The Atrocity Exhibition kicks things off with some amazing guitarwork and a wicked epic build up...........only to be brought plumetting back down and falling flat the minute the first real song kicks in.

Musically on the higher end in terms of production, with a seriously "tinny" guitar tone, and the drums also suffer, with that annoying clicky sound that comes off sounding like a drum machine as opposed to an actual drummer. To add to this immediate mess, Rob Dukes comes in sounding like a barely heavier version of former vocalist 'Zetro', and that's not saying much at all.....considering the extremity of today's most extreme. The only thing saving this album from being on the lower end of the scale is that there are some good solid rhythms, and it sounds good when the band decides to throw in some modern influences by utilizing dual layered death/black vocals.

When Exodus was in the midst of writing this album, they were praising and hyping it as the absolute heaviest thing they'd ever done. And while in terms of modern production, that may be true, the end result is an album that sounds like it was purposely produced to sound dated. Either that or it's due to Exodus refusing to beef up their guitar tone to sound at least halfway decent. Whatever the case, the album sounds like it should have come out in the late 80's. And while that's currently gaining a buzz amongst the teenage crowd, with a crop of young bands biting that sound, it's not gonna gain Exodus the crown as the next big thing in Metal. To sound good, and maintain relevancy, Thrash has to be done right, and Exodus and the rest of those youngsters (Warbringer, Evile, Fueled By Fire, and their biggest fans Bonded By Blood) could learn a valuable lesson from a band that rules with a Ten Ton Hammer.

One would think that with the relatively recent release of an album like 'The Blackening', it would have been the proverbial Kick in the Ass that the Bay Area has been needing for quite some time now. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The Golden Era of Bay Area Thrash is long gone, but it's rather apparent that there are just some bands/people that simply refuse to let that go. And Exodus is one of them.

On the one hand, it's understandable for a band that was among the pioneers, to want to re-live that to some degree and maintain a certain sound. On the other hand, one of the most important things a band can do to benefit themselves is to stay RELEVANT, and Exodus obviously still doesn't know how to do that. 

For all the hype about how heavy this album was supposed to be, it completely failed. It's time for Exodus to raise up the level of aggression and extremity.....put up or shut up. Here's to hoping that the follow up (or second half) to this album lives up to any hype the band chooses to give it.