Exodus Chapter 41: Blood And Booze
On the eve of one of the most anticipated European rugby events for Wales and England, an accumulation of seasoned adults gathered outside a familiar Cardiff-based music venue to welcome back a band who had not toured through the country for twenty years. Although The Globe is not necessarily the most well equipped location, the legendary Exodus made their return all the same, giving a generous reminder that they are still a satanic force to be reckoned with.
The Welsh quintet known as Chaos Trigger opened with an intense flurry of drums, followed swiftly by a collection of intense riffs and floor shaking bass notes, creating a rippling ocean of hurricane hair before them.
The dread-bearing front man revealed a mighty roar and an energetic stage presence which led him to spend the majority of their set amongst the crowd, with aggressive blast beats and an unwavering temperament fuelling every movement. The group slowly dominated the easing-in awkwardness which was to be expected with any opening act before leaving the platform with heads held high.
Lost Society were the embodiment of four friends who happen to have the luck of being in a band together. The relationship they had between one another on stage was apparent from their opening track and the skill in which they wielded their instruments was jaw-dropping to say the least. With a care-free attitude which would make any aspiring musician green with envy, the group offered out a thrash-filled bouquet of old and new tracks including foot-stomping “I Am The Antidote” and chaos invoking “Terror Hungry”.
The four members’ long manes flowed over the stage like a well-placed shampoo commercial, engaging their fans with non-stop encouragement and their unique brand of wacky spontaneity including Samy making his appearance in nothing but Terror knee-highs, short shorts and a loose-fitted vest, clearly signifying that he was ready to tear the venue asunder.
Despite every hybrid of mosh pit demanded with an intimidating charisma, the four Norwegians proved to be grounded in modesty as they voluntarily hung around after they had finished, shaking hands and thanking followers while breaking down equipment.
After a relatively short period, Tom Hunting entered high fiving everyone resting on the edge of the stage, before mounting his drum kit in celebration of the bands long awaited return. Once the remaining members of the group had made their way into position, Steve Souza insisted that there be "violence tonight" but on a lighter note, made sure to remind everyone to "look after each other".
Carnage quickly swallowed the floor of the Welsh venue as the centre became as relentless and unforgiving as “Children Of A Worthless God” and “Blood In Blood Out”. Grown men braced walls and even one another as the pit slowly turned into a small vortex, consuming any that entered.
Although Mr Holt could not join his colleagues tonight, they had found a more than suitable temporary replacement named Kragen Lum (of the band Heathen) who fired off his ESP Arrow with great accuracy alongside Lee Altus and Jack Gibson, who all proved to be as professional as they were lethal with their technique.
Saluting their deceased comrade, Mr Souza announced that they wanted to dedicate their tour date successes to the memory of Ian Kilmister and incited a "Lemmy" chant as the group told their audience, that this is the way he would have done it, and if you don't like that well that's just tough because "this is Exodus baby!".
With flawless guitar solos revealing no lull to their former glory, the Californians covered a range of material from previous albums including ‘Bonded By Blood’, ‘Tempo Of The Damned’ and ‘Fabulous Disaster’. The occupants simultaneously swung their fists in admiration which endlessly fed the demon that fueled the unholy juggernauts.
As the night grew ravenous, the check-list had been completed. Consisting of blood, sweat and booze, the revered five-piece brought on their desired encore and stole whatever innocence remained with their last three songs including “Strike Of The Beast”. After nearly forty years in the field, no one could fathom the thought that Exodus had lost any of their long-standing dominance.
