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Rating: Born in the same scene that gave birth to giants like Metallica and Testament, Exodus has always suffered from the syndrome of the eternal second. Among the first to form in Frisco, with an initial incarnation dating back to the late seventies, they finally debuted after an eternity of demos only in 1985, when the entire thrash scene had already well exploded.
"Bonded by Blood" was and remains a stunning debut, a seminal album to which today no one would deny the impact it had, but, we can say it calmly, after that there was practically nothing. Having lost some key members along the way, they still managed to have a more than respectable career, with a late-eighties album, "Fabulous Disaster", which was really fast and aggressive, a real compendium of the sound of the era, but it did not help much to revive their status, soon overwhelmed by the grunge phenomenon and destined, like many others, to a rather inglorious end.
After a decade, and a couple of failed reunions, the group would make a big comeback from the 2000s onwards, becoming an authentic standard-bearer of the entire thrash revival, also thanks to, finally, a series of truly enviable albums, excellently played and well-written, foremost among them "Tempo of the Damned", perhaps the best work ever out of Mr. Gary Holt's pen and guitar. Exodus had a second chance and were able to make the most of it, perhaps a unique case where a reunion actually resulted in substance and quality, rather than just another reheated album whose sole purpose was to milk a few incorrigible nostalgics of studs and spikes. But this is nonetheless another story; let's step back. And the step back takes us to 1986, a year of delight for every thrasher, with historic albums literally raining down and several names of the scene finally making the big leap to become the undisputed "big" of the movement. "Bonded by Blood", which was even shelved for an entire year before being released, was followed by a very long tour, so long that it became practically impossible to work decently on a second album, which was therefore constantly postponed, despite several songs being practically complete. In those times around Frisco, they seemed to have some timing issues. Ah, and last but not least, they also lost the good Paul Baloff along the way, kicked out without much fuss for his, uh, "dependencies" and quickly replaced by Steve Souza, who, with fantastic timing, left a band that would change its name to Testament within a few months. Shall we also add that, both for the first and the second LP, there were countless problems finding the right cover? In the end, despite everything, the much-awaited "Pleasures of the Flesh" hit the shelves in 1987, being frankly received rather lukewarmly, with criticism sharply divided between those who saw it as a half-misstep, uninspired and "off-beat", and those who considered it a decent effort, though disappointing compared to the highly praised predecessor. If we then consider that at the time cousins Metallica were working on what would become "...and Justice for All", one really understands how the success train for Exodus had truly passed.
What does all this say? That, although the album's vocals were by Souza, during production various demos were recorded, but with Baloff on vocals. If these recordings add little to the group's history, it might be interesting for the most devoted fan to hear how the Californian's second album could have sounded if Baloff had stayed. It is also strangely noticeable how, despite being demos, the sound is quite clear and defined, an evident sign that they were practically complete songs ready for release, and not just simple "trial" recordings. The demo, not distributed but presumably circulated only among group members and various record label officials, contains three tracks, later picked up by Exodus themselves during the late nineties reunion with Baloff, immortalized with the album "Another Lesson in Violence". All the tracks, which naturally feature the classic group sound, present a formation that has matured since their debut, with well-structured songs, rich in solos and well-balanced between aggression and melody. Besides this trio of songs, nothing else seems to circulate from those recordings, which were evidently followed directly by Baloff's dismissal and Souza's arrival. These demos have never been officially released, although they would be ideal for celebratory box sets or similar, but they can easily be listened to on YouTube or found in mp3 format on any South American blog.
It is, therefore, not a fundamental work, to be clear, but an interesting historical document, which could satisfy the curiosity of the group's fans and genre enthusiasts, as well as being a testimony of a specific, and perhaps unrepeatable, period for this type of music.
"Pleasures of the Flesh - 3 Track Demo 1986 with Paul Baloff":
Pleasures of the Flesh
Seeds of Hate
Brain Dead
Exodus:
Paul Baloff, vocals
Gary Holt, guitar
Rick Hunolt, guitar
Rob McKillop, bass
Tom Hunting, drums
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