Exhorder
Exhorder | |
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 Exhorder performing at Turok Open Air in Germany, 2018. L–R: Jason VieBrooks, Kyle Thomas, Vinnie LaBella | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active |
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| Labels | |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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| Website | www |
Exhorder is an American heavy metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana. They are considered progenitors of the groove-oriented thrash sound later made famous by bands such as Pantera and Machine Head, and their music has been regarded as a large influence on the New Orleans metal scene. Initially active from 1985 to 1994 and 2008 to 2011,[1] Exhorder has since reformed in 2017. To date, the band has released four studio albums: Slaughter in the Vatican (1990), The Law (1992), Mourn the Southern Skies (2019) and Defectum Omnium (2024).
History
[edit | edit source]
Early years and split (1985–1994)
[edit | edit source]Exhorder was formed in 1985 in New Orleans, Louisiana. After releasing several demos in the vein of pure thrash metal, they continued this sound with their debut studio album, Slaughter in the Vatican, released in 1990. They adapted more of a groove metal-oriented sound by their second album, The Law, released in 1992. The band broke up in 1994.
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First reunion and hiatus (2008–2011)
[edit | edit source]On May 9, 2008, the band had reunited and had begun writing new material.[2] As of that day, the band's official Myspace page contains the reunited group's lineup as well as the headline "writing new material for the return of Exhorder".[3] They played their first reunion show on November 14, 2009, at Southport Hall in Jefferson, Louisiana, followed by another less than a month later on December 12 at City Club in Houma, Louisiana, and a show with Crowbar at the Hangar in New Orleans on February 12, 2010. The lineup for all of these shows was the same as that of The Law album.
On March 22, 2011, bassist Frankie Sparcello died of unknown causes.[4] In the interim and in order to fulfill three show dates already booked, the band recruited local bass virtuoso Jorge Caicedo to fill in at the last minute.[5] The band also played Maryland Deathfest on May 28. They then took a hiatus.
Second reunion and new releases (2017–present)
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In November 2017, Exhorder ended their six-year hiatus with a newly formed line-up and signed a worldwide deal with All Independent Service Alliance. They announced a two-night event in Brooklyn, New York, for February 9 and 10, 2018, by performing the entire Slaughter in the Vatican and The Law albums respectively. The band also performed a homecoming show on February 12 in New Orleans. They were also planning summer festival appearances,[6] and would consider working on new material if the reunion shows went well.[7]
The band signed to Nuclear Blast in November 2018 and started work on a new album.[8]
In May 2019, Exhorder were announced as part of a tour for Kataklysm's "Meditations Over North America" tour in September, along with Krisiun and Hatchet.[9] In July 2019, the band announced their third album, titled Mourn the Southern Skies, which was released on September 20, 2019. The first single, "My Time", was made available for streaming.[10] Exhorder supported the album by supporting Overkill on their Wings of War tour in North America.[11] The band toured with Overkill again during the spring and summer of 2023.[12][13]
Founding guitarist Vinnie LaBella parted ways with the band in February 2020, leaving vocalist Kyle Thomas as the remaining founding member.[14] Instead of replacing LaBella, Exhorder has since continued on as a four-piece, with Thomas handling rhythm guitar duties.[15] On February 14, 2022, guitarist Marzi Montazeri announced that he was quitting the band.[16] He was replaced by Pat O'Brien.[17]
By 2022, Exhorder had been working on new material for their fourth studio album.[18][19] The resulting album, Defectum Omnium, was released on March 8, 2024.[20]
Thomas announced in November 2025 that Exhorder has been working on new material for their fifth studio album, with a tentative release date of 2027.[21]
Musical style and comparisons with Pantera
[edit | edit source]Exhorder's style of heavy metal is described by Bradley Torreano of AllMusic as "thrash-and-groove."[22] He explains the band's stylistic signature is "chugging, tightly constructed, syncopated" guitar riffs.[23]
There has been controversy amongst Pantera's and Exhorder's fans over similarities between both bands' sounds,[24][25][26] fueled by the success of Pantera and the obscurity of Exhorder.[24][25] Some have dubbed Exhorder as "Pantera minus the good songs."[24] AllMusic countered this assessment in their review of Slaughter in the Vatican, where the author expressed the belief that "perhaps a more accurate billing would be to call them Pantera without the major label backing."[24] The author also pointed to the fact that the title of Exhorder's debut, along with the unsubtle album cover, "certainly didn't help [its] cause any."[24]
