Hailing from Tokyo, Japan, Grief Of War was formed, in their own words, "For the purpose of being the true heir of real thrash metal." With A Mounting Crisis…And Their Fury Got Released, they may have honestly done just that. Originally released in Japan in 2005, this record is being re-released by Prosthetic Records, who signed Grief Of War in 07. I for one am glad that it is finally going to see the light of day, as it's a total flashback to American thrash bands like Slayer, Overkill, Exodus and Death Angel, while at the same time sounding fresh and relevant.
From the air raid sirens of the opening track "Hatred Burns," A Mounting Crisis…. bombards the listener with growling vocals, thrash guitars and pounding drums. Vocalist Manabu Hirose screams out his lyrics with just a touch of melody, sounding like a cross between Joey Belladonna of Anthrax and Mark Osegueda of Death Angel, while his snarls on the track "Blind From The Facts" are very reminiscent of Snake from Voivod. Hirose also plays bass, and you definitely get the feeling that he could keep up with Tom Araya of Slayer. What makes this record for me though are the guitars of Ken Sato and Hiroyuki Inoue, who rip and shred through every song like there's no tomorrow. Both have mastered the trash guitar "sound," and nothing is more evident of this than "Rat Race," which is very D.R.I. sounding, and "Resist" which is as fast and furious as anything I've heard from any Bay Area thrash band. Every song is a perfect mix of "crunch" and tempo. Perhaps what really give this band its classic thrash sound though is drummer Isao Matuzaki, who pounds out the blast beats and keeps things moving at break-your-neck speed. Check out his skin pounding on "Don't Walk Away" if you don't believe me.
People may read this review and say if I've already heard Slayer, Anthrax, Overkill, Exodus, Death Angel and Voivod, so why do I need to listen to Grief Of War? Well, although they are not doing anything groundbreaking here, this self described "Samurai Crunch" has really captured the sound, feel and vibe of the trash metal. They have done a fantastic job of emulating bands of the past and showing their influences while putting their own unique touches on their music. I for one am very excited about this band, and am looking forward to hearing more from them in the future.
A Mounting Crisis… will be available on February 19, 2008 Prosthetic Records.
More on Grief Of War here: www.myspace.com/griefofwar
