The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A

The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A is an ambitious eighth album on which Exodus, with slashing riffs and ceaselessly accelerating rhythm, pushes thrash metal’s aggression to the limit. The second work of the new lineup welcoming Rob Dukes on vocals, it steps into longer, more elaborate song construction. The songs, even when long, never loosen their tension, and a ferocious, sure drive fills them to every corner, down to the details. From the development from the opener “Call to Arms” to “Riot Act” and the drama of “Funeral Hymn” to a cut like “Children of a Worthless God,” every song is engaging, while the title track “The Atrocity Exhibition” and a cut like “Iconoclasm” convey the work’s fullness. True to the unease the title suggests, the album dashes through a dark, extreme world at once. A record that united outstanding playing technique and overwhelming destructive power at a high level, again powerfully inscribing the Bay Area toughness. By deliberately placing many long songs, it further heightens the density and depth of its world. A powerful, engaging thrash-metal work showing the fullness of the Rob Dukes era — a record evoking the band’s underlying strength.