Well well well, what have we here? Eoxdus needs no introduction and Blood In Blood Out heralds Steve Souzas comeback to the band he left following the brilliant Tempo of the Damned which was released all the way back in 2004. Another comeback of sorts is the appearance of founding member Kirk Hammet on the title-track, but more on that later. Exodus’ last couple of albums barring Let There Be Blood have been a mixed bag. Select songs of both Exhibit A and B were brilliant, but both albums were overlong and tedious, resulting in a general loss of interest halfway through each of the albums. Throw the best songs from each album together however, and you have an album that rivals even Overkill’s latest output, which is saying a lot considering how Overkill have run circles around pretty much everyone the past decade.

And what do you know, with Zetro back in the mix the shovel headed killing machine starts out with chest-pounding easily reminiscent of his earlier days with the band. As soon as you shake off the off-putting industrial sounding intro, Black 13 takes a firm hold of your hair and slams you head-first into the nearest wall. Where Exhibit B’s bite was about as severe as a toothless aging woman without dentures, the first four songs flashes that of a shark, ripping flesh and snapping bones. Enter Salt the Wound, another face-stomping thrasher with the guest appearance of prodigal son, Kirk Hammet, who manages to not totally abuse the wah-wah pedal and provides some truly blazing lead guitars here. As far as the rest of the bunch goes on the rest of the album, Gary Holt and Lee Altus are complementing each other nicely with solid riffs and great leads. Tom Hunting, one of the best drummers in the business blazes beats like a machine-gun and Zetro delivers as if no time has passed since Tempo of the Damned.

So even if this is a huge step up from their two pervious records, this record also suffers a bit from dabbling with nonsensical grooves as heard on BTK, and the second part of the album is nowhere near the first in terms of quality, not unlike both Exhibits. That said, Honor Killings and Food for the Worms certainly makes things interesting towards the end, the latter being the most vicious thrasher this band has recorded since Funeral Hymn. So even if its far from flawless, this is the sharpest Exodus has sounded since the monstrous Shovel Headed Killing Machine, and thus easy to recommend. Just skip the version with the bonus track, as they murder (not in a good way) Angel Witch’s Angel of Death.