The 80’s and early 90’s metal scene was known for being overcrowded with thrash metal acts, one more repetitive than the other. But despite this generic flood, there were a few names back then that gave new meaning to the word “thrash”. One of them was the Louisiana-based Exhorder, a band who had a massive impact on all of future thrash metal. The group released two classic albums – “Slaughter in the Vatican” and “The Law”, which to this day stand as the embodiment of sheer thrash power and aggression. While during their career they were rather overlooked, Exhorder resurfaced years later as a thrash metal legend, highly praised by heavy music enthusiasts for their two amazing albums. Rumors of a reunion still echo around the metal scene, but as always – nothing is certain. For now, feel free to dive into the roaring depths of “Slaughter in the Vatican” and “The Law“, two deadly pools of bloody thrash metal madness!!

Both titles will be released by Metal Mind Productions on 19th May 2008 in Europe / 8th July 2008 in USA (via MVD). New digipak edition is limited to numerated 2000 copies. Digitally remastered using 24-Bit process on golden disc

Exhorder
“Slaughter in the Vatican” (remastered)

Label: Metal Mind Records
Cat. No.: MASS CD 1177 DG
Barcode: 5907785032422
Format: CD Digipak (limited edition of 2000 numerated copies)
Genre: thrash metal
Release date: 19.05.2008 Europe / 08.07.2008 USA

Tracklist:

1. Death In Vain
2. Homicide
3. Desecrator
4. Exhorder
5. The Tragic Period
6. Legions Of Death
7. Anal Lust
8. Slaughter In The Vatican

Exhorder
“The Law” (remastered)

Label: Metal Mind Records
Cat. No.: MASS CD 1176 DG
Barcode: 5907785032415
Format: CD Digipak (limited edition of 2000 numerated copies)
Genre: thrash metal
Release date: 19.05.2008 Europe / 08.07.2008 USA

Tracklist:

1. Soul Serch Me
2. Unforgiven
3. I Am The Cross
4. Un-Born Again
5. Into The Void
6. The Truth
7. The Law
8. Incontinence
9. (Cadence Of) The Dirge

