Returning with their twelfth album, and their first with vocalist Rob Dukes since 2010’s Exhibit B: The Human Condition, Exodus are back with a vengeance. Newly signed to Napalm records, it’s been five years since the thrash legends’ last album, 2021’s Persona Non Grata, with Steve ‘Zetro’ Souza having been let go in the interim. That’s not the only change – for this release, the band opted to work with producer Mark Lewis (Chimera, Trivium, Black Dhalia Murder), having spent the last three decades under the watchful eye of Andy Sneap, and the diverse, aptly titled Goliath is the result.
It kicks off with the slow, sinister 3111, the echoing laughter of Rob Dukes adding to the unsettling aura the band exude, before a turbo-charged thrash riff rips out of the left-hand speaker and we’re off. A potent vocalist, Rob’s range seems to have expanded during his years in exile, while the solos that hurtle through the mix towards the song’s conclusion suggest a band revitalised – it’s one hell of an opening track. The band maintain the frantic pace with the harsh Hostis Humani Generis, a punk-infused thrash smear with suitably antagonistic vocals to match as Rob sneers, “I couldn’t give a fuck about how I act!” Next up, the opening notes to The Changing Me nod to Iron Maiden’s Golden Years, the deftly entwined leads adding melodic depth to a track that cruises, somewhat unexpectedly, on the back of a gnarly groove.
With The Changing Me having shown a different side to Exodus, the stabbing brutality of Promise You This rings the changes once again, pitching itself somewhere between Testament, Down, and Corrosion of Conformity. With Rob delivering a surprisingly catchy chorus drawn straight from the humid swamps of New Orleans, it’s a demonically memorable blast that stands in stark contrast to the album’s title track and, incidentally, its highlight. Brutally slow and molasses thick, Goliath is easily one of the darkest tracks that Exodus have ever penned, with Rob delivering yet another phenomenal performance behind the mic.
The second half opens with Beyond The Event Horizon. Initially a hyper-speed thrash workout, it comes as something of a shock in the wake of the slow-motion nightmare fuel that is Goliath, only for a series of neat tempo shifts to highlight the band’s musical skill. Taking their cues from Orwell, Exodus next unleash the 2 Minutes Hate, a track that, surprisingly given the subject matter, adopts a swingeing mid-tempo groove and sticks with it. One of the album’s more straightforward cuts, it makes up the numbers without really distinguishing itself, which only makes the nimble opening riff of Violence Works stand out all the more. Nailed by a particularly inventive performance from drummer Tom Hunting, it’s a splenetic number that builds to one hell of a climax.
The band slow the pace once more as they introduce Summon Of The God Unknown. A near-eight-minute, doom-laden behemoth, it slips into sonic territory previously inhabited by Pantera circa Drag The Waters, with Rob taking aim once more at the folly of organised religion. The album wraps up with the surprisingly upbeat The Dirtiest Of The Dozen. Almost trad-metal in its delivery, the introduction nods to both Maiden and Priest, adding another surprising twist to the album, although it soon steps back into old-school thrash territory, albeit with some of the album’s most impressive musical breaks, and it brings this eclectic album to a suitably brutal close.
Overall, Goiliath is a solid outing from a band who have been plying their trade since 1979. While the album doesn’t reinvent the wheel, and is arguably a couple of tracks above its fighting weight, it does boast a number of standout moments, not least the epic title track and the sludgy, melodic Promise You This. This, alongside vocalist Rob Dukes’ welcome return, makes for an enjoyable album that offers a much wider sonic palette than its immediate predecessors. 8/10
