PRODUCT OF HATE was formed in 
Wisconsin in 2007. The band is made up of vocalist Adam Gilley, drummer Mike McGuire, bassist Mark Campbell, and the guitar duo of brothers Geno (lead) and Cody (rhythm) Rathbone.
The band has landed support slots for big hitters such as Lamb Of God, Meshuggah, Chimaira, Gwar and Hatebreed. However, this is their first full album and it certainly is abrasive. This one is for fans of the above bands and it takes no prisoners, from the first hit of “Kill. You. Now.” to the end growling of the Ozzy cover “Perry Mason“…
I am a fan of Extreme Metal, but I did initially struggle with the sound on this album. However, listening on headphones makes the album come alive.
The band are as tight as a duck’s bottom and the old school thrash influences are worn as a badge of honour. The album thunders into life with the “Kill.You.Now” punch-athon. Exodus-like riffing is joined by Venom-like screams as classic chugging damped down minor chords fill this song out. Aggression seeps through and the song contains classic moshing breakdowns. The tune is filled out by meaty solos that remind me of Gary Holt and Rick Hunolt on Bonded By Blood.
The band then turn in a mid-paced mosher with “Annihilation“. It has a trademark catchy chorus with a definite Testament feel with it’s defining lines “We never wanted this/You didn’t give a sh*t“. There is also a mega drum-out at the end, which brings the song to a juddering conclusion.
“…As Your Kingdom Falls” continues the Testament feel, but with another catchy chorus. An expansive harmony guitar solo (like a Thin Lizzy thrash out) fills the mid section and the Rathbone brothers are stellar performers on this tune. In addition, I absolutely love the chorus of “This is the end for you and me/As I watch you burn to the ground/This is the end for you and me/As I watch your kingdom fall.” The venomous intent of this song is worth the price of admission alone!
The interestingly titled “Blood Coated Concrete” follows and it has a “Seeds of Hate” (Exodus) feel with great melodic guitar work. It also shares a bond with Iron Maiden with the tasty restrained soloing.
“Monster” is the one weak track on an overall solid debut. It is a dose of stop-start metalcore, which doesn’t match up to the other songs. I did quite like the chorus of “I feel alive/Watching you die“.
The album midpoint comes with the title track and it starts off with a great drums and bass section, which shows the talents of Maguire and Campbell. The song is full of thundering drums and “your time is now” is a great breakdown section, followed by more sizzling fretwork with a solo that sounds like Kirk Hammett on steroids. More tasty fare.
Even more tasteful is the instrumental “Vindicare“, with its ominous opening giving way to fantastic classical guitar work. It is an amazing piece of mood music, sucking the sting out of the album for a short period. The classical guitar then changes into a riff that Sabbath would approve of; 2.42 minutes of pure classic metal.
It is heads down again for “Nemesis“, beating the senses with more harmony guitars mixed with molotov cocktail blast beats. It reminds of Fear Factory at their most brutal. Gilley sounds a lot
like Burton C Bell and the riffing draws the listener into the invective.
My favourite track follows, which is “Revolution of Destruction“. This is catchy Metalcore with a chorus like All That Remains.
The collection closes out with the two punch of “Unholy Manipulator” and the Ozzy cover “Perry Mason“, both of which are cool slabs of aggro thrash.
Yup, liked the album quite a bit and the band have made a good debut. Brutal, but thoughtful anyone?
Buy: PRODUCT OF HATE – Buried In Violence
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGw2Da84b40[/embedyt]
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