UMUR "Product of Society" is the debut full-length studio album by US thrash metal act Defiance. The album was released in February 1989 through Roadrunner Records. The "Hypothermia (1988)" demo was noticed by the label who signed Defiance on the basis of the demo. I guess Roadrunner Records had high hopes for Defiance because they brought in Jeff Waters from Annihilator to produce "Product of Society".

The music on the album is pretty standard US thrash metal. Technically well played (especially the drums), pretty well produced (the guitars could have been slightly more powerful) but not very original. The vocals by Ken Elkinton are semi-raw and delivered in the time-typical staccato "stumble over the words" style. For some unknown reason a lot of thrash metal acts in those days insisted on putting more words into their songs than they could actually sing. While the music might be pretty standard (and the song structures formulaic) and far from unique this is still some pretty kickass US thrash metal and there are several seriously head bang inducing riffs on the album. The well played and memorable guitar solos need a mention as an asset too.

Overall "Product of Society" should please the all consuming US thrash metal fan while those of us who crave a slightly more original sound won´t find the album more than just enjoyable and most likely forgotten tomorrow. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.