For the troops in the trenches, it began in 1982 with a low generation copy of a local band’s three-song demo. For some, it began with their first listen to Combat Records’ version of Bonded By Blood in 1986. Still others will say what really mattered began on August 11th, 2001. Regardless of the year, these dates all have one thing in common: the tenacity of Gary Holt.
One cannot discuss the power and influence of EXODUS without going into the genealogy of metal music itself. Long hailed as the band that spawned the burgeoning Bay Area Thrash scene in the early ‘80s, the band’s most admirable quality is that the word “surrender” has never existed in lead guitarist/songwriter/General-In-Chief Gary Holt’s vocabulary. Surviving decampment (original guitarist Kirk Hammett left to join Metallica in 1983), death (original vocalist Paul Baloff died in early 2002), untimely disaster (long-time second vocalist Steve Souza abandoned the band in 2004 on the eve of a South American tour), dejection (original drummer Tom Hunting was incapacitated by panic attacks in May 2005), and drug abuse (guitar comrade-in-arms Rick Hunolt’s resignation in June 2005 was due in part to addiction issues), it would have been easier for many to interpret these events as a signal to retire, but then again, not everyone is Gary Holt.
At the beginning of their career, EXODUS gained huge notoriety in the international underground scene as a result of the tape trading community. Their dynamic guitar riffing, adrenaline-inducing drum work, and bloodied live shows made all the difference in the band’s mission to take Bay Area Thrash to a worldwide audience. By 1983, the band line-up included guitarist Rick Hunolt and bassist Rob McKillop and had inspired the likes of Metallica, Testament, Death Angel, and Vio-lence. EXODUS’ debut, the immortal, must-have, undisputed thrash classic Bonded By Blood was released in 1985 via Torrid Records (then re-released in 1986 on Combat Records), and a vast tour with Slayer and Venom propelled the band into a household name.
Shortly before recording Pleasures Of The Flesh (their 1987 album for Combat Records), lead vocalist Paul Baloff left the band due to personal and musical differences and was replaced by ex-Legacy vocalist Steve “Zetro” Souza. That line-up’s creativity led to Combat’s Fabulous Disaster in 1989, and ultimately awarded the band with a major label contract with Capitol Records. 1990’s Impact Is Imminent and 1992’s Force Of Habit had EXODUS steadily touring with Pantera, Suicidal Tendencies, Anthrax Motörhead, Black Sabbath, Metallica, and Megadeth; however, the changing musical climate brought on by the commercial infiltration of grunge dawned the death of the careers for the majority of the scene’s metal bands, including EXODUS. A brief reunion with original vocalist Baloff occurred in 1997 long enough for the band to recruit bassist Jack Gibson (Vile), tour through Europe and North America, and record their second live album, Another Lesson In Violence.
Four years later, EXODUS’ future convened in an unexpected way on August 11th, 2001. Holt, Hunting, Baloff, Hunolt and Gibson were invited to participate – alongside the Souza-led Legacy, Heathen, Forbidden Evil, Anthrax, Death Angel, and Vio-lence – in the spectacularly billed Thrash Of The Titans benefit show for Testament singer Chuck Billy, who was suffering from cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. Originally intended as a one-off show by many of the enlisted performers, Thrash Of The Titans single-handedly paved the way for the reunion of many Bay Area thrash bands that had literally vanished from the scene. Following the benefit, EXODUS began writing music again, but Baloff’s untimely death from a stroke on February 2nd, 2002 placed the reformation attempt on hold. Launching a search for a new vocalist, it was Souza who ultimately returned to the microphone to help record EXODUS’ 2004 visceral comeback album, Tempo Of The Damned. Produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered by Andy Sneap (Megadeth/Arch Enemy/ Kreator) and featuring artwork by Jowita Kaminska, the universal euphoria generated by TOTD (which landed on innumerable “Best Of 2004” lists in magazines around the world) suggested an invigorating new start for EXODUS, but the subsequent exit of Souza, Hunolt, and Hunting within a year depleted the band of three classic members… and the future looked grim.
Yet, in less time than most people have EVER seen a band emerge from member loss-induced hibernation, Holt recruited two long-standing musicians who lived and breathed the same Bay Area vitality that flowed in EXODUS’ blood. On the drum throne, he appointed one of the most highly credentialed metal drummers in the world: ex-Slayer/ex-Forbidden/ex-Testament/ex-Systematic Paul Bostaph. To pick up where Hunolt left off, Holt selected godly Heathen guitarist Lee Altus who admittedly waited 20 years for the invitation to join the band. To replace Souza, a daring choice was made in enlisting a virtually unknown singer: guitar-tech-turned-lead-vocalist Rob Dukes, who had enough hate and vitriolic venom within him to convincingly spit out Holt’s murderous lyrics. The internal restructuring skyrocketed EXODUS’ talent meter, making this a dream line-up for legions of thrash metal fans all over the world.
