EXODUS — Bonded by Blood (review)

EXODUS — Bonded by Blood album cover Album · 1985 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Bonded by Blood" is the debut full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Exodus. The album was released through Torrid Records in April 1985. "Bonded by Blood" was already recorded and ready for release in the summer of 1984, but because of issues between Exodus and the record label, the release of the album was pushed. In retrospect that was probably one of the main reasons why Exodus didn´t make it as big as contemporaries like Metallica and Slayer. They simply missed their window of opportunity. Formed in 1979 by drummer Tom Hunting and guitarist Kirk Hammett, Exodus were otherwise one of the seminal thrash metal acts on the San Francisco, Bay Area scene and released two well received demos in 1982 and 1983. Kirk Hammett departed in 1983 to become a member of Metallica, but the band soldiered on without him. The lineup who recorded "Bonded by Blood" are: Paul Baloff (vocals), Gary Holt (guitars), Rick Hunolt (guitars), Rob McKillop (bass), an Tom Hunting (drums).

Stylistically the material on the 9 track, 49:18 minutes long album is powerful thrash metal, featuring pounding drums, sharp riffs, screaming solos, and a raw sounding vocalist in Paul Baloff. He is not a particularly skilled singer, but his unpolished singing style suits the material well (complimented by shouting riot gang backing vocals). Like most early thrash metal releases, "Bonded by Blood" also features its share of speed/traditional heavy metal elements (a track like "Metal Command" could be mentioned as a reference here), but it´s generally a pretty hard edged thrashy release. There aren´t much variation between tracks, but all tracks are catchy with hook laden shout-along choruses, which means they are still easy to tell apart although the main ingredients (riff style, vocal style, song structure...etc.) are almost the same on every track. Highlights include the title track, "A Lesson in Violence", and "Piranha", but all 9 tracks on the 40:31 minutes long album are consistent in quality and style.

"Bonded by Blood" also features a powerful and detailed sound production, which suits the material perfectly, so upon conclusion it´s a high quality debut release. I always measure early- to mid 80s thrash metal debut albums up against "Kill 'Em All (1983)" by Metallica, because that to me is THE thrash metal debut album from that time, and none of the other contemporary thrash metal artists (Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Testament, Overkill...), were able to reach the heights of that album, with their debut albums. "Bonded by Blood" on the other hand came close. To my ears this is one of the greatest thrash metal debut albums from that time as the songwriting is strong, the musicianship is on a high level, and the sound production is of a high quality too. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
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