Two years down the road since reinventing their style, EXODUS bring us the continuation of the massive Exhibit A. Now loaded with almost twice as many songs, most of them epic, all aggressive to an excruciating degree, Exhibit B: The Human Condition proves a far angrier beast than its predecessor. But rather than go for the throat on its first second of music, a haunting acoustic driven intro sets the mood for the oncoming storm. Once the tenderness fades, blistering guitar harmonies signal the onset of the seven minute plus monster that runs along to the jagged pace of the Gary Holt-Lee Altus razor riff factory. The Ballad Of Leonard and Charles also showcases the new album’s direction - the heft is still there but gone is the complexity. Its follow up, the straightforward thrash ditty Beyond The Pale sticks to the same mold until mid tempo fare takes over for the glass-is-half-empty anthem Hammer And Life. It’s when EXODUS ease the brakes on this album that signal when critics and discriminating fans alike are gonna pounce. Hammer And Life cuts both ways, but what comes next - Class Dismissed (A Hate Primer) - is a certified EXODUS classic even when it meanders toward Boredville past is blistering twin guitar solo.

The production here as crisp as Andy Sneap - thrash metal’s producer of choice - can possibly make it, thus leaving EXODUS free reign to indulge their violent impulses through song. The torrent of face-melting tunes here is surprising and painful from the sheer intensity. March Of The Sycophants, the slow moving crunch of Nanking, the take no prisoners Burn, Hollywood, Burn (it preaches the destruction of Tinsel Town with righteous indignation), and the immense ode to the supernatural undead who lurk at night The Sun Is My Destroyer is far more extreme in content than a lot of bands today except for those in black metal who have an anti-Christian bent. Gary Holt likes to mention during interviews that he’s quite the black metal aficionado himself and its refreshing to hear so much darkness in EXODUS’ current repertoire. Forever gone is the youthful verve from the Fabulous Disaster and Impact Is Imminent era. Today’s EXODUS is an unforgiving thrash machine whose sole aim is to out-brutalize both peers and the younger set alike with remorseless precision. Lo and behold, despite their age, the fearsome fivesome achieve their aims on Exhibit B.