UMUR "Pleasures of the Flesh" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Exodus. The album was released through Combat Records in October 1987. It´s the successor to "Bonded by Blood" from 1985. There´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as lead vocalist Paul Baloff has been replaced by Steve "Zetro" Souza.

"Pleasures of the Flesh" opens with "Deranged" and right off the bat the listener is exposed to the same kind of aggressive and raw thrash metal as the band played on "Bonded by Blood (1985)". New lead vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza has a snarling raw delivery and fits in perfectly. The longer you get into the album the less interesting it gets though, and the material on the 10 track, 46:19 minutes long album struggle to live up to the high quality and instant catchiness of the material on "Bonded by Blood (1985)". There are several great tracks on the album, so it´s definitely not all bad, but there are also some pretty unremarkable tracks featured on the album.

Another sinner which doesn´t help the material to shine is the sound production, which is pretty weak. Especially the drums are placed low in the mix and feature a rather odd lifeless sound. If you´re familiar with Tom Hunting´s drumming performance and the drum sound on the predecessor, it´s hard not to be disappointed by how the drums sound on "Pleasures of the Flesh". It´s like it´s a completely different drummer playing on the two albums.

There are also positive elements to be mentioned, and one of them is the inclusion of the occasionally more melodic oriented vocal lines and guitar melodies, although the music is still predominantly raw and thrashy. In that way "Pleasures of the Flesh" is a more diverse album than "Bonded by Blood (1985)". But upon conclusion "Pleasures of the Flesh" is a step down from the high quality of the debut album, and there are a couple of weak elements (particularly the sound production) which are the cause of that. Overall it´s still a quality thrash metal release though, and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.

Kingcrimsonprog Pleasures Of The Flesh, the second album from bay area Thrash Metal underdogs Exodus has always been cruelly overlooked and underrated, often even among the band’s own fans.

The album was the the first album with new Vocalist Steve ‘Zetro,’ Souza who got a hard time for replacing the band’s original vocalist Paul Baloff, and for his very AC/DC style of vocals.

It was never going to be easy living in the shadow of Bonded By Blood, but on a purely Musical merit, Pleasures Of The Flesh is every bit as classic, and every bit as awesome as the other Classic Exodus albums.

The riffs on this album are intensely catchy and memorable, the kind that you hum for days after listening to the album, ‘Brain Dead,’ in particular is one of the catchiest songs the band ever written, sounding like a mixture between Megadeth’s earlier albums and Slayer’s groovier moments.

Introducing a level of diversity and maturity missing from their debut; the band expand what an audience can expect from an Exodus album. The guitar work on this album is also of a much higher caliber… Songs like ‘Seeds of Hate,’ and ‘Chemi-Kill,’ are technical and impressive, demonstrating the talent and musicianship the band had to offer.

This album is a brilliant example of the classic Bay Area sound and any fan of Thrash Metal, especially of the Band really ought to buy it.

Now that most people have generally accepted that Zetro was the band’s best vocalist, people can listen without prejudice and discover a real hidden gem.

Time Signature Deranged drums...

Genre: thrash metal

Musically, there are some really good things on this album. There are plenty of Exodus-style thrashing mad speedy riffs in the mid- to up-tempo tracks. And the Exodus humor also shows its face here, although more prominent on the two following albums. Steve Souza also does a good job with his more rock 'n' roll oriented voice.

So why two stars?

The big problem here is the production which, to put it mildly, sucks big time. Firstly, everything is drowned in reverb, which ruins the listening experience, because it is hard ti hear what is going on when everything sounds like it was recorded in the Death Star reactor room. The drum sound is horrible, and the snare is awful. It is way too prominent and, if the snare drum sound on "St. Anger" was annoying, then this is way beyond annoying (this also goes for the hi-hat and the ride cymbals) - it is genuinely difficult to concentrate on the guitars because the snare takes all of one's attention (and then, it also sounds like the drumming is sloppy).

This is really an example of bad production ruining the whole experience of listening to the album.

I would recommend this to fans of thrash metal who are collectors or who are interested in early thrash metal. I would not recommend this album to "noobies" who have never heard Exodus before - check out "Fabulous Disaster", "Impact is Imminent" or "Bonded by Blood" in stead, or perhaps some of their newer stuff.