Bio
The origins of Exhorder reach all the way back to 1985, when five guys from New Orleans – Vinnie Labella (guitar), Andy Villaferra (bass guitar), Chris Nail (drums), Kyle Thomas (vocals) and David Main (guitar) – decided to do something more with their lives than just hanging out and drinking beer (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and formed a thrash metal band. They kicked off with a self-released six-track demo “Get Rude” in 1986 which instantly became famous on the local scene. Back then Exhorder helped shape the specific “Louisiana sound”, shared between various groups from that state. The band often mentioned the big influence their homeland had on their music. In an interview for Look Around Zine in 1991, the guys mutually agreed: “It all comes from living in Louisiana. For some reason people think Chicago is the blues capital of the world. They’re wrong. Mississippi is where the blues were made. That’s where the old black slaves were sittin’ there on their front porch singin’ about how fuckin’ rough they had it. About how their wives were gettin’ fucked by their masters… So growing up in this area gave us a really acute outlook on music and musicianship in general. It ends up coming out in our songs”.
In 1988 Exhorder managed to record their second demo called “Slaughter in the Vatican“, but shortly after releasing it the band split up. However, as Kyle Thomas commented in an interview for Thrashcore Zine in 1989: “Actually I’d rather leave it at this: During this time a few of us had different ideas about music and personal situations, but we’re back together doing better than ever as we progress into our field of writing and performing.” With Jay Ceravolo replacing David Main, the band reunited just in time to be noticed by Roadracer/Roadrunner Records and sign a contract for their first full-length release.
Exhorder re-recorded all the songs from their second demo and added one additional track – “The Tragic Period”, this forming their first official album – “Slaughter in the Vatican”. Due to the controversial cover art (which featured the pope being dragged by an angry mob to be executed by hanging) and lyrical content, the LP was strongly criticized by the Catholic community shortly after it was released. However, the band was far from apologizing for their anti-religious attitude, stating that the message of the album contained much more than a simple mockery of the Catholic church: “None of us were brought up in a religious fashion,” – said Ceravolo in the interview for Look Around Zine – “our singer and drummer both went to Catholic schools… and they saw all the hypocrisy of the catholic religion. We’re anti-religion in general, though. If you can’t dig within yourself to find something that’ll keep you rolling, then fuck it man. It’s more than just “religion’, the word, though. We don’t like what it stands for. We’re not satanic either – we’re against anything organized. We just used the pope as a symbol. We figure he’d be the best, to get our point across”. Apart from the controversial content, the album featured a true feast of insane riffs, pummeling drums and aggressive vocals by Kyle Thomas, who was soon dubbed by the critics “one of the most pissed off voices in thrash”. While the songs weren’t in any way revolutionary, they brought a dose of brutality that most thrash metal bands could only dream about. Tracks such as “Homicide”, “Exhorder” and “Desecrator” attacked the listener with authentic rage, while the slower “Legions of Death” took him back to the past to face the classic Black Sabbath vibe. But perhaps the most significant composition was the controversial tune “Anal Lust” with some of the most vile and nasty lyrics in the history of thrash. As Ceravolo commented on this track: “That’s like the first song we ever wrote and it’s not meant to be serious. We went over and toured Europe and every show, everyone wanted Kyle to write down the lyrics to “Anal Lust”. Roadracer and our singer talked and just decided that it’d be best if we let people try and figure them out for themselves.” The album was produced by Scott Burns, a scene veteran well-known for his work with such acts as Sepultura, Obituary, Death, Cannibal Corpse and Decide. Burns did an outstanding job with “Slaughter in the Vatican“, bringing out the group’s most brutal and aggressive side and enclosing it in a thick and bruising sound. Nevertheless, many reviewers argued that the album was strongly inspired by Slayer. “The Slayer influence isn’t as big as the hardcore influence, actually.” – said Ceravolo. “We were into the Dead Kennedys and stuff like that. Kyle sings and phrases things really fast. People think he gets it from Tom Araya, but he actually gets it from the D.K.’s and Henry Rollins and stuff.” Asked about the huge amount of violence in their songs, Ceravolo replied: “A lot of the violence you hear in our songs is actually violence we think of and feel. It’s just that we can’t do it. I’d rather be playin’ music than sittin’ in jail.”
In 1992 Exhorder returned with a follow-up album entitled “The Law“. Instead of delivering a typical thrash metal record, the band ventured more into groove metal regions, making the compositions slower and more technical, but not in any way less aggressive. “The Law” borrowed a lot from other genres as well, such as jazz or funk (just listen to the bass slap in “Un-born Again”!). Kyle’s vocals became more melodic and emotional, but in the same time angrier than ever. With songs like “Soul Search Me”, “Unforgiven” and “I Am The Cross” Exhorder took a new step in their music, focusing on more complex songwriting rather than straight-forward aggression. But that didn’t make the follow-up any less heavier – “The Law” is still a thrash album first and foremost, even with the amazingly performed cover version of Black Sabbath’s “Into the Void” that is included on the LP. Apart from the music, also the lyrical content showcased a slightly different perspective, concentrating more on politics. As Ceravolo explained: “We hate politics. This world is fucked, especially America. It’s totally fucked. Just read the newspaper to figure that out. And we’re just out to fuck it up even more; to play on the fact that things are fucked up. Instead of trying to make things better, and talk about the good things we feel more comfortable talking about the way things are…” Although strongly differing from the debut, “The Law” became a highly acclaimed release among the fans and was often compared (and by many considered superior) to Pantera’s “Vulgar Display of Power“.
The album’s release was followed by a promotional tour in Europe, but after that Exhorder decided to call it quits. Their music was simply lost in the flood of Floridian death metal and the upcoming grunge invasion. Vocalist Kyle Thomas went on to form a stoner rock band Floodgate and did some live performances with Trouble. He is currently the lead singer of Alabama Thunderpussy. Guitarist Jay Ceravolo formed Fall From Grace, while drummer Chris Nail devoted himself to the music business and is the co-owner of the 7C&M Music Center in Los Angeles.
While during their career they were rather overlooked, Exhorder resurfaced years later as a thrash metal legend, highly praised by heavy music enthusiasts for their two amazing albums. Rumors of a reunion still echo around the metal scene, but as always – nothing is certain. For now, feel free to dive into the roaring depths of “Slaughter in the Vatican” and “The Law“, two deadly pools of bloody thrash metal madness!!