After a successful delivery with their second album, Pleasures Of The Flesh, it was clear that new singer Steve “Zetro” Souza was the perfect fit to fill the shoes of original vocalist Paul Baloff.
Exodus had the Thrash Metal and Hardcore Punk audience at the palm of the hands. Ever since the band’s spontaneous birth onto the scene, they’ve made San Francisco their hunting ground and were side-by-side with Metallica, pushing the boundaries of heavy metal into something more advanced.
Once their presence became known it was nothing, but adrenaline-fueled mosh pits to show their gratitude for putting out earth shaking releases. By 1989, Thrash was no longer an underground secret. Groups like Slayer and Megadeth were established and quickly escalating in their careers, while Exodus was gaining credibility on a smaller yet reputable scale.
’89 was also the year that Exodus unleashed one of their most critically acclaimed albums, Fabulous Disaster. In a year that spawned Annihilator‘s debut, Practice What You Preach, Beneath The Remains and The Years Of Decay, Exodus was a key component in a time where the sky was the limit.
A genre made infamous with its mature subject matter, Fabulous Disaster covers many themes from child abuse to political corruption. They aren’t just talking about doing Satan’s work anymore. The major highlight on the record that makes it stand out above the rest is The Toxic Waltz, a national anthem for stage divers, describing the main activity being exercised at a live Exodus show.
Other memorable sections on the album include the devastating title track containing one of the best, rapid-fire choruses in their catalog. The southern vibe of Cajun Hell adds some diversity to the record, but it remains in the vein of what fans expect from Exodus. Another notable moment is the…brutally honest lyrics in Verbal Razors explaining the miserable state of someone’s life by every personal detail.
The newly developed songwriting is what puts Fabulous Disaster in a separate league than their other releases. It packs a punch in every instance without being dragged out for too long. As great as Pleasures Of The Flesh is, there are areas that fall flat in comparison.
There are times when you hear a brutal thrash tune that is nothing short of heavy, but once it continues playing for too long, it can lose the listener. That’s what happens often in Pleasures Of The Flesh and Exodus made a bold move by extending the length of their next album. This can be risky, because if the tracks lack substance, it can bore the audience.
Of course, this isn’t a problem they had to face.
As always, the band produced one of their heaviest efforts yet by creating a non-melodic masterpiece top to bottom. Although, this is a daily procedure for Exodus, Fabulous Disaster packs an extra punch with machine-like riffs and tempo changes. From the very beginning, the head-on collision that is the opening track, The Last Act Of Defiance, only introduces you to the in-your-face attitude that the album thrives on. Tom Hunting deserves recognition for the quality of the song structure as every song requires a galloping pace with Slayer style rhythm at all times.
Fabulous Disaster was the peak of Exodus‘s career and it proved that they are among the top contenders in the thrash scene.
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