Exhorder is the New Orleans thrash band formed in 1985 or 1986, depending on the source, with Kyle Thomas and Vinnie LaBella among its founding members. Start with Slaughter in the Vatican (1990). The band booked two Texas runs in 2026, and Thomas has named 2027 as the target for its next album.
The Short Version
- Latest album: Defectum Omnium (March 8, 2024). The next is targeted for 2027.
- As of November 2026: no upcoming Texas date, and a European run from February 25, 2027.
Who Are Exhorder?
Wikipedia calls Exhorder “a progenitor of the groove-oriented thrash” that later bands made popular, and our groove metal history traces that line. The catalog is short: four studio albums between 1990 and 2024, plus three live tracks on the 1994 Restless split Live Death.
Exhorder
From New Orleans, Louisiana. Start with Slaughter in the Vatican (1990), then The Law (1992), both on Spotify.
New Orleans, 1985 to 1988: The Demos
The band’s own biography says 1986, while Nuclear Blast says 1985. Thomas told Echoes and Dust he was 15 or 16 when the songs were being written in 1985 and 1986.
“We did not start on the metal scene in New Orleans, we started in the punk scene,” Thomas told the same interviewer. The do-it-yourself Get Rude demo followed in summer 1986.
The Slaughter in the Vatican demo came in 1987. The official biography says underground tape trading carried it internationally. The band split in early 1988 and re-formed later that year, with Jay Ceravolo replacing guitarist David Main.
A deal with Mean Machine Records came next, but the label dissolved before the debut was finished. R/C Records, a Roadracer/Roadrunner subsidiary, bought the contract.
Exhorder’s Slaughter in the Vatican (1990)
Slaughter in the Vatican was recorded from December 1989 to August 1990 at Morrisound Recording in Tampa. Scott Burns and the band produced it. The lineup was Thomas on vocals, LaBella and Ceravolo on guitars and bass, and Chris Nail on drums.
Wikipedia says the demos were “pure thrash metal” and the debut continued that sound. AllMusic, quoted on the album’s Wikipedia page, cites “chugging guitar riffs played at both slow and blistering tempos.” Start here for the thrash, because the groove on the next record sits on top of it.
Thomas called making it “a nightmare because we didn’t have a lot of budget.” Thomas says the tempos survive from the first sessions “and those were too fast,” so the band plays these songs slower live: “when you play stuff that has a groove to it too fast, that kills the groove.”
On Spotify, start with “Death in Vain,” the opener, then “Desecrator” at 6:08. Rock Hard gave the record 9 out of 10, and it entered the Decibel Hall of Fame on May 25, 2018.
Exhorder’s The Law (1992)
The Law came out on Roadrunner on March 15, 1992, produced by Rob Beaton and the band. Frankie Sparcello joined on bass. Wikipedia says the sound “became much more groove metal-oriented while still retaining much of its thrash roots.” Come here second, for the groove the band gets cited for.
It mixes new songs with Get Rude material and a cover of “Into the Void” by Black Sabbath. On Spotify, begin with “Soul Search Me” and “I Am the Cross.” The closer, “(Cadence of) The Dirge,” matters too: Thomas says the band’s “doom element” started there, and Metal Centre calls it “a classic example of how to lay down concrete groove on top of a thrash song.”
Continental Touring’s biography says the band started a co-headlining tour with Entombed, with Ripping Corpse and Houston’s Dead Horse opening, and did not finish it. A headlining tour of Europe followed.
By 1993 LaBella and Sparcello were gone. Thomas, Nail and Ceravolo rehearsed with bassist Jason VieBrooks of Heathen, but those songs never got past rehearsal recordings. Thomas then formed Floodgate and VieBrooks joined Grip Inc.
Continental Touring dates the split to 1993, and Wikipedia to 1994.
Exhorder and the Pantera Comparison
Exhorder usually gets compared with Pantera. The argument is over whether Exhorder influenced Pantera’s sound. Decibel put one side plainly in 2017, writing that Exhorder “are responsible for the sound we know today as groove metal.”
Thomas said in 2022, per Blabbermouth, that he saw no “blatant rip-off,” adding, “I think a lot of the controversy was media- and fan-driven more than anything.” He also said Phil Anselmo is from New Orleans and that the two have known each other since they were teenagers. “So there’s room for both.” In April 2026 Thomas told The Growl Podcast it’s “pointless to try” to settle which came first. For the other side of that story, read our piece on Cowboys From Hell.
