El Paisano

Issue date: 5/15/09 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: David Munoz Exodus' bassist Jack Gibson performs at the House of Blues in Hollywood. A full length interview with Gary Holdt and Tom Hunting is available at www.davefrommontebello.com

Judging by the line of fans down Sunset Blvd. on May 2 at The House of Blues in Hollywood, I knew we were in for a night of pure up your nose adrenaline and out of control chaos-maybe that's why the name of this tour was called "Hordes of Chaos."

Set to perform on this North American tour from all around the globe was Epicurean, Warbringer, Belphegor, Exodus, and headliner Kreator.

With nearly 30 years of history in the thrash metal books, Exodus is created by guitarist Gary Holt, vocalist Rob Dukes, guitarist Lee Altus, bassist Jack Gibson, and drummer Tom Hunting who still display the strength that metal can preserve for so long. Before a sold-out house, Bay Area's Exodus took the stage to chants of their name and opened their 1-hour set with a hard hitting performance of self-titled track "Bonded by Blood" from 1985.

Fans began to stage dive into a floor of moshers as the band unleashed "Iconoclasm" off 2007's The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A. Exodus then provided a lesson to the younger crowd with "A Lesson in Violence." Dukes asked the crowd "How you f***ers doing tonight?" prior to igniting a performance of "Children of a Worthless God." A fan jumped from a speaker into a sea of surfers as Hunting buried his head in the drum-kit to perform "Piranha." Halfway into their set, the youthful crowd put their horns in the air and created a non-stop mosh pit during a demonstration of "Deathamphetamine" from 2005's Shovel Headed Kill Machine. Dukes then acknowledged the band before the metal engine rumbled tightly with screams from hell during a performance of "Blacklist" and "War is My Shepherd" off Tempo of the Damned from 2004.

Exodus then proceeded to satisfy the chaos with fan-favorite "The Toxic Waltz" that induced additional stage dives. The band concluded their set with a "Strike of the Beast" in which Dukes directed the crowd to position themselves for the wall of death.

This set truly lived up to all the imminence prior to the show. Exodus will conclude their North American tour on May 26 in Tucson, AZ.

For additional information, visit the band at their official website www.exodusattack.com  For additional musical insight please visit www.davefrommontebello.com

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