I do admittedly find the high-pitched vocals quite poor, but not irritatingly so, and thankfully they aren't mixed too highly. Despite that, the frantic soloing and range of different tempos in songs like Pestilence is enjoyable because of the originality in how the riffs are composed and how the dramatic songwriting contributes to the tension of the album. This really impairs the quality of these songs. The mix is just off-putting, the guitars are scratchy and panned oddly, which isn't terrible but the drums are really thin with the cymbals having far too much treble added. This brings me to my main gripe: the production. The lyrics and music were written by Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman and are based on Nazi physician Josef Mengele, who conducted human experiments at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. Still, this isn't a masterpiece as it's still quite limited in terms of how much enjoyable content there is, and how some of the sections just aren't very memorable. Angel of Death is the opening track on the American thrash metal band Slayer’s 1986 album Reign in Blood. This sets Kingdoms of Hate over most of the mediocre thrash metal albums that came out in the 2000s and early 2010s.
The guitar tracks are tight and sharp, with riffs that are very characteristic of thrash metal, but still have their own melodic twist and enough variety to keep you interested. VINTERMØRKE / THE KINGDOM OF PEACE: Dead Woods CD (Greek/Polish black metal split) £5.00 ABRUPTUM: De Profundis Mors Vas Cousumet Mini LP. In terms of the heavier side though, there is a very modern sound here, in the vein of Crisix or Municipal Waste. HADES ARCHER: Temple Of The Impure LP (black vinyl, unholy black/death/thrash metal) £15.00 BLACK ALTAR / KIRKEBRANN: Deus Inversus split LP (180g vinyl, gatefold, Norwegian/Polish black metal split). Where thrash metal around this period proved to be generally unoriginal and bland, Thrashock's debut album shows some amount of musical prowess and an ability to combine aggression with melody, in a style that is influenced by Death Angel or even Testament.