980-present
- Lee Altus – Guitars –
2005-present
- Jack Gibson – Bass – 1997-present
- Tom Hunting – Drums – 1980–1989 /
1997–2004 / 2007-present
Former members appearing on studio albums
Vocals
Guitars
Bass
Drums
Former Members (not appearing on studio albums)
Vocals
Guitars
- Kirk Hammett -- 1980-1983 (recorded
1982 Demo)
- Tim Agnello -- 1980-1981
- Mike Maung—1983
- Evan McCaskey—1983 (deceased)
Bass
- Carlton Melson—1980-1981
- Geoff Andrews—1981-1983 (recorded 1982 Demo)
Drums
Discography
Demos
Singles & EPs
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilation albums
External links
Wikis
Quiz
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