Bottom Line: While Slayer indeed took ball that Exodus created and ran with it successfully for nearly twenty years, the latter has returned to claim stake in the metal scene that they somehow failed to lead past the mid-eighties. To a degree, it is understandable that thrash developed a bad rap as the nineties progressed into the new millennium, since of the classic bands who were still around, few were making records that sounded anything like the albums that their legacies were built upon. Exodus cleans up that mess by staying more true to their roots than any Bay Area metal band has, ever. Period. And as the taboo against metal begins to finally shed its skin for the first time in music history, the stage is finally set for Exodus to not only produce an album as immense as Tempo Of The Damned, but to have it deservedly recognized for the greatness that it embodies.