For reasons I still cannot understand, a lot of people hate Exodus's vocalist Rob Dukes. But WHY? What's the reason? It can't be because he's too one dimensional. Baloff wasn't exactly Bruce Dickinson v2.0. It can't be because he has an annoying voice. Zetro has the strangest voice I've ever heard. Speaking of Zetro, Dukes' voice is actually pretty similar. I was listening to the title track of Fabulous Disaster the other day, and for a couple of seconds during the chorus I thought Dukes was singing!

I honestly feel that Dukes is an incredibly under rated vocalist. He sounds so pissed off and angry in Shovel Headed Kill Machine and The Atrocity Exhibition. Not the Corey Taylor or Jon Davis style pissed off and angry, but the Dave Mustaine, Bobby Blitz and Steve Souza style pissed off and angry. His narrow minded style of singing may get annoying, but still far less annoying than Bobby Blitz on The Years of Decay or Mustaine on Killing Is My Business.

So WHY is he hated so much? I've read the reviews on this site regarding the two albums he's worked on, but none of them provide any valid reasons as to why the vocals suck.

Blitz is annoying on "The Years Of Decay"? Wow, just wow. Zetro's voice is quite annoying, but Dukes has the ability to take it to abysmal levels, he sounds like a hXc tuff guy screaming while his balls are being sawed off with a blunt rusty knife.

Zetro and Paul Baloff are more commonly noted as the voices for Exodus like Paul Dianno and Bruce Dickenson are the voices for Iron Maiden. In that regard you can see Rob Dukes like the Blaze Bailey of Exodus. Not a bad vocalist in their regard and in their own respective bands could be much greater than being in the shadow of the former vocalists who participated during a more classic era in the long-running history of the band.

Have you ever listened to his vocals on Skullcrusher/Playing with spiders or whatever that song was? If that isn't the most annoying vocal performance of all time, then my ears must need repairing.


I suppose thats a good reason, but doesn't that show how narrow minded the fans are?

Yes, your ears need to be repaired.

Skullkrusher is an awesome song. And fanboys of any band will usually be quite narrow minded in relation to changes that may happen.

You suck. And yes, your ears need repairing.

Actually, I don't like Blitz vocals on any other record than the debut. Don't know why, because it prevents me from worshipping another great band.

MegaHassan, I've got a bin labelled "Dodgy Tastes" and you're in it.

That Blitz performance on Skullcrusher is a lot like Lee Dorrian's on FoE and as such is great. I think the main problem with the latest Exo-dukes is the horrible riffs. I know I should be used to thrash bands sucking, but I help but utter "Gary, what happened?" every time I hear some of it.

Well, I agree with the riffs part. Half of the riffs in Atrocity Exhibition are really boring, and pale in comparison to the riffs in Bonded By Blood and Fabulous Disaster.



Same here, I think Blitz's only good performance was on Feel The Fire.

The reason I hate him is because of his terrible lyrics and what he decides to sing about, the 'theme' I guess. As for vocals he's not terrible, but he certainly isn't really good. It does get annoying sometimes but I don't mind his vocals on Shovel Headed Killing Machine.

Exodus really never had great lyrics. I always thought they were mediocre. Rob Dukes is no exception however I perfer his voice for the band. I thought The Atrocity Exibit was an awesome album. Not perfect but a big step forward (for Exodus with Rob Dukes) from Shovel Headed Kill Machine.

rob dukes vocals are at times cringe inducing, also a lot of his lyrics are pretty laughable.

This alone completely invalidates your opinion.

He is nothing like those guys. He is a hardcore vocalist and he is a big fan of slipknot and has cited it as an influence. Hardcore contaminated thrash and since he has been a vocalist for Exodus they have been a groove band.

Without hardcore, there would be no thrash at all ... but yeah I agree with the rest of that post.

If he means modern hardcore, then I wholeheartedly agree with him.

Yeah. I mean the toughguy style, not the stuff like DRI.

