{"id":69648,"date":"2021-10-30T13:43:53","date_gmt":"2021-10-30T18:43:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=69648"},"modified":"2021-10-31T20:55:16","modified_gmt":"2021-11-01T01:55:16","slug":"exodus-persona-non-grata-music-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2021\/exodus-persona-non-grata-music-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Exodus | Persona Non Grata"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Dan Skiba<\/span>
\n\u2014 Contributing Writer \u2014<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The title Persona Non Grata<\/em> translates to \u201can unwanted or unacceptable person\u201d, and over the past few years there\u2019s been plenty of divisiveness and polarized views of what is acceptable that especially citizens of the USA have had to chomp on and deal with seemingly at every turn of life. With their 11th studio album hitting the streets, Exodus basically says they\u2019re tired of the country\u2019s division and even more tired of dishonest journalism forcing their own agendas and stirring the pot to incite unjustified anger and societal contempt. When you think of it, Exodus\u2019 stance pretty much fits perfectly into what Thrash used to always be about \u2026 a healthy release of aggression and a \u201cwe really don\u2019t give a fuck about what others think\u201d attitude.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s exactly what you get topically and lyrically from start to finish within the grooves of Persona Non Grata.<\/em> There\u2019s no fluff or overt attempt to conform to musical experimentation or trends. Rather, there\u2019s bone-crushing power chords, ripping guitar riffs, and frenetic solos by the twin-axe attack of Gary Holt and Lee Altus. Couple that with the consistent \u201cgargles with nails\u201d voice of Zetro Souza, the Animal-istic pound of Tom Hunting\u2019s drums, and the thumping fills of Jack Gibson\u2019s bass \u2026 all there to remind you that Exodus is still a band not for the faint of heart or casual Metal fan. So take heed of this warning \u2026 if you\u2019re going to delve into this new release, you better be ready for your ears to bleed and your heartbeat to reach danger zone levels.<\/p>\n

Credit goes out to Andy Sneap (Judas Priest) and Steve Lagudi for their work on mixing and engineering this album, respectfully. They found the true essence of power that Exodus wanted to deliver and they road it like a bucking bronco whose nuts just got pinched by a chain-link rope. As such there are no clunkers at all on this album, and each song individually stands on its own.<\/p>\n

The only criticism of this album is spawned from what is also successful. That being many of the songs come across without adequate variation. The riffs building each song are all good on their own, but when strung from one track to another, there is less differentiation than perhaps there should be. The drumbeats \u2026 all good, yet a bit too similar. The tempo in each song is electric and energizing \u2026 but most songs come across at the same speed. The list goes on \u2026 once you have a listen you\u2019ll get the drift.<\/p>\n

In sum, this is an album filled with many good songs. As an album, however, Persona Non Grata<\/em> falls a little short in variety and color. If you\u2019re the type of person who can eat steak and potatoes every day and love it, then this album is going to rock your socks off. But, for everyone else, the songs on this release may be better listened to as part of your overall Thrash mix playlist.<\/p>\n

Genre: Thrash<\/p>\n

Band:
\nGary Holt – Guitar
\nTom Hunting – Drums
\nSteve \u201cZetro\u201d Souza – Vocals
\nJack Gibson – Bass
\nLee Altus – Guitar<\/p>\n

Tracklisting:<\/p>\n

1. Persona Non Grata
\n2. R.E.M.F
\n3. Slipping Into Madness
\n4. Elitist
\n5. Prescribing Horror
\n6. The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves)
\n7. The Years Of Death And Dying
\n8. Clickbait
\n9. Cosa Del Pantano
\n10. Lunatic Liar Lord
\n11. The Fires Of Division
\n12. Antiseed<\/p>\n

Label: Nuclear Blast<\/p>\n

Online:
\nhttps:\/\/exodusattack.com\/site\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: [usr 7.0 size=20]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Dan Skiba \u2014 Contributing Writer \u2014 The title Persona Non Grata translates to \u201can unwanted or unacceptable person\u201d, and over the past few years there\u2019s been plenty of divisiveness and polarized views of what […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":69649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3407,339,15447],"class_list":{"0":"post-69648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music-reviews","8":"tag-exodus","9":"tag-nuclear-blast","10":"tag-persona-non-grata-review"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}