Exodus

Veterans of the first wave of Bay Area thrash, Exodus helped create the classic, punishing '80s sound alongside friends Metallica (who swiped their original lead guitarist, Kirk Hammett) and Megadeth, as well as Anthrax, Slayer, and a clutch of other speed-crazed peers. Albums such as Bonded by Blood and Fabulous Disaster were required components of any decent thrash collection, and their mosh-pit anthem "The Toxic Waltz" was a staple of MTV's Headbanger's Ball.

As the decade closed, though, Exodus's fortunes waned; one 1990 tour found them billed between Suicidal Tendencies (remember them?) and some Texas outfit nobody'd ever heard of, called Pantera.

They've just released a comeback album, Tempo of the Damned, with singer Steve Souza (original vocalist Paul Baloff left in 1987 and returned a decade later; he died suddenly in 2002). It's a solid effort, better than some records from the band's heyday. Live, the new songs are sure to mix seamlessly with such classics as "A Lesson in Violence." You kids there, with your Slipknot T-shirts -- you don't know nothin'. Go see what your older brothers moshed to, ya little bastards.