So my brother Steve, son Ian, and I made the trek to Louisville’s Mercury Ballroom to catch thrash brethren Testament and Exodus with newcomers Shattered Sun.  Unfortunately due to work we only caught the last few minutes of openers Shattered Sun (new kids on the block from Texas who are soon to play Rockstar Energy Mayhem Fest this year), so I can’t make a fair comment on them.  However, we WERE there to catch the Bay area legends in action and they definitely did not disappoint.

Exodus kicked things off with intro cut “Black 13” from the new CD Blood In, Blood Out and never let up the intensity throughout the night.  The pit was pretty hot from the get go and we were positioned directly behind it, catching a few stray moshers and throwing them back in for some more good friendly violent fun.  Setlist was similar to the Covington show back in December with a few new ones thrown in:  “Salt The Wound” from the new disc was quite welcome as was early faves “A Lesson In Violence” and “Last Act Of Defiance”.  On a personal note, I’m so glad to have Steve “Zetro” Souza on vocals as he brings a little more dynamics (it’s true!) compared to former lead throat Rob Dukes’ more hardcore stylings (which I also enjoyed).  But as always with Exodus, Gary Holt and Tom Hunting just KILL IT; Holt finally getting the respect that he deserves after putting out some solid Exodus material over the past 10 years AND pulling double duty by taking over for the late Jeff Hanneman in the mighty Slayer, and Hunting’s skills behind the kit are extremely underrated especially in comparison to other thrash bands of the era.  I’ve always been a big fan of the Exo dudes and they are an incredible live act worthy of your attention.  Too much action may leave you in traction!

Now, as I mentioned I’d already seen Exodus just a few months ago so there wasn’t much of an element of surprise nor a certain anticipation like I had for Testament.  Last time I’d seen Chief and his band of merry thrashers was all the way back in 1990 with Annihilator and Wrathchild America in tow supporting Souls Of Black, so needless to say I was chomping at the bit to see them again especially as they were playing their first two discs in their entirety (The Legacy and The New Order, for you newbies).  Ian and I decided that being in front of the mosh pit would be best, so this time we were about three people deep from the stage.  Shortly thereafter, houselights dimmed and the band came roaring out with “Over The Wall” and from there it was one solid thrasher after another:  “The Preacher”… “Raging Waters”…  “Into The Pit”… “Apocalyptic CIty”…  “First Strike Still Deadly”… “Disciples Of The Watch”…  Chuck Billy was in fine form, ducking the high screams in favor of a midrange roar and a few death metal growls; Eric Peterson was a constant riff machine, tightening up and locking in the tempos from song to song; new bassist Steve DiGiorgio only had three strings(!) on his bass but put them all to good use by adding counterpoint to the guitarists; and Gene “The Atomic Clock” Hoglan lived up to his nickname, holding down the fort with his steady yet propulsive rhythms and pounding the skins from cut to cut.

Let’s see, who have I left out?   Ahhh… the one and only… Mr Alex Skolnick.  As we were waiting for the band to come out we got into a conversation with a fellow father and son duo, with the father calling Skolnick a virtuoso and that Ian would be in for a great show.  And boy, he did not disappoint.  We’d placed ourselves right in front of the man and were treated to a master class in technique and tone-  he may very well be my favorite lead player in thrash and well up my “favorite guitarists of all time” list.  Sweeping leads, fast runs, solid melodic playing…  hard to believe he was just 19/20 years old when these first two discs came out.  A serious, serious talent.

After the final one/two punch of “Practice What You Preach” and “Disciples Of The Watch” the show came to an end.  Once again I escaped death from the pit, although I got kicked in the back of the calf halfway through the show but the impact ’twas minor and all was good.  Heading out of the show, I bought Ian a Testament t-shirt and we made our way towards the car for the two hour trek home.  Although our ears were ringing, our thrash fix was not done:  Ian quickly cued up some early Testament and we headbanged out to the highway.