Live Animals!

EXODUS – “Another Lesson in Violence”, 1997 (Century Media Records)

THE SKINNY: It can’t really be overstated how important a release this was for thrash going into the 21st century. By 1997, the thrash bands that dominated the 80s were either done for, playing something that no longer resembled metal, or at the very least heavily showing their age. Along comes EXODUS , complete with original vocalist Paul Baloff to show these youngsters how the fuck it’s done. Rather than producing a live album that spanned their entire career, Gary Holt and the boys instead opted to give everyone a history lesson on the early days of the band (not that anything they produced in the 90s was, well, all that memorable). Here on “Another Lesson in Violence” you have a blistering set comprised mostly of songs from the band’s classic debut “Bonded by Blood” but also with a few from “Pleasures of the Flesh” written when Baloff was still in the band (but recorded afterwards).

The production is crisp and clear—one of the best produced live albums I’ve ever heard and perfect for bringing these classics to a new generation spoiled with digital recording and Pro Tools. Classic thrashers like “Piranha”, “Deliver Us to Evil” and “Exodus” hit just as hard (or maybe even harder) than the originals with a freshness and energy that no other band from that era could dream of matching. Probably the best thing about this album was the excitement of things to come. Everyone who heard this just knew that the next EXODUS studio album would be worthy of Album of the Year. And sure enough “Tempo of the Damned” was, though as we all know, sadly, it wouldn’t include Paul Baloff who passed away in 2002.

THE “RAISE YOUR LIGHTER” MOMENT: There are plenty of them to be found here, and they all are thanks to Paul Baloff. If Gary Holt is the brains behind this display of heaviness, Baloff was the soul. Who can forget his memorable intros (“This song is called ‘Piranha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!’ Go-go-go-go-go-go!!!”), his mid-song praises of the crowd (“You fucking rule!”)? Check out his monologue before “Seeds of Hate” against poseurs (“Those people need to be found, thrown out and destroyed!”) He shows himself more than capable of playing to the crowd and giving them a kick-ass show. I will always regret not having seen them live with Paul Baloff, but if this is the only medium I have of experiencing that, it’s still quite an experience. Seriously, if this isn’t in your collection, what the hell is wrong with you?

- Cardona