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Exodus played in Montreal a few years ago, but you need to go back a lot further for their last headlining show in the city.  As crazy as it sounds, this is their first headlining tour in Montreal since 2010. For the occasion, they brought Havok, Candy and Dead Heat along with them to the Théâtre Beanfield.

With the combination of the cold weather and the lesser-known opening acts, it is normal that many fans were still getting inside the venue during the set of Dead Heat. Their crossover thrashing hardcore music is intense and even if they had literally no room to move on stage, the musicians displayed tons of energy. Their half-hour set gave many good reasons for fans to push each other in the pit and they loved every second of their performance.

It was now time for the band Candy to come on stage with their mix of hardcore and death metal music. Singer Zachary Quiram barely interacted with the crowd and pushed the songs one after the other when he was not sequencing prerecorded electronic samples in between songs. Fans were not really sure what they were watching or listening to, but they were all happy that their set lasted 25 minutes. 

Things really got serious when Havok got on stage with the song “Point Of No Return”. It did not take long to see the fans go crazy as the wall of sound hit them straight in the face. David Sanchez belted out the songs like there was no tomorrow and the new guitar player Brett Rechtfertig was having a blast on stage. Another thing that did not go unnoticed is the absence of bassist Nick Schendzielos as he is replaced by a crew member. The furious tempo continues from one song to the next as Pete Webber aggressively pounds his kit. This energy is rapidly transferred to the fans as they push each other as hard as possible. Songs like “Hang 'Em High” and ‘Prepare For Attack’ are the pinnacle of their set and you could finally see a few crowd surfers appear above the moshers.

The band played “Death Is An Illusion” and the self-titled track from their most recent EP entitled New Eyes before returning to their old classics with the excellent “Phantom Force”.  Their highly anticipated hour-long set was exactly what the doctor ordered and it ended on a high note with “From The Cradle To The Grave”.

After a short set change, it was time for Exodus to light the place on fire with their infernal riffs. Fans were already getting excited as the spoken introduction of “The Last Act Of Defiance” was heard and all hell broke loose when its hammering riff got underway. You can immediately see that the band is firing on all cylinders as Steve ‘Zetro’ Souza leads this organized chaos. The aggressivity keeps going as the band follows with “Blood In, Blood Out”, “Fabulous Disaster” and the excellent “And Then There Were None”. Gary Holt, Lee Altus and Jack Gibson are constantly on the move and their level of energy is simply off the chart. Looking around, you can see that the fans had tons of energy because the intense mosh pit never stopped. 

Their most recent album (Persona Non Grata) was only represented with the songs “Prescribing Horror” and “The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves)” around the halfway in the set before jumping head first into the old catalogue with “Brain Dead”. Tom Hunting looked in great shape once again behind the drums and pounded them energetically like there was no tomorrow. He even told me after the show that this night might be their best in the city. Gary Holt showcased many guitars from his collection once again, including his gorgeous Purple Reing guitar in tribute to Prince. The band kept the ball rolling with “Deathamphetamine”, “Blacklist” and the fan favourite “Metal Command”, but the best was yet to come. When you hear “War Is My Shepherd”, “The Toxic Waltz” and finally “Strike Of The Beast” in succession, you better brace yourself if you are on the floor because you don’t want to hit the floor.

Talk about an excellent night and fans on the floor looked dead tired, but they still wanted more. The only thing that could have made this night even better is if Montreal was one of the few nights that the band played a song or two from the album Impact Is Imminent.