You have to give Japan's Grief of War credit...they make no bones about sticking to their guns and telling the world they love 80's thrash metal. A Mounting Crisis...As Their Fury Got Released, recorded a few years back but now officially released on Prosthetic Records, offers up every thrash style from the glory years, taking influence from not only the Bay Area bands like Exodus, Metallica, Slayer, Death Angel, Violence, Megadeth, and Testament, but also the New York scene (Overkill, Anthrax) as well as the greats from Germany (Kreator, Sodom, and Destruction). It's all extremely well done and perfectly executed, with crunchy rhythm guitars, wild leads, manic drum work, and typical thrash vocals. With some of the other recent & successful thrash revival acts like Warbringer and Skeltonwitch making their mark, how does this release from Grief of War stack up? Well, pretty good, but after making a few passes through A Mounting Crisis...As Their Fury Got Released a few times, you start to get a feeling of "hmmm, didn't I hear a similar passage, riff, or arrangement a few songs ago"? These guys are so adept at recreating their influences that there seems to be little room for originality here (not everyone can be Byzantine I guess?), which is probably something that will come over time, as there's no doubt of the boatload of talent this band posseses. You just can't ignore the crushing riffs and razor-like solos on "Don't Walk Away", the headbanging fury of "Distrust", and the epic, almost progressive thrash of "Blind From The Facts" . So, as long as you are not expected a revamping of the thrash rulebook, A Mounting Crisis...As Their Fury Got Released will be a welcome addition to your metal CD collection. Fans of all types of 80's thrash will certainly drool all over this buffet table of riff-o-rama.
Track Listing
1. Hatred Burns
2. Rat Race
3. Sown By Greed
4. Don't Walk Away
5. Distrust
6. Eternal Curse
7. Blind From The Facts
8. Resist
9. Blood Lust
10. The Judgement Day
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