Exodus return with Goliath, a blistering new chapter that proves the Bay Area legends still hit just as hard forty years after Bonded By Blood helped ignite thrash metal.
For more than four decades, San Francisco thrash institution Exodus have operated with a single guiding principle: keep it loud, fast, and uncompromising. Since detonating with their 1985 debut Bonded By Blood, the band has remained one of thrash metal’s most enduring forces, delivering records that helped define the genre’s ferocity while continuing to sharpen it with every passing decade.
That legacy now charges forward with Goliath, their twelfth studio album and first for Napalm Records. Arriving 40 years after Bonded By Blood first rattled our bones, the new record finds Exodus still pushing their trademark breakneck attack while opening the door to a broader range of ideas and collaborators.
"The Californian pioneers of thrash metal return hungrier than ever with their twelfth album, GOLIATH, which more than lives up to its name" - Metal Hammer
Back in the early ’80s, Exodus were simply another hungry band from the Bay Area chasing speed and volume. Fronted by the late Paul Baloff, their debut quickly became one of thrash metal’s defining records.
“We were just making music that we enjoyed and looking for the next good time,” guitarist Gary Holt recalls. “Back then the idea of turning 30 felt like life was going to be over. Now we’re talking about celebrating 40 years of that record.”
The years that followed only strengthened their reputation. Albums like Pleasures Of The Flesh and Fabulous Disaster introduced vocalist Steve “Zetro” Souza and delivered some of the band’s most enduring songs. A hiatus in the ’90s eventually gave way to a renewed era that produced modern favorites like Tempo Of The Damned and the acclaimed 2021 release Persona Non Grata.
Goliath marks the return of vocalist Rob Dukes, whose performance Holt calls a defining moment for the band. Musically, the album delivers the expected high-speed thrash attack while stretching into new territory with guest appearances from Hypocrisy's Peter Tägtgren and violinist Katie Jacoby.
“The new stuff is crushing, but it’s full of hooks,” Holt says. “There’s some surprises in there too. It’s all heavy as hell.”
Produced by the band and mixed by Mark Lewis, Goliath lands as another reminder that Exodus remain exactly where they’ve always been. Forty years after helping ignite thrash metal, they’re still chasing the next great riff.
"A relentless, uncompromising collection of thrash metal anthems – a pure masterpiece!" - Spark Rock Magazine