Pantera
From Arlington, Texas, formed 1981. Start with Cowboys From Hell (1990), then Vulgar Display of Power (1992).
Reunions and Mourn the Southern Skies
The lineup from The Law played two local New Orleans shows in 2001. The next reunion played its first show on November 14, 2009. Continental Touring has it third from the top at the 2010 Rock Hard Festival in Germany.
Bassist Frankie Sparcello died on March 22, 2011. The band honored its April bookings with Jorge Caicedo on bass and played Maryland Deathfest on May 28, then went dormant until 2017.
It returned in November 2017. Decibel reported two shows at Saint Vitus in New York and a hometown date, with Marzi Montazeri, Jason VieBrooks and Sasha Horn joining Thomas and LaBella.
A Nuclear Blast deal followed in November 2018. Mourn the Southern Skies came out on September 20, 2019, recorded in Metairie, Louisiana, and mixed by Jens Bogren.
“Ripping Flesh” was re-recorded from the 1986 Get Rude demo with Chris Nail back on drums. Hear “My Time” first, then the 9:29 title track.
Defectum Omnium and the Current Exhorder Members
LaBella left in February 2020 and Montazeri in 2022. Pat O’Brien, formerly of Cannibal Corpse, came in on guitar, and Defectum Omnium was his first album with the band. It came out on March 8, 2024, on Nuclear Blast.
The title is Latin for “The Failure of All,” and Thomas explained, per Metal Odyssey: “The world is a dumpster fire, and we are all complicit.” Start with “Year of the Goat.”
The current Exhorder band members, as of late 2026, are:
- Kyle Thomas: vocals and guitar, and the sole remaining founding member; he also fronts Trouble
- Jason VieBrooks: bass
- Pat O’Brien: lead guitar
- Drums: no permanent drummer announced as of September 2026. Corey Pierce of God Forbid filled in on the spring 2026 tour after Horn left in March.
Asked in November 2025 about timing on the next record, Thomas answered, “I’m gonna say 2027.” In September 2026 he told Brutal Planet Media, per Blabbermouth, “We don’t have an album ready to go yet,” and said of the finished Nuclear Blast deal, “we’re kind of free agents right now.” The band’s October 15 statement said it was heading home to start work on its fifth album. There is no title or firm date.
Exhorder in Texas: Fort Worth, Slaughter in Full and the 2026 Tours
On April 15, 2011, weeks after Sparcello’s death, Exhorder was booked with Rigor Mortis at The Rail in Fort Worth, per Fort Worth Weekly and Blabbermouth. Blabbermouth’s April 13 list also has Fitzgerald’s in Houston the next night. Our Rigor Mortis history tells that band’s story.
The tour playing Slaughter in the Vatican in full listed four Texas nights in December 2021: Warehouse Live in Houston on the 3rd, The Rail Club in Fort Worth on the 4th, Come and Take It Live in Austin on the 5th and Rockhouse Bar in El Paso on the 6th. Metal Centre’s review confirms the Austin set included the whole album.
Montazeri brought a Houston connection through Heavy As Texas, the group he led there. Thomas sang on its self-titled album, released on Crunchy Western Records in April 2019, per Blabbermouth.
Heavy As Texas
From Houston. Start with “To Keep A Promise” from the self-titled album (2019).
The Unforeseen Circumstances tour booked Texas from January 30 to February 2, 2026: Cine El Rey in McAllen, The Lost Well in Austin, Trees in Dallas (see our Dallas metal venues guide) and RockHouse in El Paso.
The Tour of Unsound Minds: Act II came back that fall, and setlist.fm lists all four nights:
- October 2: Haltom Theater, Haltom City
- October 3: Cine El Rey, McAllen
- October 4: Brushy Street Commons, Austin
- October 6: 101, El Paso
Our show listing puts Rotting Corpse at Cine El Rey on that October 3 date, billed with Exhorder. Rotting Corpse played Brushy Street Commons on September 6. Rotting Corpse’s story is on our history page.
Haltom Theater Open
Cinema Treasures says it opened as a movie house on December 27, 1941 and reports that it reopened as a live events center in June 2019. Its site has no calendar, so watch the bands’ pages.