Exactly. THats why i got confused when I first heard the term "metalcore"- I thought it was "crossover"! and I didnt hear any punky riffs in metalcore so I got confused. I think we need a way to differentiate between the two types better so people dont get confused "metal influenced by hardcore punk, no way!" while Discharge, DRI, Siege, etc have had a enormous influence on metal, especially extreme metal. My friend even thought the Soundhouse Tapes sounded pretty "punk" even if Harris always distanced himself and Maiden from the genre.

Get in our way and we're going to take your life!
Kick in your face and rape and murder your wife!

You couldn't ask for better thrash lyrics.

amen.

"I have wealth beyond measure-
My treasures are words
Forged by time in a tale of
Such beauty they cry to be heard.
Still a young fool was I as
My story begins,
Yet like all fools considered
Myself to be wise -
A match for all things.
But the lessons I've learned
I will never forget,
When your teacher is life then
Success is survival and
Failure is death.

Or better still 'Political tyranny exercised by moral despots, bombardment of fire wasn't win but loss, corspes buried under ruins and debris, no more war solution all the nations need...' recited from memory. But I can't see how urging the listener to bang their head against the stage does not equate great thrash lyrics.

Oh I think those Exodus lyrics quoted above are good, too, I was just playing devil's advocate.

That's what makes Accept's Balls to the Wall video so great. 100 metalheads banging their head against a fucking brick wall. Headbanging isn't cool unless you have a chance at knocking yourself out.

Edit: And Metallica did that lyric first:

"Bang your head against the stage
Like you never did before
Make it ring make it bleed
Make it really sore
In a frenzied madness
With your leathers and your spikes
Heads are bobbing around
It is hot as hell tonight!"

Screw you

I don't particularly care much for Shovel Headed Kill Machine or The Atrocity Exhibition, and I don't really like the idea of them remaking Bonded By Blood. Overall though I have nothing against Dukes, his vocals aren't that great but when I've seen them live he puts on a pretty good performance, so in that sense I think he fits ok with the band, and I'm sure they could have done a hell of a lot worse.

First of all, I never bring up Overkill as a comparison, because the have the biggest love/hate relationship with metalheads ever. It seems like you're either an Overkill fanboy or you think they are way overrated. I tend to agree with the latter, though they got some great songs.

Now to the subject matter.

Rob Dukes is a terribly underrated vocalist. He is a little hardcore-esque, but he is nowhere near comparison to Hatebreed or Throwdown. If you haven't listened to the re-recording of Bonded By Blood, there are 3 tracks up on their myspace and they are worth a listen. While I still very much so prefer the original, Dukes does a great job with the album. The vocals seem to fit well, and he isn't doing anything different than he did with the two albums he wrote with Exodus. This suggests that it isn't Dukes vocals that are the problem, its the music. The music Exodus is writing is more new hardcore influenced, thus bringing out Dukes hardcore nuances more. Compare 44 Magnum Opus with the re-recorded "A Lesson in Violence." The vocal style is the same, but it sounds way better with the latter. Thats because "A Lesson in Violence" is a more thrash song, and frankly, a better song. Dukes just suffers from being in a band with a completely different approach and a way different style than the bands "classic" material. He is really a good vocalist, and anyone who has seen him live with Exodus can attest to that. I knew a few years ago that he sounds killer on the Bonded By Blood material. Its all a matter of perspective. To call him a shitty vocalist is the same as calling King Diamond a shitty vocalist. Imagine the King singing on " Hammer Smashed Face." Yea, not pretty.

That always cracks me up

I do not care for his vocals, but after seeing Exodus live a couple of months ago, I declare this guy should be hung by his balls (and I'm certain half the audience thought the same).

I just find him too generic. Baloff & Souza had very specific and characteristic vocals. Dukes is lacking something, or better said, sounds too much like many, many others and comes over as a Nu-metal-bad-boy. Just read my review on 'Shovel' for further elaboration.

Yeah, I don't mind Blitz' vocals at all on most of their albums, but I've always thought that his best performance was easily on their debut.

Anyways, still gotta say this 'Bonded by Blood' re-recording simply shouldn't exist.