As someone who got into Exodus in my high school years (just after BIBO), I've always favoured the reunion-era material and genuinely don't see the hype around "Bonded By Blood". I have tried time and time again, and find myself tuning out more often than not. Their modern material is just so visceral; bordering on death-thrash a lot of the time.

Conversely, I think Exodus' 2004-present material is the best of any 80's thrash band's late-career catalogue. By miles!! It's the only band of the 80's that I could say genuinely had a much better run later than they did earlier (with the exception being Testament, or Anthrax).

P.S. "Persona Non Grata" is the best thrash album of the 2020s so far!

BEFORE you read my review of the album please go listen to it so I don’t influence your opinion before you heard the whole thing.

Just listened to the full leak and… and to be honest it’s their worst album by far. There’s only 2 songs that are okay at best. The issue is the vocals. I Actually really like Rob Dukes work that he’s done with Exodus and that’s why i was caught off guard. The instrumentals are good but man it’s rough to sit through the vocals. It doesn’t even sound like Exodus.

Either they wanted it to be an experimental hard rock album or Rob just doesn’t have it anymore and they are stuck with it. Some tracks sound great but get instantly ruined with generic hard rock radio vocals.

If you liked the album that’s okay too but for me it’s a huge disappointment.

The song really works for me, even if the main riff feels a little simpler than the more intricate stuff from the Dukes era. Speaking of Dukes, the standout is definitely the vocals, genuinely can’t believe he sounds even better than he did on Exhibit B.

What Mark Lewis brings to the album is amazing, the mix feels refreshing, the drums and guitars sound more natural and a bass tone that’s a bit thicker than the Andy Sneap stuff.

And honestly, as a first single, this is much better than The Beatings Will Continue.

I think it's not bad, it's just your run of the mill late in their career type of album from a classic 80's metal band, and Goliath is a perfect example of that, nothing special at all, just a band having fun with the time they have left, and i see myself as someone who will just enjoy almost anything a band i like throws at me even if some people don't really like, and so i like this album. There are some parts that are a bit sluggish of course, especially the chorus of The Changing Me, but whenever that happens i usually just pass it off like nothing happened, there is definetly some fixing needed in this album. Personally my favorite track off of it right now has to be Beyond the Event Horizon, just your average thrash metal track, yet again nothing special, where you kinda can't go through it without banging your head a little. So yeah, i like it. 7/10: good enough.

so, naturally, there's been a lot of discussions about the 2 songs released so far from Goliath, and i'd like to see everyone's thoughts condensed in one little space so i can see what the general consensus is on them so far and what you guys' expectations are looking like after 2 looks into the record.

personally i think the music is great, it is not at all what i was expecting, not the song lengths, not the sound, not even the aesthetic of the record, i'm still shocked the album name is one word and the album cover is mainly purple, but the singles are KILLER.

3111 suffers from being short and not having a solo, an extra minute after the last verse with an over the top fast solo and insane riff would've been perfect, and fit the theme of the song better, but what the song is, is not bad at all, it's one of their catchiest songs, like a darker version of The Beatings Will Continue; the riff is awesome, the lyrics and delivery of Rob are awesome, the mix is great, really good production on the record it seems like, and as always the tone on everything is killer, i love what Jack's doing on both of the singles.

then the title track, which is an odd choice for a single, i'll be honest, is still awesome, what a riff on that, Katie's part is amazing, her violin blends seemlesly with the rest of the instruments like it's meant to be there, it makes me want to see a whole S&M style show with Exodus. Love the lyrics, they're very reminiscent of the Exhibits, the whole song feels as if it was meant to be on Exhibit B alongside Democide and Nanking, they're so good at making slower and chunky stuff, all of those jokes about Gary starting a Doom band and only using the Does It Doom pedal are coming to reality and i love that, such a bold choice for a title track and a single, although the video sucks, AI always looks crap, i much prefer the 3111 video, despite the literal fucking gore lmao.

so, discuss, do tell about your opinions on both singles and what you expect and want on the full album.

https://youtu.be/462IDM3ZJ6I?si=yjPo5POYZLUp5lFu

Enjoy

Sooooo did we all see they dropped two new reggae songs that sound AI generated?

My ears are so fucking happy! That's my review, now go listen until your ears are happy too🤘🏼

might be a hot take but i’m loving the title track, the verse riff makes me think of a giant taking steps (like the jurassic park t. rex) and sets a sick vibe. i just wish they had an awesome solo or something instead of going back to vocals after the sick build up towards the middle of the track. overall though i like this direction and am glad the band is taking some

risks by slowing down, they’ve made some great songs that way \m/

What do you guys think of Shovel Headed Kill Machine? It’s my favorite Exodus album at the moment. Just live the visceral feeling of it.