Reviewed - 09/10/04

1982 Demo 7"
[Devil Metal Records]

Holy shit... What is this? I got this special limited edition 7" vinyl version of Exodus's first 1982 demo, and I wasn't expecting this at all. I first got into the band when "Bonded By Blood" was released and have been a big fan of the band's ever since, and they are in fact one of my favorite bands ever. I thought they always sounded from the time they formed like they did on "Bonded By Blood", but I wasn't prepared to accept how wrong I was.

Let's get this straight-It is 1982 and thrash was in its infancy in the US. But still, even considering the early year, this album is just... kind of weak. Don't get me wrong, this demo is still definitely thrash, but there is a whole lot of L.A. metal influence to be heard here, and nearly none of the aggression can be found on here that was on their later albums. One noteworthy thing to add here is that this demo was recorded while Kirk Hammett was in the band. A bit before he joined "You know who". And you can tell he's in here too, especially during the solos of his that ended up becoming his trademark. Those solos aside, his regular style of playing, while still recognizable, is still a bit fluffy for me on these tracks. Don't get me wrong here people, I like this demo, it's just that it's quite a shock to me to hear what they sounded like back then.

The vocals by Paul Baloff are so out of reality of what I know his vocals to be like on "Bonded By Blood" that it's hard to describe. At times he almost resembles a cock-rock vocalist and very rarely does he use the twisted and demented psycho style that he became synonymous for later on. I can't really comment on the lyrics here as they were not included in this album, but from what I can pick out of the lyrics and from the song titles, the content seems to be fairly early 80's fare too.

The production is extremely horrid! I'm thinking this may be a bootleg, but it's bad even for a bootleg. The guitars are what comes through on this album, and for some odd reason the bass too. Usually bootlegs don't have any bass to them, but the bass is loud and almost clear here. But on the down side, the vocals are drowned out and and Tom Hunting's drums are sadly almost non existent.

The layout of the album is very bland. The cover is just a white Exodus logo on a black background which is really cheap looking if you ask me, even though I've always thought that Exodus's logo was cool. They could have put something more on the cover to spruce things up, but maybe that was what was on the original demo and they were trying to recreate that. In that case, the bland cover would be acceptable. The coolest thing about the packaging is the black and white picture of the band on the back sleeve. It was taken in 1982, and while I've seen a few pics of Kirk Hammett with Exodus, I've never seen this one before, so that's a small added bonus.

Holy hell, has Exodus been around for twenty two years already? Well, if that doesn't make me feel old! Almost as old as these songs sound, eh? I know a band has to start somewhere and their sound will change over time, but after listening to this demo I am just so glad that Exodus ditched the sound on this album and ended up sounding like they did on "Bonded By Blood" and "Pleasures Of The Flesh" instead. Like I said earlier, I like the music here, but I don't like it nearly as well as their proper albums. I can't recommend this to casual Exodus fans because the production is just so horrible that if you just want to buy it for the music you'll be disappointed, but Exodus fans and collectors should try to get this if you can. It may sound bad, and it may be an undewhelming experience overall, but this stuff is an important part of heavy metal history, and it should be revered as such