On April 26, the walls of the House of Blues practically shook as thrash metal legends Exodus stormed through town, bringing their 40th anniversary tour celebrating Bonded By Blood to a sold-out crowd. Joining them for this monumental night were fellow thrash titans Death Angel, cult icons Hirax, and San Diego shredders Nukem. The energy was electric from the first note to the last, as fans packed in tight and gave back every ounce of aggression the bands threw from the stage.

Opening the night was Nukem, San Diego’s own thrash torchbearers, who wasted no time setting a blistering pace. Their set featured tracks like "Warwolf," "Lethal Injection," and "The Deceiver," blending old-school speed with modern precision. Songs like "Suffocate" and their closer "Lethal Injection" whipped early arrivals into a frenzy, with circle pits already forming before the sun had fully set.

Next up, cult favorites Hirax delivered a set that felt like a direct transmission from the golden era of 1980s thrash. Frontman Katon W. De Pena commanded the stage with unstoppable energy, leading the charge through classics like "Hostile Territory," "Hate, Fear and Power," and the anthemic "Bombs of Death." The crowd responded in kind, escalating the chaos with a wave of crowd surfers and headbangers pressed up against the barricade.

Death Angel, no strangers to commanding big stages, followed with a performance that was equal parts punishing and precise. Their setlist included crushers like "The Ultra-Violence," "Evil Priest," and "Mistress of Pain," while newer tracks like "Immortal Behated" hit just as hard. Frontman Mark Osegueda worked the crowd like a seasoned general, stoking the already wild energy until it boiled over. By the time they closed with "Thrown to the Wolves," the pit was a swirling storm of bodies.

Then came Exodus, the main event, who made it clear from the outset that this was a night for the history books. Celebrating four decades since Bonded By Blood first rewrote the thrash rulebook, the band delivered the album nearly in full, ripping through "Bonded by Blood," "Exodus," "And Then There Were None," and "A Lesson in Violence." Gary Holt’s guitar shredded through the mix like a buzzsaw, while Steve "Zetro" Souza’s snarling vocals whipped the audience into a frenzy. The crowd matched every riff and scream with nonstop crowd surfing and even a few daring fans attempting stage dives—one of whom managed to leap from the stage in triumphant flight before disappearing into the sea of hands. Far from annoyed, the band grinned and egged them on, especially during thrash anthems like "Piranha," "Metal Command," and the ever-chaotic "Strike of the Beast." They capped the night with an encore of "The Toxic Waltz," turning the House of Blues into a thrash metal battleground.

It was a night where the boundary between band and fan dissolved entirely—just pure, chaotic communion in the name of thrash. Exodus and their touring comrades didn’t just perform; they incited a riotous celebration of the genre’s past, present, and still-raging future.