EXODUS was originally founded by Park Chanyeol, Oh Sehun and Kim Jongin when they were high school students. The band's original name was Gangnam Street Boys since most of them lived in Gangnam. During that time, Chanyeol was the band's drummer while Sehun was the bassist and Jongin was the vocalist and also played guitar for the band. They have been nicknamed as Korean Nirvana by locals since the band always covered most of Nirvana songs during their busking sessions.
The band was busking at several places in Seoul including Itaewon, Hongdae and Myeongdong. They also busked around the Gyeonghuigung Palace, Seoul and Namsan Tower.
During their busking session in Myeongdong, they were getting noticed by a scouting agent from SM Entertainment when they were covering a song by Guns N' Roses. The scouting agent said that she was impressed by their talents and asked them to come for an audition in SM. The three of them agreed as they were coming to SM the next day. It was their last busking session before they became trainees under the company.
They were getting introduced to Lay, who was a trainee that joined SM two years before. SM discussed that they will be debuted in a group of four as their band's name will be given by SM itself. Chanyeol is the one who gave a suggestion that their band should be named as EXODUS after listening to an American rock band with the same name.
After 1 year and 5 months of training, they debuted with a single called One More Night, which later released in their first studio album, 21 Feelings of Madness. Their debut single has become the first English song to top the the #1 chart for Genie in South Korea and Japan.
As their fanbases grew, they were having 2 years of hiatus due to Sehun, Kai and Chanyeol's military enlistments before coming back in 2016 with a new album. The frontman of the band, Kai had filed a lawsuit against SM Entertainment for the company's mistreatment to the band one year before and they were winning the case in 2016. The win resulted in them leaving the company together as they were becoming artists under Chanyeol's self established music label called NNG Studio.
In 2023, the band released a new album called RUSH! part 2 which is a collaboration album project with Måneskin. The album has won several awards in Korea and internationally, making them the most successful Korean alternative rock band in 2023.
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Music style:
EXODUS has a combination of Slow Rock, Rock and Roll, Speed Metal, Grunge, Thrash Metal, Funk Rock, Glam Rock, Kpop, Hard Rock, Electronic, Hip Hop, R&B, Indie Rock and Electropop in their musics.
The band is classified as Alternative Rock Band.
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Musical influences:
The band was influenced by:
Metallica, The Beatles, Nirvana, Green Day, Evanescence, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Megadeth, AC/DC, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elvis Presley, H.O.T, TVXQ, X-Japan, Black Sabbath, Queen, Jimi Hendrix, Arctic Monkeys, Michael Jackson, Maroon 5, Slayer, Muse, 2NE1, Far East Movement, Guns N' Roses, Foo Fighters, Misfits, Led Zeppelin, Scorpions, Kiss, Aerosmith, David Bowie, R.E.M, Rage Against The Machine, Alice In Chains, F.T. Island, Traxx, CNBLUE, The Rolling Stones, My Chemical Romance
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Band members
Current:
Kim Jongin (KAI) : main vocalist, occasional guitarist, songwriter
Park Chanyeol (CHANYEOL) : lead guitarist, lead vocalist, rapping, backing vocal, songwriter, producer, occasional violinist, occasional pianist
