As of March 20, 2026 we have a brand new album from one of my all-time favorite bands Exodus!!!! I have been looking forward to this album for quite a while, and I’m not gonna get too much into it. Let’s take a look…….
Bonded By Blood- this is it. This is the one that started it all. Someone would say this is one of the greatest thrash albums ever made. Now while I do agree, it’s a very good album, especially musically, it’s the vocals. I’m really not the biggest fan of Paul Baloff’s vocals. Again, I know this is considered one of their best and it’s certainly a fan favorite but it’s really the vocals that kill it for me. Even the production on the remastered edition still isn’t the greatest but again it’s a classic and for a good reason.
Previous Score: 8/10
New Score: 7.5/10
Standouts: Piranha, A Lesson In Violence, Strike of the Beast
Pleasures Of The Flesh- so here we have the very first album with Steve Zetro Souza and you can clearly tell that this band was meant to be taken seriously. I feel like for as great as the last album is this one just definitely steps up the game by a lot. The songs are more cohesive, the band is tighter and musically it’s badass. Definitely a great second album and a great first album for Zetro.
Previous Score: 9/10
New Score: 8.5/10
Standouts: Deranged, Faster Than You’ll Ever Live To Be, Parasite
Fabulous Disaster- here is where I feel like Exodus finally found their groove. Meant to say the last two albums weren’t great, but if you ask me out of the three, this one is probably their best. They’re just tighter and dial everything up to 11 and to be honest, I would say this is one of the fan favorites. It certainly has quite a few of their classics and it’s for good reason. I do remember seeing the video for the song “Toxic Waltz” a lot on VH1.
Previous Score: 10/10
New Score: 10/10
Standouts: Fabulous Disaster, Last Act of Defiance, Cajun Hell
Impact Is Imminent- man I forgot how freaking heavy this album is!! Like seriously the guitar tone is so damn heavy and this is absolutely one of their overlooked albums. I think I read somewhere or heard in an interview that Gary Holt used a metal guitar pick because he wanted this to be as metal as possible. It really is too bad that this album doesn’t get more love because there are some really great songs here. Hopefully someday they can play songs off of this live but definitely one of their most underrated records.
Previous Score: 10/10
New Score: 9/10
Standouts: Impact is Imminent, A.W.O.L., Lunatic Parade
Force Of Habit- i’ve heard that this album is what would be considered the “throw away” record and that’s actually really too bad. No I don’t think this record is bad by any means but it just sounds very dated. Like when you listen to this, it sounds very 90s and I suppose this band as well as their peers all put out an album like this. I feel like you could bring up pretty much any one of their records and if you mention this one, most people would probably be like “huh?” “What?” I don’t know again it’s not a bad record it just sounds very 90s and some might say it doesn’t really hold up, but I still think it would be cool if a few songs made it into their live set. One thing to note is that this album came out in 1992 and it would be their last album of original material until 2004.
Previous Score: 7/10
New Score: 7.5/10
Standouts: Thorn in My Side, Bitch, Feeding Time At The Zoo
Another Lesson In Violence- so this is a live album and a reunion with Paul Baloff shortly before his death. It’s them playing songs off of Bonded By Blood album as well as a couple of other songs. I will say that Paul sounds great on this album. It does sort of be the question what could’ve been? Perhaps this could’ve been a one offer reunion or had Paul not passed away maybe something more permanent?? sadly we will never know however, I will say that this is a great live album and it really does capture their energy. I think Paul sounds great singing Zetro’s songs and it’s definitely worth checking out. I’ll give this 8/10.
Standouts: Piranha, Brain Dead, Deliver Us To Evil
Tempo Of The Damned- so 12 years later and they finally put out an album with Zetro and if you ask me, this has to be one of their best albums with him on vocals. This is one of those albums that’s a good pre-cursor to the following album, but you can just tell that they’re back with a vengeance on this one. The songs are aggressive and they’re just really going for it here. If Zetro were to never come back, then this would be the perfect last album.
Previous Score: 9.5/10
New Score: 10/10
Shovel Headed Kill Machine- oh man, what can I say about this record? I mean, seriously it’s the first album with new singer Rob Dukes and holy crap this guy is the absolute perfect fit. This is one of those records that just has such a massively heavy crushing guitar tone that it’s almost as if you’re listening to a different band. I remember getting a sampler after a show and it had 2 songs off this record and this was my introduction to this band. I can’t say enough great things about this album!!
Previous Score: 10/10
New Score: 10/10
Standouts: Raze, Now Thy Death Day Come/.44 Magnum Opus, Going Going Gone
The Atrocity Exhibition Exhibit A- I think what I like about this album and the last album is the fact that both contain such a big riffs. This particular album may have longer songs, but they certainly don’t feel like it. It’s almost as if you’re on a bit of a journey listening to this record and man oh man it is just so much fun. Again, Rob absolutely kills it on vocals as do Gary and Lee on guitar. Jack’s bass tone is absolutely crushing and Tom’s drumming is flawless. It’s a perfect album with plenty of brutality and aggression.
Previous Score: 10/10
New Score: 10/10
Standouts: As It Was, As it Soon Shall Be, Iconoclasm, The Garden of Bleeding
Let There Be Blood- this is a re-recording of the Bonded By Blood album. If you ever wanted to hear how that album sounds with this lineup of Exodus, then definitely give this a listen. I remember when they came through LA and played this album in full at a venue in LA called The Key Club. Man that was a fun night and I’m pretty sure I grabbed the setlist. Anyway, definitely check this one out, especially if you’re a fan of Rob’s vocals.