Produced by Gary Holt, mixed and mastered by Andy Sneap, and armed with the necessary maniacal passion, pain, and conviction to battle adversity, 2005’s Shovel Headed Kill Machine, EXODUS’ seventh studio album, upheld the musical veracity of thrash metal’s very foundation and pillaged straight ahead like a lead-filled battering ram into the “Top 5 Albums” year-end poll by Decibel Magazine. “When it comes to writing and performing the thrash metal they helped invent more than two decades ago,” cited Outburn Magazine, “EXODUS can hold their heads high as the reigning kings.” Two years later, their musical direction has not faltered.
Imported from England in the summer of 2007 to re-join EXODUS at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California and record what will surely become a career- and genre-defining album was producer Andy Sneap. Featuring artwork by Seth Siron Anton (Vader, Decapitated, Belphegor) and upping the ante for all other thrash metal albums to be released this upcoming year, The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A is the Master Of Puppets for this modern era’s thrash scene, a visceral auditory realization of collective consciousness that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end with intimate recognition of its omnipotence. For those curious about the total number of heart-racing, eyebrow-raising, raise-your-fist-in-the-air guitar riffs, rip-tide bass lines, and double-bass flurries included on the album, only one word can convey it: Fuggeddaboutit.
Affirming original drummer Tom Hunting’s exultant return into the band’s ranks is the opening drum march/battle cry “Call To Arms” that quickly bleeds into the mayhem-inducing “Riot Act”; quick to haunt you are the philosophical ponderations of war in “Children Of A Worthless God” and “As It Was, As It Soon Shall Be”; sure to impress are the guitar tonalities, the righteously complex shredding, and the overall sophisticated finesse of “The Atrocity Exhibition,” “Iconoclasm,” and “Funeral Hymn.” Crowning off The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A’s sonic coup d-état is the cacophonous pacing of “Bedlam 1-2-3” which will not only ensure a dramatic rise in the National Blood Loss Index of countless mosh pits around the world, but will transform them all into Eternal Gardens of Bleeding.
The new disc includes three songs written with former guitarist Anthony Bradbury, namely “Valentine,” “Epica” and “21st Century Romance.” While Bradbury’s influence can still be heard elsewhere on the album, for the most part a new sound permeates. Certainly it is the innovation of guitarist Robin Kimball, but beyond that, it may be the sound of success. Produced by Juno award winner Brandon Friesen and released on local indie C12 Records, the money behind this album is audible in its glossy production.
Songs also included are covers of Sepultera’s “Roots Bloody Roots” and “Wish” by Nine Inch Nails. In a bit of a twist of fate, Tom Baker, who has worked with Nine Inch Nails, mastered the album.
Dreadnaut’s success can be attributed partially to hard work, but more so to the talent of its members. Steven Crooks is near the top of a short list of metal frontmen who can truly sing, and while his screams echo the anguish of one of hell’s finer demons, he manages to inject a degree of melody into even his harshest wails. His voice is probably best demonstrated on “Rise” — arguably the album’s best track.
Likewise, Dreadnaut enjoys the ability of near flawless drummer Chris Miller, utterly mind-blowing in his speed and precision, and guitarist Robin Kimball, who wrote the new material. The band is rounded out by bassist Randy Goshey, an essential element.
Having their songs translate well live is obviously a priority for Dreadnaut. If you’ve never seen the band play before, give this disc a twirl and you’ll be sure to remedy the situation, ASAP. The band works to get fans’ blood boiling from the moment they hit the stage, and songs like “Wasted Mess” and “Feel This” are sure to incite a new level of chaos.
The two weakest tracks on the album, “Epica” and “Still the Night,” are unfortunately at the end, and so the album fails to go out with the bang one might expect. On the whole, however, the disc is solid, and I look forward to see what’s to come next time around.
Jordan, host of the show Invoke the Music on Hollywood Music TV, recently interviewed the amazing band from the U.K, TesseracT.
Find out answers to some in depth questions on layers, sound, equipment and how they feel being compared to names such as Meshuggah, Periphery, Sikth and Textures.
Q: The name 'TesseracT', many people don't know what an octachoron is.
Can you please explain what it is, and how you came to chose this very
particular and unique name for the band?
A: TesseracT is the name we use for our ideal. Creating music that is fluid
and not reliant upon modern pop structure, much like a lot of tech metal
but more like alt rock of such bands as Pink Floyd, where it just evolves
and develops all of its own accord. Often it tells us where to go! There is
no scientific connection, it just fits our vibe. Its different, but
without a doubt us. Plus why not? Its better than new kids on the block
and they didn't do half bad!
