{"id":591,"date":"2002-01-17T01:59:00","date_gmt":"2002-01-17T01:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/?p=591"},"modified":"2024-03-26T02:00:24","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T02:00:24","slug":"metal-command","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/?p=591","title":{"rendered":"Metal command"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"The
The Baphomet-loving wrecking crew from Exodus: Goat\u2019s head soup, anyone?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Live! At the Roadhouse, 1556 Bell Ave. (near Raley Boulevard, north of I-80) on Saturday, January 19, at 9:30 p.m., with Dominant Rage and Race Train Schizo, $12.50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I<\/strong>f you were a teenage metalhead circa 1985-1990,<\/strong> chances are you or your brother were into Exodus, the progenitors of thrash metal. Originally led by the fiery pipes of Paul Baloff, later replaced by Steve \u201cZetro\u201d Souza, Exodus has now reformed, and is claiming its rightful place on the metal map. This Saturday night, Exodus makes the trek from its Bay Area home to play the Roadhouse in Del Paso Heights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was 16 when I got my first taste of Exodus. Bonded By Blood<\/em>, originally released on Torrid\/Combat Records, depicted two vampiric nubiles joined at the back on the cover, apparently upset about their unfortunate birthright; it contained perhaps the most ferocious form of music I\u2019d ever heard. Exodus, along with death metal\u2019s finest band ever, Possessed, hosted a heavy metal soir\u00e9e at the Petaluma Veterans Hall that is considered by many metalheads to be one of the greatest bills of all time. At the time, Baloff and guitarists Gary Holt and Rick Hunolt, drummer Tom Hunting and bassist Rob McKillop made up the band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fifteen years later, Holt, who wrote the bulk of Exodus\u2019 material, can still recall the glory days of one of the Bay Area\u2019s greatest bands ever, alongside such company as Metallica\u2014that group\u2019s Kirk Hammett originally played with Exodus\u2014Death Angel, Vio-Lence, Forbidden and more. Except for its bass player\u2014McKillop has been replaced by Jack Gibson\u2014Exodus now features all original members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During its heyday, Exodus co-headlined tours with Anthrax, supported Black Sabbath during its Ronnie James Dio-fronted era, and even landed a European and U.S. tour with fellow necrophiliac ensembles Slayer and Venom. \u201cThat was the best tour of all of \u2019em,\u201d Holt muses. \u201cThere was also a great Headbanger\u2019s Ball tour with Helloween [the German power metal group] and Anthrax that was pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baloff, the band\u2019s original vocalist, only sang on Exodus\u2019 first album, subsequent albums with Steve \u201cZetro\u201d Souza were much larger commercial successes. However, Baloff returning to the helm marks a return to the real Exodus sound. \u201cHe\u2019s like a Jim Jones handing out the Kool-Aid,\u201d remarks Holt, referring to the 5-foot-4-inch singer who maniacally rules the stage like a crazed, homicidal maniac.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exodus has been active around the Bay Area\u2014there was a lengthy hiatus after a pseudo-reunion\u2014since its inclusion on the now infamous \u201cThrash of the Titans\u201d cancer-awareness concert, a benefit for the ailing frontman of Testament, Chuck Billy, and Death\u2019s Chuck Schuldiner, who has since passed away. The band has been selling out every Bay Area show just like the old days, but is playing such considerably smaller 200-300 capacity rooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like playing smaller venues, \u2018cause it\u2019s really awful and sweaty,\u201d says Holt, now a single father of two children. \u201cFurthermore, we can\u2019t afford to tour, since we don\u2019t have tour support.\u201d Which is to say that Exodus currently is without a major label whose bankroll will cover such road expenses as hotel, buses, hookers, tramps and miscellaneous acts of debauchery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a pending package tour in the works dubbed \u201cThe Bay Area Invasion,\u201d which will feature buddies Death Angel, Forbidden and Vio-Lence, it would seem Exodus\u2019 prospects are looking up. For the moment, Holt remains at ease working his 9-to-5 day job, opting to take care of his children and lead a stress-free life. He and the rest of Exodus can find solace knowing there are still a bunch of us who recognize their enormous contribution to metal. In the immortal words of Baloff: \u201cTurn to look at Baphomet from below and not above \/ Welcome to my sacrifice \/ Tonight there\u2019ll be no love.<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(SN&R)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Live! At the Roadhouse, 1556 Bell Ave. (near Raley Boulevard, north of I-80) on Saturday, January 19, at 9:30 p.m., with Dominant Rage and Race Train Schizo, $12.50. If you were a teenage metalhead circa 1985-1990, chances are you or your brother were into Exodus, the progenitors of thrash metal. Originally led by the fiery pipes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=591"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":592,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591\/revisions\/592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}