I kind of stumbled upon this rare find at Hastings recently. I was looking for some of the newer releases by groups like The Absence, Malevolent Creation, Kamelot, and others, but when I saw this, I knew I had to have it. An album by a great thrash metal band at their height? Absolutely. Plus, I have always loved "The Toxic Waltz".This album is not quite as good as Bonded by Blood, and it does feature Zetro on vocals instead of Paul Baloff. But, Zetro's voice does fit in well with what the band is doing. Particularly on the aforementioned "The Toxic Waltz". Zetro sounds like a mix between Bon Scott of AC/DC and Blitz Ellsworth of Overkill, and he sounds great on this album.
There are some unusual moments here. The spoken word intro, the ill-advised "Low Rider" cover, and the odd Deliverance-esque opening to "Cajun Hell". It makes a little sense when you consider that Exodus has always had a bit more of a sense of humor than their more serious brethren (just look at the album cover for proof). These moments kind of derail things a little bit, but then the band comes back with a crushing thrash riff.
This is one of the better albums from the Zetro era of the band, which I still prefer to the current Exodus regime, but it's not quite as good as the band's debut. Still though, this is an absolutely neck-breaking album of thrash metal. I would pick this up anyday over most of the stuff coming out today.
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