Q: While writing out music, do you take a notational approach? Or a
mathematical one? Or is that something that just happens?
A: It definitely just happens, its all about the groove. A lot of bands
sacrifice the groove of a section to fit it into a mathematical idea or
structure where as we are not interested in that. No time signatures,
harmonic structures, or math music approaches, just...music. As simple and
as complex as it can be. It took a while for us to drop our musical
habits and just play!
Q: Where do you draw your unique style from?
A: All and everything we've ever listened to. Some of it is quite clearly
'filmic' for lack of a better word, meaning it would work very well as a
soundtrack - we're Moricone of the Rock world - haha. Sounds are just as
important as structures and melodies to us, so maybe by having an ear for
that side of things has helped us develop an edge?
Q: How do you guys deal with the attention you are receiving? Any crazy
fan stories?
A: To be honest apart from the odd grab of your bits at a gig
or an over enthusiastic fan after a show, we don't get that much. We
ain't Backstreet Boys level yet, but there's still time to reach that
goal. Some amazing dude in the U.S. made a tesseract out of ballons - that
was fucking great. The amazing thing is that as we're only gigging in
the U.K. at the moment, people are traveling to see us from other
Countries. We've had people from Sweden, Italy, France and fucking
Canada! I mean what the fuck! Ontario, Canada to London, England - wow!
That’s amazing.
Q: Have you guys gone through any intense transformations in between
the first song you wrote together until now? And if so, how, and what
inspired it?
A: The older stuff was wrote without the idea of a vocalist, so it has a
lot more going on, more layers and stuff that would get in the way of a
vocal line. But now with Abi here, there’s more room in the tracks for
him to do his thing. So really that’s the only change. Maybe
arrangement-wise there’s more attention to sounds used, not just
distortion and that’s it!
Q: You guys have a very large following , almost a legion of people, who
think you kick ass and are spreading the word over the net etc. What
do you have to say to your fans?
A: You guys are amazing. It’s so good to hear from you so keep getting in
touch and letting us know where you're from. Its just so cool to hear from
the farthest reaches of this massive yet somehow tiny planet we live on.
Q: When experienced metal heads hear you for the first time, they may
think 'Meshuggah', how do you react to that?
A: We don't have a problem with it, its a compliment to be compared to them,
I mean come on, if we toured with them they'd hand our asses to us every
single night. They are amazing live. But bands always sound like
Each other, take the new new new wave of heavy metal. Jeez those bands
sound exactly the same as each other and no-one seems to go -“hey is that
Lamb of God, or Slayer or Metallica.”. It’s almost like when people here rap
music for the first time or rock and metal - they generalize. That’s cool.
So the response to us is like the audio equivalent of a sheltered white
guy who doesn't have any black friends and thinks all black guys look the
same - haha - wicked! People always generalize. They start with the
bigger picture and then gradually get the details as they discover more.
One thing though, can't remember the last time Meshuggah had any singing
in it?
Q: Do you guys feel like you are part of a new style/movement in metal
music along with bands like Periphery, Sikth and Textures?
A: Well apart from Sikth being no more, there is a repeat of the prog days coming
around again, which is cool. There is definitely a move towards less
standard stuff. Again to be put in the same league as Textures,
Periphery and Sikth is a surprise to us. We don't consider our stuff all
that metal, and like Textures enjoy exploring other aspects of sound and
genre. Lets just hope we can keep it real and not disappear up our own
arseholes like many a good prog rock band has done!
Q: You used to do home recordings which sounded phenomenal, what made you
want to go into the studio?
A: Firstly, it's what every home recording aficionado dreams of doing. When the chance arises you have to take it. Secondly its real hard recording a drummer in a tiny space, and the equipment in some of these
big studios makes everything so much easier. Don't get me wrong it's possible to do anything anywhere these days, but a big massive desk and
lush mics and preamps encourages great performances and makes getting
great sounds easier.
Q: Acle, you used to be the sole member of this band right? How has
adding members affected the music overall?
A: [Acle] I hate it - every night I cry, my baby, my baby....hahahaha
Q: What's going on with you guys getting signed? What would you look for
in a contract?
A: Money money money...jokes. Vision, commitment and a proven track record.
We realize we ain't gonna hit no.1 on the billboard charts, but give it
a few years and who knows! TesseracT could be the next Tool, touring
stadiums throughout the world. But money would be nice too.
Q: Acle, you are the guitarist for Fell Silent, do any of you other guys
have other bands? How will TesseracT effect those?
A: [Acle] Yeah Jay is in a band called Heights, who are great, and Mos works as a
session musician for a fairly well known band so there will come a point
when the shit hits the fan and clashes occur, but we'll just have to
wait and see. Although TesseracT is an obsession for all of us so we all
know the answer to that question really.
