Bonded by Blood

It had been a while since my last metal gig (possibly around two years), so when I heard that titans of thrash, Exodus, were going to play in York, I texted an old friend had said we simply had to go.

The tickets told us that doors opened at 7 and we arrived at around twenty past. This meant that we missed opening support act, Cryptic Shift, who had gone onstage at 6:45. They are apparently from Leeds and that's all I know. I doubt anybody else from last night knows much more as there were approximately fifteen people in the venue when we arrived.

Lost Society from Finland were next on the bill. I knew they were playing, but had lazily done zero research into them. I was pleasantly surprised. They seemed to have taken some of the greatest elements of metal and chucked them in a blender and it worked very well. There were shades of 80s thrash, Municipal Waste-esque crossover riffage and hardcore style breakdowns in most songs. The guitarists played intricate, warp speed harmonic solos, reminiscent of Becker and Friedmann on Cacophony's Speed Metal Symphony. They had fun doing it too, as did the steadily growing crowd. They survived a bass drum malfunction and their 45 minutes passed by quickly. Definitely a band to check out further.

And so it was time for Exodus, a band that formed over 35 years ago now which made me feel quite old. Imagine how old they all feel though. Strange to see a band that would have played massive venues 15 or 20 years ago playing a small club show, but these kind of intimate affairs are always much better.

I would like to say I'd noted the setlist, but it would have been un-metal to write such things down at a gig. I thought I'd be able to remember it all, but I can't. It seemed they played the same songs in the same order as every other night on this current UK tour, information I found on the imaginatively-titled website, setlist.fm.

Needless to say it was as heavy as fuck and the band were as great as I expected them to be. The moshpit was in full flow for the entire show, although as a man of now advancing years I watched it from a safe distance.

Notably absent from the line-up was Gary Holt, who'd taken his guitar painted with his own blood (yes, really) and grown a huge beard to go and play with Slayer instead. Heathen guitarist, Kragen Lum (if that's even a name), ably deputised.

Steve 'Zetro' Souza helped out those playing Support Band Bingo when talking of those who had graced the staged earlier in the evening, using phrases such as “new school”, “the future of thrash” and “carrying the torch forward”.

The band rattled through a load of songs, both old and new and they sounded like a cohesive unit. There's no margin for error at this level and they passed the test.

Ever wondered what a singer should do onstage when he's not singing? Zetro has it sussed. He stood and watched the guitarists solo whilst playing air guitar and 'doing the face' and he made devil horns at random crowd members whilst sticking his tongue out. It kept him amused and prompted my friend to call him “the Bez of thrash metal”.

He talked from the stage about the "brotherhood of thrash". Sadly he was right. Of the 300 or so people present, barely 5% were women. Metal does seem to have been something of a boys' club for a long time and it's not really right. Unless there aren't any women who like Exodus, but how is that possible?

Bonded by Blood and Toxic Waltz were busted out for an encore before the evening closed with Strike of the Beast.

The next thing I was in the street with my ears ringing.

I randomly spoke to a guy who had driven down from Newcastle for the gig on my way back to the car. It turned out his first gig was also Slayer at the City Hall in 1991. Small world.

One last comment about the merch. I love Exodus, but £70 hockey jerseys? Fuck right off.