However, on February 2, 2002, Baloff died after suffering a stroke

However, on February 2, 2002, Baloff died after suffering a stroke. Former vocalist Steve “Zetro” Souza was brought back into the band to finish the rest of their concert commitments. Although it appeared to outsiders that with Baloff’s death Exodus would cease to exist, guitarist Gary Holt was determined to release a new studio album. The result was 2004’s Tempo of the Damned , released on Nuclear Blast Records . An oddity of the recording sessions was that one track, “Crime of the Century”, was dropped under mysterious circumstances. The song chronicled Exodus’ time under Century Media (of which Nuclear Blast is a subsidiary). Although it was publicly denied, rumors swirled that Century Media forced the song off the record. “Crime of the Century” was replaced with “Impaler”, a song which was written when Kirk Hammett was still in the band, and was previously featured on the Another Lesson in Violence live record. Despite selling fewer than 15,000 copies in its first year of release, Tempo of the Damned received generally positive reviews from fans and critics alike, and is now considered to be an important part of the 2000s thrash metal revival movement. Throughout 2004, Exodus toured worldwide in support of the album.