Exodus rolled into the Gasometer as part of one of the strongest thrash packages of the year, sharing the stage with Kreator, Carcass and Nails on a bill that does not leave much room to coast. They did not coast. The set was brutal, fun, and completely uncompromising, which is exactly the version of Exodus everyone wants to see.
The big story is Rob Dukes back behind the microphone and they have a new album, Goliath, to promote. Whatever you thought of the lineup shuffles over the years, this configuration works. Dukes sounds reinvigorated, the new material punches as hard live as anything from the back catalogue, and the band plays with the loose, mean energy of a unit that actually wants to be on stage together. Gary Holt and Lee Altus traded riffs like they were trying to outdo each other, Tom Hunting hammered the kit with the authority of a guy who has nothing left to prove, and the pit responded the only way a Vienna thrash crowd knows how.
