I have seen Exodus live so many times, it’s ridiculous, both on the east and West Coast, mind you.  I know they’re not in the big 4, but for me, if there was a big 5, Exodus, that is right, not Testament would be there.  Still, to this day, whether on studio albums or live, Exodus brings it..every…damn..time.

Live recordings are a dicey affair for me.  I usually prefer to listen to studio albums unless we are talking about bands who have released classic live albums such as Iron Maiden, Raven, Voivod, Scorpions, Slayer, Metallica, etc.. Outside of not being able to be at the show the one thing I am looking for on a live album is was the track listing a kick ass one, when that show was played?

In 1989 Exodus were tearing it up.  They had just released their third and monstrously heavy album, Fabulous Disaster.  The band had garnered a cult following prior, rabid fan base, that leveled up with this album due to MTV Headbanger’s Ball playing the “Toxic Waltz” video non-stop.  This propelled the band further, then they could have dreamed of.  I missed their USA tour, but my brother saw them on LINY and I remember him telling me the pits were insane.

Fast Forward to the early 00’s and their first album Bonded By Blood was remastered and contained two live songs, “A Lesson in Violence” and “And Then There Were None”.  Turns out those songs are from this entire live set which was Recorded live on March 8th, 1989 at The London Astoria in London, England.  This album tour was special due to the fact this would be the last time this classic lineup, Gary Holt – Guitars, Steve “Zetro” Souza – Vocals, Rick Hunolt – Guitars, Rob McKillop – Bass, Tom Hunting – Drums, would be together again.

This setlist could not have been more perfect and in terms of live albums is easily one of the best out there.  Spanning their entire 3 albums, at the time, the setlist is a whopping 15 songs in 75 minutes.  The band opens with the first two tracks from Fabulous Disaster.  “The Last Act of Defiance”, equipped, with the intro to that very song…sounds soooo intense live.  The band is on fire, as they zip into the song.  The one thing the band has, in their live setting, is they are on time.  They play the songs as they are, not speeded up and that shows a disciplined band.  This song has all the gang shouted vocals and this is the perfect opener.

The band goes right into the “Fabulous Disaster” song with Zetro rallying the crowd, early on, again..this creates such an intense listening experience.  To see this in person I would have been ripping people’s heads off. “Corruption”, which is another song off Fabulous Disaster, sounds super intense here and was and still is one of my favorite songs by the band.  It’s vicious, with its mid-paced crunchy thrashy gallop.  The double bass drums are chest collapsing and with the vicious lyrics and Zetro doing his opening little monologue, this is another live highlight.

“Chemi-Kill” comes through the speakers quite nicely with that soft opening, just like on the Pleasures of the Flesh album.  Holt throws in some extra squealing guitar action early on and then right into that main scorching riff, which is one of the best the band has ever done.  Given that the production on that album was always a little thin, the song has some extra juicy heaviness in the live environment, which is a huge plus. We get all the classics here and the band adds in the longer songs, such as “Like Father, Like Son” alongside the shorter classics such as “Piranha”, earlier in the set – this was a well thought out set list.

The mix and production are excellent and capture all the live nuances and heaviness of a live set.  I am sure Nuclear Blast did some cleaning up along the way with certain areas of this older recording.  If you like Exodus I am telling you get this bad boy…it’s really quite killer!

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