Oh what a night. December 3rd 2024. EXODUS, HAVOK and a whole lot more. I remember, what a night.
What a night indeed. For the love of all that is holy, Tuesday, December 3, 2024 will go down in history, for the couple hundred lucky souls in attendance to thrash the night away with the likes of EXODUS, HAVOK, DEAD HEAT, CANDY and THE ACCUSED AD at the Seattle institute that is the El Corazon.
For this review let's start with the headliner EXODUS, and oh my goodness did they pull no punches, looking great and sounding greater. The band needs zero introduction and their legacy should never be questioned as they are absolute legends and a staple of the Bay Area thrash metal scene. This current and long standing lineup includes Steve "Zetro" Souza, Gary Holt, Jack Gibson, Lee Altus and Tom Hunting. What a lineup!
EXODUS absolutely sounded perfect, pulling no punches as they ripped through a setlist covering their long standing career as a band, one that traverses over 40 years.
"The Last Act of Defiance", "Blood In, Blood Out", "Fabulous Disaster", "And Then There Were None", "Body Harvest", "Prescribing Horror", "The Beatings Will COntinue (Until Morale Improves)", "Brain Dead", "Deathamphetamine", "Blacklist", "Metal Command", "War Is My Shepherd", "Toxic Waltz" and "Strike of The Beast". Oof, what a set and they sounded brilliant and the pit was as toxic as the waltz that drove it. Huge kudos to EXODUS for not only hitting the road and bringing their quintessential thrash to the masses again, but for showing up and out with a collection of outstanding instruments (Gary's and Lee's guitars were eye wateringly beautiful) and an entourage of bands worthy of anyone's $$$.
Standouts in the EXODUS set were obviously "Toxic Waltz", "Brain Dead", "Blood In Blood Out", "Deathamphetamine", aww heck, they all were equally brutal and beautiful.
HAVOK, from Colorado were next to last and they too looked great and played a tasty set of trash metal that got the crowd primed for the headliner. Unfortunately for HAVOK the tech gremlins were hating on them as their PA dropped out numerous times throughout their set leaving the audience (and band) wondering what the frick just happened. Outside of technical difficulties the band didn't disappoint and slammed through a powerful set.
DEAD HEAT were the midpoint and wow, just frickin' wow, did they knock my jaw in the dirt. Being unfamiliar with them they had an old school SUICDAL TENDENCIES air about them that is missing and I truly got into. There was a set that got the first circle pit rumbling and I don't think it stopped until EXODUS left the stage. What a great band that I will be looking into more thoroughly as they were great.
CANDY was band 2 and they played a raucous set of grindcore metal with unfortunately vocals that were waaay too buried in the mix so we nary heard a peep from frontman Zak Quiram. A shame as they looked and mostly sounded proficient.
Lastly, or first up was a treat for a local Seattle guy like me and I was as happy as can be to hear that THE ACCUSED was opening the show. Nowadays they go by THE ACCUSED AD as unfortunately the sands of time has taken some of the band's original members from us. THE ACCUSED AD absolutely ripped, sounded amazing and touched on numerous classics in their tight, but all too limited early slot. For those not familiar run, I mean RUN out and get you some of Martha's metal, you will not be disappointed in the least.
In conclusion, what a brilliant night of trash metal, with a slew of really talented and similar, yet different enough bands for what can only be detailed as a great trash night. These "festival" type shows with a good number of bands is a lacking element in today's touring of "nostalgia" bands and I for one am all for it. The cost of admission, $30, was a steal of a deal for EXODUS, let alone 5 bands that decimated my ears for 4 hours!
