ALBUM REVIEW: Goliath – Exodus

EXODUS are proof that not all bands mellow with age. They were never exactly an easy-listening group, but it is remarkable how vicious they’ve got over the last two decades. Their post-millennium output hasn’t just been heavy, it’s been bleak. They’ve covered song topics like the siege of Nanking, thalidomide poisoning, the abuse scandals of the Catholic Church, and even school shootings. Stumbled across a true crime documentary about an obscure serial killer who abducted and dismembered people in the seventies? EXODUS have probably written a song about him.

A major contributor to that suffocating pall of darkness was vocalist Rob Dukes. Although he was often overshadowed by the beloved Zetro Sousza, Dukes is perhaps the nastiest singer they’ve ever had. He’s a tattooed, beast of a human being who spits hate-filled obscenities with venom-laced relish, and the kind of guy who you’d expect to see escaping from a chain gang by chewing through the manacles. After a long absence, he’s returned to handle mic duties and Goliath is his first album since 2010.

It’s an absolute monster. It’s fast, catchy, whiplash-inducing, and deeply cynical thrash metal made by people who have no qualms about forcing you to stare at mankind’s unfiltered horrors. Cuts like The Changing Me might have a thin veneer of melody in the hooks, but for the most part, they’re churning, filth-encrusted anthems of violence and death. Promise You This might arrive on a jovial rhythm reminiscent of ANTHRAX’s Got The Time cover, but it’s an unhinged hell ride rather than a party track, while the opening 3111 is horrific story of cartel murders condensed into a tight, engaging thrash song.

But while it might be heavier than that massive bronze bull statue outside the New York stock exchange, Goliath is surprisingly inventive. Historically, EXODUS have struggled to write a compelling slow song, but the title track proves to be the exception. It’s a lethargic, swaggering number that incorporates a few sludge/stoner influences, and makes for an uncomfortably atmospheric experience. Violence Works sees them experimenting with riffs that we half expected THE BEASTIE BOYS to start rapping over, while the nearly eight-minute Summon Of The God Unknown is an ambitious, multi-personality epic.

Make no mistake though, this is still very much a thrash metal album. EXODUS play with the formula on Goliath, but this is mainly through adding little flourishes of character across the tracks, rather than taking a massive stylistic deviation. And they leave no doubt as to their intentions with the climactic The Dirtiest Of The Dozen, a semi-autobiographical pit-starter that wouldn’t have been out of place on Dukes’ debut offering, 2005’s Shovel Headed Kill Machine.

It’s so ill-tempered that it almost gets a bit ridiculous, but that’s always been part of the appeal for EXODUS. We can argue for the rest of our lives over whether they should have been included in The Big Four, but that’s all but irrelevant now. EXODUS are shamelessly metal, and for all the spilled blood, they’re fun too. This is thrash at its most bluntly cathartic, Goliath is a blast.

Rating: 8/10

Goliath is set for release on March 20th via Napalm Records. 

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