Impact Is Imminent

Impact Is Imminent is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Exodus, released in 1990. Impact Is Imminent was Exodus' first album on Capitol Records as well as their first album to feature John Tempesta on drums. It was also the last studio album to feature Rob McKillop on bass, though he appeared on their first live album, Good Friendly Violent Fun, which was recorded live in 1989 but not released until 1991. Impact Is Imminent was re-released in 2008 in a limited edition mini-album packaging to resemble the original vinyl release, including the inner sleeve.

Impact Is Imminent
Studio album by Exodus
Released	June 21, 1990[1]
Recorded	December 1989 – January 1990[2]
Studio	Various Music Grinder, Hollywood Record Two Mendocino, Comptche Alpha & Omega Recording, San Francisco Record Plant, Los Angeles, California Earwax Productions
Genre	Thrash metal
Length	49:47
Label	Capitol
Producer	The H-Team (Gary Holt, Rick Hunolt)
Exodus chronology
Fabulous Disaster (1989) Impact Is Imminent (1990) Good Friendly Violent Fun (1991)

Tour

Exodus spent the latter half of 1990 touring in support of Impact Is Imminent. The band opened for funk rock act Red Hot Chili Peppers (who were labelmates with Exodus at the time) at The Kaiser Center in Oakland on July 21, 1990.^[3] Exodus was part of two major tours: in August 1990, they toured the U.S. with Suicidal Tendencies and Pantera, and three months later, they toured Europe with Flotsam and Jetsam, Vio-lence and Forbidden.^[3] The band wrapped up the tour on December 28, 1990 at The Fillmore.^[3] Exodus were supposed to open for Judas Priest on their Painkiller tour in Europe in early 1991, but due to financial issues, they were forced to withdraw from the tour and replaced by Pantera.^[3][4][5] The band was also reportedly offered, but turned down opening for Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax on the North American leg of Clash of the Titans tour as a replacement for Death Angel, who were ultimately replaced by a then-lesser known Alice in Chains.^[6][7]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	7/10[9]
Select	[10]

Impact Is Imminent received a negative review from AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia, who called it "the most forgettable album of Exodus' career."^[8] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff appreciated Exodus' "adherence to an older, lost speed metal rant" and wrote that fans might want to come back and revisit songs that were quickly skipped in favour of more "pushier works".^[9]

Despite being released on a major label, Impact Is Imminent was not as successful as Fabulous Disaster and debuted at No. 137 on the Billboard 200, Exodus' lowest chart position to date.^[11] Until the release of Blood In, Blood Out in 2014, Impact Is Imminent would be Exodus' last album to enter the Billboard 200.^[11]

Guitarist Gary Holt expressed some regret for the album during the making of 2010’s Exhibit B: The Human Condition, stating that "if there was one album I could have back and record again it would be Impact." He went on to praise the album for having "some of the best riffs I've ever written."

Holt restated his opinion of the record during an April 2020 interview with Robb Flynn of Machine Head: "I listen back to Impact Is Imminent, and if there’s one album in my career I wish... I had it back, like it’d never been released, it’s that album, because it’s got some of the best riffs I ever wrote. I mean, the main riff to ‘Impact Is Imminent’ is my favorite riff I’ve ever written. It’s crazy, the string skipping, no one had ever done that shit."^[12]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Impact Is Imminent"	4:20
2.	"A.W.O.L."	5:44
3.	"The Lunatic Parade"	4:14
4.	"Within the Walls of Chaos"	7:45
5.	"Objection Overruled"	4:34
6.	"Only Death Decides"	6:07
7.	"Heads They Win (Tails You Lose)"	7:43
8.	"Changing of the Guard"	6:49
9.	"Thrash Under Pressure"	2:38
Total length:		49:54

All tracks are written by Exodus

Personnel

Exodus

• Steve "Zetro" Souza – vocals
• Gary Holt – guitars, producer
• Rick Hunolt – guitars, producer
• Rob McKillop – bass
• John Tempesta – drums

Production

• Csaba Petocz – engineer
• John Bush, Lewis Demetri, Chris Fuhrman, Andy Newell, Jim McKee – additional engineering
• Steve Heinke, Lawrence Ethan, Shawna Stobie, Ulrich Wild, Casey McMackin, Manny Lacarrubba – assistant engineers
• Marc Senesac – mixing at Alpha & Omega
• Stephen Marcussen – mastering at Precision Mastering

Charts

Album

Chart (1990)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[13]	137

References

1. "Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives – Exodus – Impact Is Imminent". The Metal Archives. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
2. "Exodus – Biography – Bonded By Blood – Gary Holt – Paul Baloff – Kirk Hammett". fullinbloommusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
3. "Exodus Shows". Metallipromo. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
4. "Pantera Shows". Metallipromo. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
5. "Gary Holt (EXODUS, SLAYER) on No F'n Regrets Podcast". April 30, 2020.
6. "MEGADETH And The Birth Of The Rust In Peace Lineup; Rare Video Interview With DAVE MUSTAINE And DAVID ELLEFSON Surfaces". Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. September 16, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
7. "Bay Area thrash-metal titans share the stage at the San Jose Civic". CBS News. October 10, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
8. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Exodus - Impact Is Imminent review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
9. Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
10. Griffiths, Nick (September 1990). "Exodus: Impact Is Imminent". Select. No. 3. p. 80.
11. "Exodus Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 23, 2012. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
12. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: NFR #031 - Gary Holt (Exodus, Slayer Guitarist). YouTube.
13. "Exodus Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 11, 2021.