Last week, a Facebook friend posed the question: Which band drastically fell off after the release of their debut album? The first band that came to my mind was Exodus. For my money, Bonded by Blood is the greatest thrash album of all time. With all due respect to Paul Baloff’s successor, Steve “Zetro” Souza, the albums Exodus would record with him on vocals (with the exception of Tempo of the Damned) are all solid sixes at best in comparison to Bonded by Blood. And even if we took the best songs off each of those albums and compiled them into one “greatest hits” of sorts, we’d still be looking at a rough 8. So those are my feelings on the Exodus catalog that you must take into consideration before reading this review of their latest album, Persona Non Grata.
A lot has happened in the 7 years since Exodus last released a studio album. I vividly remember 15 year old me being thrilled when they announced Zetro was back after a 10 year absence (to say I didn’t care for Rob Dukes would be an understatement). I also remember being underwhelmed when the subsequent product of this reunion, Blood In, Blood Out, came out. Sure, there were a couple standouts here and there, but this felt less return to Tempo of the Damned and more a musical rehash of the Dukes era with Zetro on vocals. Granted, I was in the minority. Every snot nosed teenage pizza thrasher fawned over this album before abandoning thrash altogether for the likes of hipster sanctioned metal (i.e. Full of Hell, Gatecreeper, etc.). In other words, Blood In, Blood Out was one of thrash’s last gasps, at least in the grand scheme of things.
Fast forward to this week and Exodus is back with a new album of the same generic modern groove-thrash they’ve been cranking out for 15 years. Similar to Blood In, Blood Out, Persona Non Grata has its moments. Cuts like “Lunatic-Liar-Lord” and “The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Prevails)” are throwbacks to the band’s 80s glory days, with the latter sounding similar in spirit to “Deranged” and “Impact is Imminent”. Mid-tempo and malicious, “The Fires of Division” is another track I can get behind. There’s no shortage of ripping guitar solos, courtesy of founder Gary Holt and the technically inclined Lee Altus, and Zetro’s vocals only grow stronger with age. Unfortunately, my praise ends there.
Despite the talent behind this album, and the occasional flashes of old school excellence, Persona Non Grata is a largely predictable one sided affair. From the opening title track, I knew exactly what was in store: fast, angry thrash, moshy hook, groove laden chorus, repeat. This hastily thrown together template applies to a good chunk of this album (“Persona Non Grata, “Slipping into Madness”, “The Years of Death and Dying”, etc.). The few songs it doesn’t apply to are the aforementioned highlights, and worse yet, the full blown forays into groove. In particular, I’m talking about “Elitist” and “Prescribing Horror”. “Elitist” comes off like a throwaway from the largely forgettable Force of Habit (1992), while I assume “Prescribing Horror” is supposed to be some nod to Black Sabbath, with its slow riffing and hellish lyrics chronicling the use of babies for war experiments. Instead, it comes off like a lost cousin of Hatebreed’s.
I’m sure every establishment metal outlet from Metal Injection to SiriusXM’s Liquid Metal is already praising Persona Non Grata as a “late career triumph”, just like they did with the new At the Gates, Carcass, and Iron Maiden, all of which were sub-par at best. Who knows? Maybe these industry gatekeepers really do enjoy the new albums from these veteran bands…or they’re just coddling them because they’d lose their jobs if otherwise. Something tells me it’s more the latter. That’s why I’m glad I’m my own boss. Every opinion you’ll read on Defenders of the Faith is mine and mine alone. It was not bought by a record label, manager, PR conglomerate, etc. It was independently and critically assessed by yours truly before being settled on. My opinion on Persona Non Grata? If you play it backwards, maybe you’ll hear something half as good as Bonded by Blood. You sure ain’t gonna hear it forwards.
3 out of 10
Label: Nuclear Blast
Genre: Thrash Metal
For fans of: Testament, Death Angel, Machine Head