Yes, available October *5th in stores. Available on your local p2p network as of just 1 day and 2 hours ago.
Ok, here is my review:
Artist: Exodus
Album: Shovel Headed Kill Machine
Release Date: October 5th, 2005
Genre: Thrash Metal
Cover Art:
[/img]
Review:
Exodus is one of the most important thrash metal artists to ever exist. Their albums have been successfully good (with the notable failure of Impact is Imminent (what a joke album)), and even Tempo of the Damned proved to be a thrash masterpiece of 2004. Bonded by Blood, Pleasures of the Flesh, Fabolous Disaster, Another Lesson in Violence, and Tempo of the Damned are all excellent thrash metal albums. That's nearly all of the albums they produced, too! Another Lesson in Violence happens to be a live album as well, and it's a rarity that I find a live album I like better than most LPs. With the release of this album looming, it mentioned that there was only two original band member left! (Gary Holt on guitars, Jack Gibson on bass) I was scared the vocalist would be horrible, and that the guitar duo that made Exodus so great would be gone forever, and this album would be a chunk of feces waiting to waste my bandwidth.
Oh boy, was I EVER fucking wrong.
The album opens up with Raze. This sets the tone for the ENTIRE album. The vocalist literally blew my mind away. He is SO much better than I was expecting. Fuck, he is very well suited for the style of the album. The riffage? Oh, you can bet your ass it's there. Riffage down your fuckin' throat! The guitars are definetely not Tempo-of-the-Damned-style riffs, nor are they anywhere similar to old Exodus, but god damnit, they're fucking good. Exodus has never ceased to amaze me. They have 4 different sounding styles of riffs for 4 albums (5 if you count the live one), and goddamnit, all of them are mind blowingly amazing. The drumming? Still there! It's badass as hell. The new drummer succeeded in replacing the old drummer. The bass is still there (if you can hear it over the amazing riffs). This song is quite possibly my new favorite Exodus song.
Deathamphetamine is a very, very solid, 8 minute thrasher. Not much to say about it. It suits the album very well, and is very good for headbanging.
Karma's Messenger. The first half of this song is slightly-below-good in my opinion, but the riffing in the second half makes up for it and then some. This song was my favorite while listening through it the first time, but no longer.
Shudder to Think! Wow, the riffing on this album is pretty good. I find the vocals a bit .... cheesy, but eh, whatever. The riffage is enough to make up for it. This is my second favorite song!
I Am Abomination - solid thrash material. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to complain about either. It will keep your head banging for a good 3 minutes.
Altered Boy - Wow, they can't not bash religion! (hehe). Again, nothing special to write home about, unless you find songs that manage to hold your attention for 7 minutes to be something out of the ordinary. Well, I do. When a song that is that long manages to keep me headbanging for the entire song, it's definetely a good song. This is no exception!
Going Going Gone - Again, what can I say? THRASH! This is, again, another great song that fits in very well with the album. The middle part of the song (after 2 choruses, heh, dunno what that would be called) is very riffy and manages to give you whiplash. The soloing is amazing, as well.
Now Thy Death Day Come - Their fastest song. Well, the drumming and riffing starts off really fast. However, the song slows down to a more midpaced song, and the riffage begins to decapitate your entire family. This riff is so catchy it actually gets me bouncing around in my chair, rather than headbanging. The vocals in the second half of the song are VERY catchy too.
44 Magnum Opus - Solid thrash. Nothing more, nothing less. Not a highlight on the album, but definetely not a suckfest neither.
Shovel Headed Kill Machine - The end track. The title track. God damnit, they fucked this one up good. I could NOT wait for this to end. What a HORRIBLE way to end an album.
Overall, the album is very very very very fucking good. Perhaps my second favorite Exodus album now. It beats Tempo, but nothing beats Bonded by Blood. I am actually going to buy this album when it comes out, just because it blew me away. It blew my expectations out of the water, and is now going to loop for the next couple of days.
4.5/5 stars. (the last track is horrible compared to the rest of the album >:/)
Standout tracks: Raze, Karma's Messenger, Shudder to Think, Going Going Gone, Now Thy Death Day Come