Previous Score: 10/10
New Score: 9/10
Standouts: Piranha, A Lesson In Violence, Strike of the Beast
Shovel Headed Tour Machine: Live At Wacken And Other Assorted Atrocities- so this is the live album with Rob on vocals and I must say if if you haven’t seen/got to see Rob with this band, this is the next best thing. Now for those, I don’t know what Wacken is, it’s a heavy metal festival in Germany that’s been around for years and years. This particular performance has a pretty good assortment of songs from the older material up until Exhibit A. I remember going to the DVD release party and that was a lot of fun. There was a Q&A session as well as a meet and greet. Definitely check out this live album and I’ll give it 9/10
Standouts: Iconoclasm, Piranha, War Is My Shepherd
Exhibit B The Human Condition- some might say this one isn’t as strong as Exhibit A but I would say it’s probably on par with that record. Sure the songs may aren’t as memorable, but if you listen to both those albums back to back, they actually flow quite nicely. At times it can feel like this contains some leftover material but that’s not a bad thing. I do remember this came out the day I left for Europe and downloading it into my iPod so I pretty much listened to this the entire time I was there and it was great. I seriously hope now that Rob is back in the band that they play more songs off of this album live.
Previous Score: 10/10
New Score: 10/10
Standouts: The Ballad of Leonard and Charles, Downfall, Hammer and Life
Blood In Blood Out: so again Zetro is back on vocals after Rob is unceremoniously let go. I don’t know how I feel about this album. I know when it first came out. I was excited because we were getting new Exodus and I listened to the song “Salt The Wound” a lot. Again it was because there was new Exodus music out and this particular song is the only Exodus song to feature Kirk Hammett. So that’s kind of cool I suppose. The problem I have with this record is while the music is bad ass. The vocals don’t fit. You can clearly tell that this album was written for Rob and that they had Zetro re-record the vocals. To me it doesn’t work very well and that’s a hindrance on this record. I do know that there is a version with Rob on vocals out there on YouTube (or at least they’re used to be) and it sounds a lot better.
Previous Score: 8/10
New Score: 7/10
Standouts: Salt the Wound, Black 13, Numb
Persona Non Grata- I will say that musically this fits Zetro’s vocals a lot better. This doesn’t exactly pick up where the last album left off but it’s a good record nonetheless. If memory serves me, I believe when I saw them in 2022 or whatever it was, it was my first time seeing Zetro on vocals and I thought he was fine, but I remember thinking I wish Rob was in the band. I remember I had to listen to this one a couple of times in order to really get into it. It’s certainly a step up from the previous record and you can tell that they are trying to make the heaviest record possible with the current vocalist. And you know what they actually were able to pull it off. This record is pretty damn heavy. I’ll give this one 7/10.
Standouts: The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves), Slipping Into Madness, The Fires Of Division
British Disaster: The Battle Of 89 (Live At Astoria)- another live album and from what I understand, this was an old recording that was resurrected/released. It’s another live album they put out this time with Zetro on vocals during the Fabulous Disaster era. It’s a fun live album and it again does a great job of capturing their energy and I have no doubt that seeing them during this time would’ve just been so much fun. I’ll give it 8/10.
Standouts: The Last Act Of Defiance, Fabulous Disaster, Braindead
Goliath- finally Rob is back in the band!!! I have been saying ever since he left that it was a mistake for him to leave. So after all this time, we finally have him back on vocals and how does the album sound??? Well at first I wanna say it’s kind of underwhelming. I was expecting it to be a continuation of Exhibit B and it most certainly is not. It is slower compared to the other albums but then when I listened to it again, it seems to me like they’re testing out his vocal range and I actually enjoyed it more the second time. Now this is not to say that there aren’t faster songs because there are a few of them, but overall, I liked the album, but I didn’t love it. It’s a good album and it probably will make my top 10 end of your albums, but I was just waiting for them to speed things up. I will say that I think it’s great that they are trying something new and that they’re not rehashing the same formula. I’ll give this album 8/10.
Standouts: Beyond The Event Horizon, The Dirtiest Of The Dozen, Violence Works
When it comes to this band, I honestly don’t think you can really go wrong with any of their albums. To me, they’re one of those bands that can do no wrong musically, and they have always put on a killer live show. I think it is a dream come true that Rob is back in the band and he just fits this band so well that he almost gives them a bit more brutality. I suppose I would say that because when I first got into this band, he was the vocalist. Exodus are absolutely one of those bands that I will always try to go see no matter what and if you have not done so do yourself a favor and go see them the next time they’re playing in your neck of the woods.
Final Grade: A+
Previous Album Rankings:
- The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A
- Exhibit B: The Human Condition
- Impact is Imminent
- Shovel Headed Kill Machine
- Tempo of the Damned
- Fabulous Disaster
- Let There Be Blood
- Pleasures of the Flesh
- Force of Habit
- Blood in Blood Out
- Bonded By Blood
New Album Rankings:
- The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A
- Shovel Headed Kill Machine
- Exhibit B: The Human Condition
- Tempo Of The Damned
- Fabulous Disaster
- Impact Is Imminent
- Shovel Headed Tour Machine: Live At Wacken And Other Assorted Atrocities
- Let There Be Blood
- Another Lesson In Violence
- Pleasures Of The Flesh
- Goliath
- Persona Non Grata
- Blood In Blood Out
- British Disaster: The Battle Of 89 (Live At Astoria)
- Force Of Habit
- Bonded By Blood
Sinister Reviews 