Exodus - Blood In Blood Out (2014)

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Exodus - Blood In Blood Out (2014)

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To be frank, the disposal of retroactive fall guy Rob Dukes followed by the long-pined for riposte of Souza didn't elicit the expected unanimous fanfare, at least not courtesy of my point of view. With Zetro stacking bodies via his Hatriot project earlier this year with Dawn of the Centurion, bolstered by his hungry cadre of up-and-comers, the daydream-amplified brilliance of a reunion with Holt simply lacked the gleaming allure it once had, so much so that the eventual news of the reconciliation fell quite flat, since much of this was a given once Dukes was out anyway.

That said, while the taste of cold steel had faded with memory in the decade since such was administered via Tempo of the Damned, the exact same interim had elicited some favors toward the last time we saw this particular lineup (sans Hunolt) active. Tracks like "Impaler," "Shroud of Urine" and even a share of the more knockabout, bruising offerings like "Sealed With a Fist" remained fresh in my memory, and I would be lying if I cited a lack of anticipation here. In fact, I find no qualms in anointing upon Blood In Blood Out the title of Tempo of the Damned 2.0. Save for the ejection of some of the more plodding, excessively jouncy pit-churners like "Throwing Down" and "Blacklist," those seeking the familiar will find a sizable aggregate of typical Exodus brickwork within. Not content to rest on their laurels, Exodus have reached back a fair bit into their catalogue here on the hunt for valid inspiration, and this abstraction is sealed in poser blood on the smashing title track, which tries so shamelessly to evoke spectres of waltzers long passed it actually succeeds! A total throwback to the lighthearted romp that was Fabulous Disaster, and a highlight no matter how you slice it. One of the major complaints leveled against the Dukes material was the pretentious songwriting scope without the general presence of chops to fill the void on the other end. This brought us much of the plodding, excessive trash that made Exhibit B one of the biggest disappointments of that year. Save for "Funeral Hymn" and sections of "Deathamphetamine," the band was better off lapping the more lugubrious outings en route to a more concise bloodletting. This is all true, but credit where it is due, Blood In Blood Out feels short and concise despite featuring only three songs under five minutes in length. A comprehensive adherence to higher tempos and more sustained velocity (save for the moodier "My Last Nerve") helps the band get away with much of this here, and Holt's characteristic riffs take on something of a throwback disposition when sped up from the plodding doldrums they have been entrenched in for much of the past decade.

Intrigue is precipitated mightily on the opener "Black 13," which features a gurgling electronic undertone that is clearly trying to recapture some of the glories of the early '90s, a time so surreal that acts like Anthrax could collaborate with hip-hop artists. The kill machine quickly settles into well-worn grooves however, and I don't anticipate many thrashers to be ailing after Blood In Blood Out wraps up. In fact, the biggest deficiencies present here are actually due to ancillary comparisons that I have no choice but to make. Most of this revolves around Zetro, who despite sounding very much like the petulant imp we remember him as, pales in direct contrast to his Hatriot output. "Superkillafragsadisticactsaresoatrocious," anyone? Not only that, but he somehow concurrently avoids sounding like someone shat in his breakfast cereal like on "War Is My Shepherd." The flagrant use of gang shouts generally sounds fresh here, but even this gets to be a bit much, especially on numbers like "Collateral Damage." Through all of this, a clear case can be made against the record, insofar that it overcompensates slightly. These complaints aside, Blood in Blood Out does just about all of what it sets out to, and that is to remind us that Exodus still maintains some spark of the vitriol that made them such an animated, entertaining but at the same time more extreme alternative to some of the more mainstream thrashers of the classic era. These guys already reminded us of this fact once before, but I through their own transgressions needed to do the necessary legwork and bring us all back to square one, which this record honorably does most of the time. Holt's exaggerated tone is cleaned up a fair bit, and as such this doesn't sound quite as sterile and modern as Exhibit A and Shovel Headed Kill Machine, but the bottom line is that fans of any permutation of Exodus will get their rocks off to much of Blood In Blood Out. I'll still take Overkill's White Devil Armory over this, but it is nice to have these guys back all the same.

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