After a huge absence from the music business, a failed reunion and the death of original singer Paul Baloff, Exodus returned with all guns blazing and ready to recapture lost ground. When I heard about this album, I never believed that it would or indeed could be a pure and true classic thrash album but, as weird as it sounded at the time before the current Thrash revival truly gained a grip, it actually was. Tempo Of The Damned was bay area thrash through and through.

This album is utterly fantastic, and sounds almost as if it was written and recorded right after ‘Fabulous Disaster,’ but with all the benefits of modern recording technology. Ignoring the trends, Exodus soldier on like its 1989 and unleash some of the best riffs and catchy thrash tunes ever, something of an anomaly (if not miracle) at the time of its release. Songs like the incredible ‘Shroud of Urine,’the semi-epic ‘Culling the Herd,’ and the now classic ‘Blacklist,’ are 100% Exodus, with riffs and grooves as great as anything from their 80’s albums.

There is one modern sounding song on the album, the very catchy ‘War is My Shepard,’ but it is such a fantastic song it is bound to convert even the most nitpicking Thrash purist. The song, along with ‘Impaler,’ serves almost as a warm up to the style the band would develop on their incredible Dukes/Atlus albums.

Yes, the cover artwork is stupid but so was Exodus cover. Some people criticize the production but again, all their 80’s albums had production flaws and this just helps to justify my claims that Tempo Of The Damned is utter classic Exodus.
To an Exodus fan, Tempo’ is a perfect way to bridge the new era with the old, the farewell performace of Zetro is a career highlight and this is also the final album which can use the term ‘the H-team,’ for the guitarists who similarly down awesome performances.

The album is a worthy addition to your collection for curiosity and historical significance alone, but it really gets by on its own merits too, this is just a great album and I can’t recommend it enough.
****