Exodus - 1985 - Bonded by blood

Alas, the belated debut from one of the founding fathers of thrash!  
Adorned with a ridiculous cover that jut so happens to be one of my favorite album covers of all time,
Bonded By Blood belongs in any legitimate metal record collection, if only for the sheer metal-ness of it all.  
The tasteless and blasphemous cover art perfectly encapsulates the adolescent,
no-holds-barred attitude of these Bay Area legends.

Bonded By Blood is a torrid, bloodthirsty thrash album with a single intent; ANNIHILATION of everyone and everything in its path.  
Vocalist Paul Baloff (R.I.P.) made up for a lack of any discernible talent by screaming and yelling his head off;
shredding his vocal cords in the name of Satan and in the name of METAL.  
One of the most infectious OTT performances in metal history!  
You can envision the veins bursting from his neck and his mouth foaming white froth.  
Tales of rape, murder, and metal mayhem explode through the speakers with hideous, crude, Satanic ferocity.

The guitar duo of Rick Hunolt and Gary Holt (sporting wispy teenage mustaches) dished out top-notch riffs that may remind
the attentive listener of Kill ‘Em All era Metallica.  
(Kirk Hammett was once an Exodus member).  
With the intense drumming of Tom Hunting backing up the vicious guitar work, Bonded By Blood becomes a lesson in violence
you won’t soon forget.  
But above all else, Bonded By Blood is catchy!

The first six songs of the album all have memorable yell-along refrains.  
When I listen to Bonded By Blood, I usually listen to the first six tracks (Bonded By Blood through to Piranha),
and skip the last three songs.  
As for tracks seven through nine, these songs are not nearly as catchy, and seem a little less developed than the first six.  
Even though there are some great riffs here and there on No Love, Deliver Us To Evil, and Strike Of The Beast,
the songs lack structure, and Baloff seems to have contracted full-blown rabies by this point in the album, and his merciless,
insane screaming becomes almost too much to take.  
My only other complaint about Bonded By Blood is that Baloff’s vocals seem to be drowned in too much reverb.  
Other than that, the production is actually pretty good for ’85.  
All in all, Bonded By Blood is a must own for any self-respecting metal fan.  
Crank it up, and LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOR!


MY OPINION:
Once again, this review made by an Englishman is totally irrelevant.
To buy this album with its release, I was on the ass listening to new music, stronger and faster
than what was Iron Maiden or Judas Priest.
All this came from the Bay Area, where groups battled with crazy riffs to bursting .... All my youth ...
(Sorry for the mistakes, I'm not an Englishman)