''Never judge the book by it's cover'', I have done that at several occasions when I've been out for hunt after new albums. I saw the album cover of
Exodus's Force Of Habit and I thought that this album was be wierd as... you know. I had heard pretty much of their earlier work and I thought that this album was the same deal but now when I finally got from a friend I changed my mind very quick. The sound was quite awesome I must say, not perfect but it was thick and sturdy but it still had some classic elements from the Bay-Area veterans. The vocals was pretty much the same but the guitars were heavy and solid, the bass was though not anything impressive and the drumming was great. The speed was turned down but it was still fast and catchy and of course very enjoyable to listen at.
The line-up for this album was the vocalist Steve Souza, ace-guitarist Gary Holt, second guitarist was Rick Honult, the bassist was Mike Butler and the drummer was the quite well-known John Tempesta. Steve's whiney and slightly pissed off vocals is always enjoyable, though many people would think of him as a bad vocalist but he gave [/b]Exodus a unique sound or character if I say so. Gary Holt who is now the only sole member today was great in this album, his riffage and soloing was awesome. There was pretty much melody in the guitar work, especially in the solos, they were very interesting to listen at because of their melodic and catchy sound. Rick Honult did also great in this album, the rhythm sections were as I said sturdy, solid and heavy. The riffing was very catchy and you were almost forced to headbang in most of the songs, nearly perfect guitar work in my opinion. The bassist Mike Butler did a quite decent performance, though his bass wasen't to audiable he hung on to the rhythms very good and he did some intro sections. John Tempesta did great, he has played in other famous bands like
Testament, Rob Zombie and more. The drumming was agreat blend of good old-fashioned thrash and common heavy-metal drumming, the patterns had a good variety and they were also very catchy.
The songs on this album was solid headbang tracks, the album opens hard with [uThorn In My Side[/u], a song that delivers heavy and catchy shredding. The tempo is fast but not too fast, the song is very easy-digested and you want to listen to this many times, the guitar solo is almost in ace-class.
Me, Myself & I starts off with somewhat chunky and staccato riffing along with a extracted solo. The tempo increases and so does the shredding, and gets awesome! The guitar work in this song is very catchy, heavy and fast, if you were headbanging in the first song so be my guest and do it here to.
Force Of Habit cranks out a bass intro which is later followed by chunky and half-slow chuga-chuga guitars. The song is in the middle in between slow and medium, though the song is catchy. You could headbang to this too but I prefer a faster pace than this though, great soloing by the way.
Bitch is a cover from the
Rolling Stones, the song is pretty catchy and there is jazz as backup music I would say. The song is really rocking, thrash blend in classic rock sounds very good but I prefer just pure thrash though.
Fuel The Fire delivers fast drumbeats and power chords as intro, the drum pattern changes to a more thrash-based pattern and the riffing gets chunky a la
Exodus style. The song is not as good as the previous ones, the tempo is fast but the catchiness is not so high here.
One Foot In The Grave moves in a slower pace, more heavy chuga-guitars here with a grinding feel and mellow drumming. You can also hear the bass pretty good in this song too, this is one of the slower songs but it is yet quite catchy.
Count Your Blessings starts with cruel guitars and bursts of drum rolls. The song gets into a thrash attack with fast drumming, the guitars are crunchy, fast and very catchy. Hope you bang your head here because you get out the best effect from the song then.
Climb Before The Fall kicks off with a fast drum section, the guitars enters and form a ''marching'' sound. The sound really grooves in this song, it seems a bit bumpy but you can't sit still when you here this song. The catchiness is not so high but you follow on with the song any how, though you would get tired of this song pretty quick I think.
Architect Of Pain slowly builds up its sound in the intro which feels very haunting and spooky but yet heavy. The whole song is basically haf-spooky all the way through, the song is quite heavy but it gets catchiest after seven minutes where the pace is turned up.
When It Rains It Pours also kicks of with a fast bass intro, later fast and technical riffage begins along with catchy drumming. Once again you can bang your head and feel goo. The song has a dangerous catchiness, the song is easy to follow and you can almost feel some adrenaline flowing in your veins, superb guitar solo I must say.
Good Day To Die starts with a country-based intro with acoustics and classic country guitars. That sections stops to give room for a more heavy and bonecrushing sound, the song is a slow grinder song in other words. The song may not be so catchy but it sounds very good and it has the same structure throughout the whole song.
Pump It is a cover from
Elvis Costello if I remember it right. The song feels more like common rock mix with some thrash elements, not so catchy and it doesn't grab my attention that good. This is the only song that I don't enjoy at all on the whole album.
Feeding Time At The Zoohe last track and it begins with a man calling a woman. He asks what kinds of monkies she has, he then says that he is going to make a monkey soup I think he says. The song breaks free and it is the most thrashiest in my opinion, the song is very intenive, not so catchy but the riffing is quite interesting to listen at. A very chaotic song and it does a good ending to this great album.
Man, this was greater than I thought! This was a true surprise for me because it was very heavy and the material was very catchy compared to what I have heard before. This album is highly recommended to thrashers of all kind and metal heads as well, if you like any type of Bay-Area thrash or East Coast thrash you will like this I'm pretty sure. I had a very good time when I reviewed this and I hope it was enjoying for you to read it too, if you have any kinds of criticism or praises just give 'em to me. Thank you.
PROS
+ Enjoying as h***!
+ Catchy material, you will get at least one or two songs stuck on your mind
+ The overall sound is thick, sturdy and heavy
+ The guitar work is nearly pure gold and the soloing is almost masterpieces
+ Steve's vocals is not overdone or to low, it sounds really good here
CONS
- I think though that the riffing might get a bit repetitive
RECOMMENDED TRACKS
-- Thorn In My Side
-- When It Rains It Pours
-- Me, Myself & I
-- Count Your Blessings
I want to give this high-score but I would not see it as a true classic but it is very darn close though, a proud
4.5/5 will it be
