Profligate the Pain
When I saw the name Bonded by Blood my heart leapt into my mouth. "I get to review Exodus' debut, awesome!" so imagine my surprise/disappointment upon seeing an album cover straight out of a nerd-lingers comic collection.
All pre conceived notions were instantly torn asunder upon first listen; the raw intensity on display has; like a nuclear wind blown a lot of my cynicism out the window. Forget the fact they've named themselves after a seminal metal album (As if I or anyone else could get away with naming their band Kill em’ all…) or that they've gone down the concept route; Exiled to Earth is a flurry of thrash and hardcore grooves pumped straight down your throat like a metal enema in reverse.
Everything on this record explodes at an ungodly pace and rarely relents. The lyrics are your usual blend of misanthropy and violence delivered in a way I can only describe as a cat being put through a mincer. Frankly having a grown man screech at me with that high pitched and distracting emphasis he puts on every fourth word simply steals focus from the musicianship on display.
The premise of the album is that humans have been all but destroyed by an alien warrior race and the few that have survived are fighting for their very existence 600 years afterwards. This futuristic plot is coupled with some of the most intense and dynamic riff-o-rama I’ve heard in a good while. Creativity and originality are of course essential traits for any band of significance but the concept here is ostensibly self indulgent.
The band wears its influences on their sleeves, and even though they're the kind of chaps that probably don't wear sleeves its plain to see flurries of Megadeth and the aforementioned Exodus spread throughout the album. From screeching lead passages to accelerating rhythm sections it’s comprehensive in its virtuosity yet somehow I was left relieved when it ended; like id just gone through head surgery and made to watch the Wizard of Oz for six hours straight. I love riffing and the beef these guys bring to the table is worth highlighting, but my personal tastes don't extend to sci-fi metal. I don't even like Star Trek so it’s totally wasted on me. Hopefully and without remorse I’ll have to see them live and see if their tenacious tendencies overshadow this album's juvenile premise.
Released 16/08/2010 by Earache Records
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. – Aristotle