Q: You guys have taken your time with releasing tunes and making moves.
Do you guys have a 'slow and steady wins the race' attitude? When do
you see TesseracT exploding?
A: It would be nice to say ‘now‘! But we do take
our time, simply because its not easy to right this stuff. As there is no
formula, its a case of inspiration hitting, and following the story as
far as the song will take us. We are finishing of our first mini album -
called Concealing Fate. Finally we can put a nail in that one and move
on! And then there is the demos for the album which we have just started
too. It'll take a few more months yet but we'll get there and it'll be
worth it too!
Q: TesseracT uses many musical layers. Some of the sounds that you guys
get are very esoteric. What is the approach to writing with layers,
and where do you find the sounds?
A: [Mos] The sounds come from experimentation, and to be honest so do the ideas. I always come up with loads of sound ideas, but they'll be sparked from the original ideas that Acle
puts down. He'll be the first to admit - he just jams along to what he's
put down on tape and experiments that way, just letting himself get
immersed in the tone and groove.
Q: On the layers topic, are any of your songs have difficulty translating
into a live setting?
A: Its very simple to take it live as we use a sequencer in addition to us playing. So at times it'll sound like a wall of guitars and synths, with just the 5 of us on stage! We're working on a Milli Vanilli thing so Abi doesn't have to sing anymore
Q: Your music has a lot of emotional 'color' to it, what kind of mindset
do you get in when you write?
A: Again just get immersed until the right vibe is hit. Often until the vocals are added its very hard to predict he nature of the final emotion though, so we're always accepting that
it might change. When people hear your songs, they immediately know that it's TesseracT.
Q: What do you think creates this signature sound, and how
would you describe it?
A: Thats like asking the cornel for his secret recipe! We're hoping now that the vocal demos are getting out there too that Abi's unique character and timbre will add to that TesseracT 'sound',
but I'm guessing its the groove, vibe, and production, all of which we
strive to make as good as we can, yet keep human.
Q: A lot of people have partially accredited it to the gear that you use
with your signature sound. Have you changed your gear up at all over
time? Why?
A: Yeah it can't be just our gear as we change it all the time -
upgrade it. Acle has just gone from Pod's to Axe FX Ultra's. The gear is
inspiration for the tunes basically, we get a new toy then a new track
comes along - haha. Basically, and this may seem like a contradiction to
an earlier answer, but I suppose we do have an idea of what we want and
how to use certain tools to get these.
Q: What advice would you have for young bands that look up to you guys?
A: Don't try and copy anyone. What will make you unique is creating your own
sound. Now you'll discover that many many others have done what you've
done before but don't let it dishearten you. Most importantly though -
surround yourself with musicians that inspire you. If you are the
guitarist in a band and you're a better drummer than the one you have -
get a better one! Never ever give up, do it for the love and the money
will come soon enough, well that’s what we hope anyway!
Don’t miss the opportunity to see TesseracT headlining the unsigned stage at Bloodstock
Sunday, August 17th.
Bloodstock: Nightwish, Soilwork, Dimmu Borgir, Kataklysm, Soulfly, As I Lay Dying, Opeth, Helloween, Iced Earth, Overkill, At The Gates, Primal Fear, Communic, Mob Rules, Moonsorow, Kataklysm, Soulfly, Swallow The Sun, Eluveitie, Napalm Death, Destruction, Evile, Hospital Of Death, Akercocke, Praying Mantis, Cloudscape, Alestorm, Heaven’s Basement, Ravens Creed.
Invoke The Music Commercial [http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x4yaec]
by InvokeTheMetal [http://www.dailymotion.com/InvokeTheMetal]
Hollywood Music TV Canada welcomes and is proud to announce our first VJ Jordon
And Jordan will be starting her show "Invoke The Metal" covering the Canada area....
www.hollywoodmusic.tv/jordan
www.myspace.com/invokethemetal
www.myspace.com/echoshade
Introducing Jodan, Canada's very own Hollywood Music TV VJ! That’s right! HMTV has spread there wings over to Canada in the form of Jordan! Now you lucky kids over there can get in on the action too, and her new show called "Invoke The Metal" will be airing here on HMTV soon!
STEPPIN' ON THE SCENE TO ROCK YOU OUT! My new show, Invoke the Metal, has found it's new home here on Hollywood Music TV and I am STOKED! I couldn't be happier with all the support from the staff here at HMTV. I want to thank them all so very much from the bottom of my heart. Especially STEVE. I'm here to bring you music you can bang your head to, post photos, behind the scenes footage, air music videos, bring you extensive coverage of the music scene, and interview your favorite bands to bring you the latest scoops on what they are up to!!
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