''Persona Non Grata'' is the eleventh studio album by American
thrash metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
band
Exodus
Exodus or the Exodus may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible
* The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan
Historical events
* Ex ...
, released on November 19, 2021.
It is their first studio album since ''
Blood In, Blood Out'' in 2014, and their second to feature vocalist
Steve "Zetro" Souza
Steve "Zetro" Souza (born March 24, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his work as lead vocalist with thrash metal band Exodus from 1986 to 1994, and again from 2002 to 2004. He rejoined Exodus for a third time in 2014. Souza is one ...
since he returned to the band that same year. This album also features guest appearances from former Exodus guitarist Rick Hunolt and guitarist
Lee Altus
Lee Altus is a Ukrainian-American heavy metal guitarist currently playing in Exodus and Heathen.
Career
Altus first came to public attention in the mid-1980s with his original band, Heathen. He served as the principal songwriter and a fou ...
' bandmate in
Heathen, Kragen Lum, who both provide guitar solos on one of the album's tracks, "Lunatic-Liar-Lord".
Plans for the follow-up to ''Blood In, Blood Out'' were made as early as 2016,
and work on the album had been slowed down by relentless tour schedules and guitarist
Gary Holt's commitments with
Slayer
Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...
, until the latter disbanded in 2019 following a
farewell tour
A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...
; as such, it is the first Exodus studio album to be released since Slayer's disbandment. The recording sessions of ''Persona Non Grata'' took place from September to October of 2020,
with the album being fully completed in January 2021.
The album was initially set for release in the summer of 2021,
but it was pushed back to November, due to drummer
Tom Hunting
Thomas Hunting (born April 10, 1965) is an American musician. He is the drummer and only remaining original member of the thrash metal band Exodus.
Career
Hunting is the only original member of Exodus left, although he departed from the ban ...
's diagnosis with
squamous cell carcinoma
Squamous-cell carcinomas (SCCs), also known as epidermoid carcinomas, comprise a number of different types of cancer that begin in squamous cells. These cells form on the surface of the skin, on the lining of hollow organs in the body, and on the ...
of the stomach.
Background
After leaving Exodus in 2004 amid a bitter feud between himself and guitarist
Gary Holt, frontman
Steve "Zetro" Souza
Steve "Zetro" Souza (born March 24, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his work as lead vocalist with thrash metal band Exodus from 1986 to 1994, and again from 2002 to 2004. He rejoined Exodus for a third time in 2014. Souza is one ...
returned to the band in June 2014, and appeared on their tenth studio album ''Blood In, Blood Out'', released four months later. The album received positive reviews and the band spent more than two years touring behind it. When asked in a June 2016 interview with The Age of Metal when Exodus were going to release a new album, Souza said, "I hate to speak for everybody, because one of our members
uitarist Gary Holtplays in Slayer, which is very important to us and to him as well. And, actually, Gary is the main songwriter and has always been in Exodus. And so we'll have to, obviously, look at his schedule, but just having, actually, conversations with him since we've been home
ff the roadand conversations with
Tom, I mean, we know we need to keep new music going. And 2017 would be… Say it was towards the end of 2017… That would be three years since my return
o the bandand three years since ''Blood In, Blood Out'' came out. So I think that's fair to say you should be able to put a record out in that amount of time. And we've always been able to write an album in an… like, come home and concentrate on it, and within five or six months, we have it written and done — even less
imethan that. We know what we're doing. We know Exodus. We've been doing this for so many years. It's just like getting on a bicycle and riding it."
In a May 2017 interview with Metal Wani, Souza stated that Exodus would enter the studio around October or November to begin recording their eleventh studio album for a March 2018 release. Drummer
Tom Hunting
Thomas Hunting (born April 10, 1965) is an American musician. He is the drummer and only remaining original member of the thrash metal band Exodus.
Career
Hunting is the only original member of Exodus left, although he departed from the ban ...
added, "We're just structuring songs right now. I think we've probably got five or six maybe, and the makings for the rest of 'em — bits and pieces here and there." Souza explained that the material did not sound like a continuation of ''Blood In, Blood Out'' but rather "a lot of records put together, I think.", later describing it as "heavy as shit, though — really fucking heavy." Writing for the album had continued by January 2018. Souza later went on to say that fans would have to wait until at least the end of 2019 for the release of new studio album, mainly due to Holt's commitment to Slayer's farewell tour. He then said that the new album would possibly be released in late 2019 or early 2020, promising that the album would be "very violent and very heavy".
In June 2020, Exodus announced that they would begin recording their follow-up to ''Blood In, Blood Out'' in September;
pre-production of the album had begun a month earlier. In November 2020, it was announced the title of the album would be ''Persona Non Grata'' and was planned for release the following summer.
In April 2021, very shortly after drummer
Tom Hunting
Thomas Hunting (born April 10, 1965) is an American musician. He is the drummer and only remaining original member of the thrash metal band Exodus.
Career
Hunting is the only original member of Exodus left, although he departed from the ban ...
revealed that he had been diagnosed with cancer, Souza announced that the release of the album had been pushed back to November,
though as reasons he cited both Hunting's illness and vinyl manufacturing issues due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
On August 20, 2021, Exodus announced that ''Persona Non Grata'' would be released on November 19, and its lead single "The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves)" was released on the same day through streaming services.
On September 17, 2021, Exodus released the second single from ''Persona Non Grata'', titled "Clickbait".
On October 15, 2021, Exodus released the third single from ''Persona Non Grata'', titled "The Years of Death and Dying".
On November 19, 2021, the official release date of ''Persona Non Grata'', Exodus released the album's fourth and final single, titled "Prescribing Horror".
Critical reception
''Persona Non Grata'' has received highly positive reviews.
It was elected by ''
Loudwire
''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...
'' as the 23rd best rock/metal album of 2021.
The publication also elected "The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves)" as the 11th best metal song of the same year.
Track listing
All lyrics and music written by
Gary Holt except where noted.
Personnel
Exodus
*
Steve "Zetro" Souza
Steve "Zetro" Souza (born March 24, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his work as lead vocalist with thrash metal band Exodus from 1986 to 1994, and again from 2002 to 2004. He rejoined Exodus for a third time in 2014. Souza is one ...
– lead vocals
*
Gary Holt – guitars, backing vocals
*
Lee Altus
Lee Altus is a Ukrainian-American heavy metal guitarist currently playing in Exodus and Heathen.
Career
Altus first came to public attention in the mid-1980s with his original band, Heathen. He served as the principal songwriter and a fou ...
– guitars
* Jack Gibson – bass
*
Tom Hunting
Thomas Hunting (born April 10, 1965) is an American musician. He is the drummer and only remaining original member of the thrash metal band Exodus.
Career
Hunting is the only original member of Exodus left, although he departed from the ban ...
– drums, backing vocals
Additional musicians
* Rick Hunolt – lead guitar on "Lunatic-Liar-Lord", backing vocals
* Kragen Lum - lead guitar on "Lunatic-Liar-Lord"
*
Cody Souza – backing vocals
* Nick Souza – backing vocals
Charts
References
{{Exodus
Exodus (American band) albums
2021 albums
Nuclear Blast albums