Review by Brian McLean
Exodus, the long running Bay Area thrash band that once had Kirk Hammet in their ranks, is known for such classic thrash metal albums as the 1985 debut Bonded by Blood and Fabulous Disaster and now have released their first DVD titled Live at the DNA.
The two disc set, which is a self release effort by the band through Glasseye Media Productions, consists solely of the live set performed by Exodus at their Tempo of the Damned CD release party on March 11, 2004 at the DNA Club in San Francisco.
The DVD line up features Steve Souza on vocals, Gary Holt and Rick Hunolt on guitars, Tom Hunting on drums, and Jack Gibson on bass. It’s the same line up minus Gibson that recorded the now classic Exodus albums Fabulous Disaster and Pleasures of the Flesh.
The highly anticipated Tempo of the Damned CD was originally slated for a February 2, 2004 release date but was pushed back by Nuclear Blast Records due to unspecified production problems. The disc was finally released on March 23, 2004. It was the band’s first studio release since their Force of Habit album in 1992 through Capitol Records.
One camera positioned at the rear of the club, stage center and on the second level, captured the entire show. There are no other cameras thus giving the operator a one-time shot to document the live set. In other words, some may consider the footage lacking and not being pro-shot.
There’s plenty of zooming in and out from the stage and capturing the pit action that seemed to heat up more during Bonded by Blood selections as well as plenty of panning in the horizontal directions showing stage left and right.
The footage of the band is not flawless and has errors but that would be expected for a one-camera operation. There’s out of focus moments here and there but those are quickly corrected. As for the live recording, it works for the DVD.
The song list on the other hand is a gold mine from the Exodus repertoire consisting of 22 selections from Bonded by Blood, Pleasures of the Flesh, Fabulous Disaster, Impact is Imminent, and the full ten track domestic listing for Tempo of the Damned.
Unfortunately what some would consider the theme song for Exodus, titled “Exodus” from the Bonded by Blood release, and the cover of AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds,” which is the bonus track on the imported version of Tempo of the Damned, were not included in the set.
There are too many selections to choose from to please everyone, but the band pulled together a fine sampling for the release party. The entire 22-song show is divided equally between the two discs with eleven selections on each disc as well as the behind the scenes introduction and brief interviews with crazed Exodus fans waiting in line before the show.
Unfortunately, there’s no bonus material such as unseen historical footage, band history, photos or the discography. Keeping in line with the scaled down release, there’s no insert, just the two-disc DVD case, two discs and the cover.
On the other hand, the thing to consider now is that Souza is no longer with the band. The timing and reasoning of his departure confused fans. Other departures in the Exodus ranks since the release of the DVD include Hunolt, who recently left due to family now being the top priority, and Hunting, who had fallen ill and was no longer able to handle the drumming duties.
The DVD documents as close as possible the classic Exodus line up with Souza on vocals that released several albums on Combat/Relativity Records and then went on to Capitol Records.
The DVD will only be available via http://www.exodusattack.com, the official band website, for $21.50 and four dollars for shipping and handling. Shipping of the disc is fairly quick, within five business days in a protective bubble envelope.