Exhorder lead vocalist Kyle Thomas has expressed indifference towards the criticism, and has grown weary of seeing Exhorder's name tied to Pantera's.[25] He also stated that he and some members of Pantera were friends (particularly the latter's lead singer Phil Anselmo, who was a fan of Exhorder in their early days),[25][26] and that he mourns the loss of Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell.[26] Thomas has suggested that while it is possible Pantera may have been influenced by his band, the members of Pantera "work[ed] a ... lot harder than [they] did."[25][27]
Band members
[edit | edit source]- Exhorder at Rockharz Open Air 2023
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Kyle Thomas -
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Sasha Horn -
Current members
- Kyle Thomas – vocals (1985–1994, 2008–2011, 2017–present), rhythm guitar (2022–present)
- Jason VieBrooks – bass (2017–present)
- Sasha Horn – drums (2017–present)
- Pat O'Brien – lead guitar (2022–present)
- Touring members
- Waldemar Sorychta – lead guitar (2022–present; international dates)
- Apollo Xydias - lead guitar (2023–present; international dates)
- Ol Drake – lead guitar (2023)
Former members
- Vinnie LaBella – lead guitar (1985–1994, 2008–2011, 2017–2020), bass (1989–1991)
- Chris Nail – drums (1985–1994, 2008–2010)
- Andy Villafarra – bass (1985–1989, 2008–2010, 2011)
- David Main – rhythm guitar (1985–1987)
- Jay Ceravolo – rhythm guitar (1987–1994, 2008–2011), bass (1989–1991)
- Frankie Sparcello – bass (1991–1994, 2010–2011)
- Marzi Montazeri – rhythm guitar (2017–2022), lead guitar (2020–2022)
Timeline <timeline> ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:90 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1985 till:06/11/2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:5 start:1985 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1985
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id:voc value:red legend:Vocals id:lg value:teal legend:Lead_guitar id:rg value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar id:b value:blue legend:Bass id:dr value:orange legend:Drums id:alb value:black legend:Studio_album id:dem value:gray(0.7) legend:Demo id:bars value:gray(0.95)
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layer:back color:alb at:10/23/1990 at:01/28/1992 at:09/20/2019 at:03/08/2024
color:dem at:09/15/1986 at:09/10/1987
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width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,–4) bar:Kyle Thomas from:start till:08/01/1994 color:voc bar:Kyle Thomas from:05/09/2008 till:05/28/2011 color:voc bar:Kyle Thomas from:11/15/2017 till:end color:voc bar:Vinnie LaBella from:start till:08/01/1994 color:lg bar:Vinnie LaBella from:05/09/2008 till:05/28/2011 color:lg bar:Vinnie LaBella from:11/15/2017 till:02/23/2020 color:lg bar:Pat O'Brien from:05/26/2022 till:end color:lg bar:David Main from:start till:06/30/1987 color:rg bar:Jay Ceravolo from:07/01/1987 till:08/01/1994 color:rg bar:Jay Ceravolo from:05/09/2008 till:05/28/2011 color:rg bar:Marzi Montazeri from:11/15/2017 till:02/23/2020 color:rg bar:Marzi Montazeri from:02/23/2020 till:02/14/2022 color:lg bar:Andy Villafara from:start till:01/01/1989 color:b bar:Andy Villafara from:05/09/2008 till:06/30/2010 color:b bar:Andy Villafara from:03/23/2011 till:05/28/2011 color:b bar:Frankie Sparcello from:02/01/1991 till:08/01/1994 color:b bar:Frankie Sparcello from:07/01/2010 till:03/22/2011 color:b bar:Jason VieBrooks from:11/15/2017 till:end color:b bar:Chris Nail from:start till:08/01/1994 color:dr bar:Chris Nail from:05/09/2008 till:01/01/2010 color:dr bar:Sasha Horn from:11/15/2017 till:end color:dr width:3 bar:Kyle Thomas from:02/14/2022 till:end color:rg bar:Vinnie LaBella from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/1991 color:b bar:Jay Ceravolo from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/1991 color:b bar:Marzi Montazeri from:02/23/2020 till:02/14/2022 color:rg
</timeline>
Discography
[edit | edit source]Studio albums
[edit | edit source]- Slaughter in the Vatican (1990, Roadrunner Records)
- The Law (1992, Roadrunner Records)
- Mourn the Southern Skies (2019, Nuclear Blast Records)
- Defectum Omnium (2024, Nuclear Blast Records)
Live albums
[edit | edit source]- Live Death (1994, Roadrunner Records)
Demos
[edit | edit source]- Get Rude (1986, self-released)
- Slaughter in the Vatican (1987, self-released)
References
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- ^ MySpace.com – Exhorder – Kenner/Metairie/New Orleans, Louisiana – Metal / Death Metal / Thrash – www.myspace.com/exhordernola
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External links
[edit | edit source]
- Exhorder on InstagramLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Exhorder at AllMusicLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- New Orleans Metal Underground
- Black with Sin: A Tribute to Kyle Thomas
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