UMUR
"The Greatest Joke" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Brazilian thrash metal act Kremate. The album was released through Urubuz Records in 2011. The band´s debut full-length studio album "Death: In the Name Of (2005)" was actually just a re-release of the 2003 "Watch the End" promo, so "The Greatest Joke" is actually the band´s first "regular" studio album.
On "The Greatest Joke", Kremate embrace an old school thrash metal sound with more than a few nods towards early Slayer. It´s mainly the guitar riffs that remind me of that band. The vocals are raw and shouting with an audible accent. The band take on a socio political angle in their lyrics, so it´s not one of those "zombie/drinking beer" type retro thrash metal albums, which I initially thought after looking at the cover artwork.
The sound production is raw and maybe lacking the hand of a professional to elevate it to the level of the better thrash metal productions out there.
To my ears "The Greatest Joke" is a pretty standard old school thrash metal release. It´s decent and enjoyable while it plays, but soon forgotten after it ends. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.