Rotting Corpse on stage at the Haltom Theater, 2026. Video frame, Rotting Corpse archive
Cine El Rey Open
Opened in May 1947 as a Spanish-language movie theater in downtown McAllen, and now on the National Register of Historic Places. Saving Places described concerts and cultural events there in 2017, and Exhorder booked it twice in 2026.
Photo: 25or6to4, 2012, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Exhorder Tour: Where to Hear It Live
As of November 2026 we found no upcoming Exhorder date in Texas or anywhere in the U.S. On October 15 the band cancelled the last three dates of the fall tour, in Omaha, Iowa City and Evansville, and said it had played its last shows of 2026. For Texas announcements, watch Songkick and the band’s tour page.
For Texas thrash in the meantime, here are our own dates, not Exhorder’s. Rotting Corpse plays the Haltom Theater on November 14, 2026, with Iron Jaw, then Spam’s Bar and Lounge in San Angelo on December 5. Both are on our shows page.
Exhorder’s next dates are a tri-headlining European tour with Evil Invaders and Heathen, with Warfield opening, starting February 25, 2027, at Substage in Karlsruhe.
Start with “Progressing Insanity” (1990)
It comes from the Neck Breaking Fury demo, made the year Slaughter in the Vatican came out, and Steve Murphy calls it “the best Corpse song”; see the lyrics and discography.
Sources
- Exhorder: Official biography
- Exhorder: Tour page
- Exhorder: Bandcamp
- Wikipedia: Exhorder
- Wikipedia: Slaughter in the Vatican
- Wikipedia: The Law
- Wikipedia: Mourn the Southern Skies
- Wikipedia (Italian): Live Death
- Death Metal Underground: Live Death review
- Cinema Treasures: Haltom Theatre
- The Clio: Cine El Rey
- Saving Places: Cine El Rey
- Echoes and Dust: Kyle Thomas interview (2024)
- Decibel: Exhorder’s return (2017)
- Continental Touring: Exhorder biography
- Nuclear Blast: Exhorder touring Europe (2025)
- Blabbermouth: Kyle Thomas on the comparison (2022)
- Blabbermouth: Kyle Thomas on The Growl Podcast (2026)
- Blabbermouth: Next album tentatively due in 2027 (2025)
- Blabbermouth: Kyle Thomas on labels and the next album (2026)
- Blabbermouth: Corey Pierce fills in (2026)
- Blabbermouth: Heavy As Texas album (2019)
- Metal Odyssey: Unforeseen Circumstances tour (2026)
- Metal Nation: Texas dates and lineup (2026)
- The Metallist: Act II tour dates (2026)
- Setlist.fm: Exhorder
- Songkick: Exhorder calendar
- Blabbermouth: Exhorder to play booked shows (2011)
- Blabbermouth: Jorge Caicedo and the Rigor Mortis dates (2011)
- Blabbermouth: Maryland Deathfest footage (2011)
- Fort Worth Weekly: Rigor Mortis reunites (2011)
- Metal Anarchy: Slaughter in full tour dates (2021)
- Metal Centre: Austin review (2021)
- Lambgoat: Exhorder cancels final three shows (2026)
- Lambgoat: 2027 European tour
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the current members of Exhorder?
As of late 2026: Kyle Thomas (vocals, guitar), Jason VieBrooks (bass) and Pat O’Brien (lead guitar), with Corey Pierce of God Forbid having filled in on the spring 2026 tour after Sasha Horn left in March. No permanent drummer had been announced as of September 2026.
Which Exhorder album should I start with?
Slaughter in the Vatican (1990), then The Law (1992). The first shows the band’s thrash side and the second its heavier, more groove-based side.
Where is Exhorder from?
New Orleans, Louisiana. The band’s own biography says it formed in 1986, while its Bandcamp page and Nuclear Blast say 1985. Kyle Thomas says the songs were being written in 1985 and 1986.
Did Exhorder play Texas in 2026?
Yes. The band booked McAllen, Austin, Dallas and El Paso from January 30 to February 2, then Haltom City, McAllen, Austin and El Paso from October 2 to 6.
Is Exhorder playing Texas in 2027?
No Texas date was announced as of November 2026. The next listed shows are in Europe from February 25, 2027, with Evil Invaders and Heathen.
When is the next Exhorder album?
No title or date exists. Kyle Thomas said in November 2025, when asked about timing, that he would say 2027. In September 2026 he said the band did not have an album ready yet and was not under contract with a label. Its October 15, 2026 statement said the band was going home to start work on its fifth album.
