Each week on ‘Throwback Thursday’ we dust off a crucial but underrated album, without which heavy metal’s evolution would have turned out quite differently.
This week we slam-dance with an album that by all rights should be overlooked by no one (but somehow still is) due to its central role in the Bay Area thrash metal scene: Exodus' conclusive sonic document of the style, Bonded by Blood.
Band Name: Exodus
Origins: Richmond/El Cerrito, California
Album Title: Bonded by Blood
Release Date: April, 1985
Why is it so damn important?
Because Exodus is the definitive thrash metal band from the definitive thrash metal breeding grounds in the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area. They were there at the very start, and, unlike most of their peers they remain staunchly committed to the thrash metal cause. Yes, Metallica's arrival in the Bay had a major impact on all of the region’s fledgling thrash bands, but it was the hometown boys, Exodus, who spearheaded the blue-collar, no-poseurs-allowed ethos that convinced the Angelinos to move north in the first place (well, that and Cliff Burton). And, once Metallica left town to conquer the globe armed with Exodus’ founding guitarist, Kirk Hammett, it was Exodus, yet again, that set the bar aspired to by every other Bay Area band: Death Angel, Legacy (later Testament), Heathen, Forbidden, Vio-lence – you name it.
So what does it sound like, exactly?
Thrash in its purest definition, if you ask us. Once Hammett left in ‘83, fellow guitarist Gary Holt efficiently took over Exodus’ songwriting duties alongside vocalist Paul Baloff and, to a lesser degree, monster drummer Tom Hunting, bassist Rob McKillop and new guitar foil, Rick Hunolt. Together, they harnessed thrash’s saw-toothed staccato guitar attack to a blistering, precision pace throughout Bonded by Blood (see “Metal Command,” “Piranha,” “Strike of the Beast,” etc.), while virtually cataloguing the finer points of mosh-pit etiquette (or lack thereof) as experienced by the loyal ‘Bay Area Bangers’ in songs like “A Lesson in Violence and “Bonded by Blood.”
In other words…
Metallica and Slayer may belong to every stripe of heavy metal fan across the world, but Exodus belongs to thrash fans, first and foremost. While their career and catalog post-Bonded by Blood is filled with jarring creative ups (1989’s Fabulous Disaster may be their best ever, song for song) and downs (the next year’s totally uninspired Impact is Imminent), Exodus’ new millennium return – first with Baloff (now passed on – RIP), then his original replacement Steve ‘Zetro’ Souza, and most recently, Rob Dukes – continues to do thrash metal’s legacy proud.
Key Song: "A Lesson in Violence"
“Bonded by Blood” and “Metal Command” are both thrash hall-of-fame material, but “A Lesson in Violence” arguably goes one step further with its explicit ‘how-to’ manual for aspiring mosh pit participants – any of whom can still sense the fury and fear involved in joining the fray via Baloff’s maniacal screams.
Final Thoughts:
By the time Bonded by Blood finally saw record store shelves in April 1985, nearly a year after it was recorded, Exodus had fallen hopelessly behind the other major thrash players, some of whom were already lapping them with second or third, career-establishing albums. But, had their timing been a tad more auspicious and further delays surrounding Baloff’s departure not intervened, Exodus may have well crashed the so-called “Big Four.”
Catch up on previous editions of Throwback Thursday.
