American thrash metal band Exodus recently announced their new album entitled Persona Non Grata which is slated for release later this year on November 19. This will be the band’s eleventh studio album since the group’s formation back in 1979. The album is being released by their current record label, Nuclear Blast and will be the band’s first album in seven years. 

Drummer Tom Hunting is currently recovering from cancer treatment following his diagnosis earlier this year in February. The band temporarily replaced him with former drummer John Tempesta in order to play their festival shows. 

A new song and accompanying music video entitled “The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves)” was released on August 20, 2021, making it the first single off the album. The song has the signature thrash metal stylings of the band with its hardcore guitar riffs and intense drumming courtesy of Hunting and guitarist and frontman Gary Holt. The lyricism is striking.

The music video features a man who has possibly been taken hostage or prisoner. He is brutally beaten throughout the entire video although he does try to resist and fight back as well. He is forced to watch a video which features intense rioting and violence. The video also alludes to the COVID-19 pandemic. The violence gets more intense as masked men enter the room. The man is taken away and the video ends with a woman being thrown into the same room, an armed guard holds up a baton and the door shuts, ending the video.

Persona Non Grata Tracklist:

1- “Persona Non Grata”
2- “R.E.M.F”
3- “Slipping Into Madness”
4- “Elitist”
5- “Prescribing Horror”
6- “The Beatings Will Continue (Until Moral Improves)”
7- “The Years of Death And Dying”
8- “Clickbait”
9- “Cosa Del Pantano”
10- “Lunatic-Liar-Lord”
11- “The Fires of Division”
12- “Antiseed”

Photo Credit: Gary Moratz