“To be 100 percent honest, without people connected to this album, there’s no need to tour in tribute to it.”: Obvious enough, this assessment from singer Kyle Thomas, Exhorder constant since 1985 alongside guitarist Vinnie LaBella, but what lends any thrash metal disc longevity? The New Orleans blasphemers’ full-length bow, 1990’s Slaughter in the Vatican, barks and bursts as rabid as the band’s West Coast peers/progenitors. Lined with punk and hardcore, its gnarly, rodeo-bull riffs ride the lightning, while Thomas exhorts homicide: “Desecration’s my greatest pleasure in life/ Your children will be my sacrifice.”: “We’re playing the album in its entirety, yes, but we’re throwing in extra songs to make it worth everyone’s while,” emails the frontman on Thanksgiving. “Also, as always, I talk a lot between songs, haha! Usually, I’m giving snippets of history fans might find intriguing. Otherwise, you may as well just stay home and listen to the albums.”: 27 years passed between sophomore LP The Law and righteous 2019 Exhorder comeback Mourn the Southern Skies, whose thicker, deeper girth sideswiped Come & Take It Live with Kataklysm that same year.: “A long pause in touring, including a full European headlining tour canceled, really tough,” admits Thomas. “The good news is we worked really hard on new material during the lull. I think we’re going to be okay.”
Sun., Dec. 5, 7pm