Starting 2008 off on the right foot by launching their first North American tour in support of their latest Billboard-charting album, The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A, EXODUS will soon be bringing their trademarked brand of fist-in-the-face music to a back alley near you. In tow will be GOATWHORE from New Orleans, Virginian labelmates ARSIS, and L.A.’s WARBRINGER.

“We tour more and longer and with fewer days off now than we ever did in our 20s,” states guitarist Gary Holt in a recent interview with KNAC.com. “I think it has to do more with not lagging and keeping things moving forward. When we were younger, we had the luxury of days off, but days off were expensive. The more shows you do, the less money you burn on the bus being parked outside a Wal-Mart and having the crew do nothing – except maybe drinking a lot. Now when we’re on the road, we just do our thing and when it’s done, we may do a couple of shots, watch a movie, and play Uno for money. It’s the most fun when someone’s drawing cards trying to find their color and having shit for luck. Then we start talking shit, like ‘Taste the rainbow, motherfucker…’ [laughter]”

When asked by Synthesis.net about The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A’s anti-Middle East stance, Holt replied: “I never set out to make a political album. On ‘As It Was, As It Soon Shall Be,’ one thing led to another and it ended up as me taking another potshot at the Bush Administration. It was written from my point of view. This whole mess in Iraq… we went there for the wrong reasons. It wasn’t my battle, it wasn’t my idea to play ‘world police,’ and now we’re never going to get out of there. At the same time, I’m not a bleeding heart liberal.”

The band’s video for 'Riot Act' (which includes an Evil Overlord and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Recommended Daily Allowance of pentagrams) – shot by director Jon Schnepp of Metalocalypse fame - can be viewed on MTV's Headbangers Blog here.

Exodus live dates:

January

20 - Bakersfield, CA - Naducci
21 - West Hollywood, CA at House of Blues
22 - San Diego, CA at House of Blues
23 - Tempe, AZ at The Clubhouse
24 - Albuquerque, NM at Launch Pad
25 - Ft. Worth, TX at Ridglea Theater
26 - San Antonio, TX at White Rabbit
27 - Houston, TX at Meridian
29 - Winter Park, FL at The Haven
30 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL at Culture Room
31 - Atlanta, GA at The Masquerade

February

1 - Fayetteville, NC at Jesters Pub
2 - West Springfield, VA at Jaxx
4 - New York, NY at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill
5 - Rochester, NY at Penny Arcade
6 - Allentown, PA at Crocodile Rock
7 - Hartford, CT at Webster Theatre
8 - Bedford, NH at Mark's Place
9 - Poughkeepsie, NY at The Chance
10 - Cleveland, OH at Peabody's Down Under
11 - Huntington, WV at Huntington Music Hall
12 - Louisville, KY at Uncle Pleasants
13 - Milwaukee, WI at Vnuk's Lounge
14 - Cedar Falls, IA at Reverb
15 - Detroit, MI at Harpo's
16 - Mokena, IL at The Pearl Room
17 - Maplewood, MN at The Rock
18 - Winnipeg, MB at Garrick Centre
19 - Regina, SK at Exchange
20 - Calgary, AB at Warehouse
21 - Spokane, WA at Bourbon Street
22 - Seattle, WA at Studio Seven
23 - Portland, OR at Hawthorne Theatre
24 - San Francisco, CA at Slim's