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This
new wave of old school thrash metal revivalists is already
starting to overflow the market with all sorts of releases.
Naturally, by now these are already ranging from the great and
vicious (Municipal Waste) to the average and the mediocre. I
hesitate to insert a band’s name there, because thus far the
whole revival thing was kind of fun and because even those
merely efficient and lackluster releases managed to do the
trick, albeit mostly through the whole nostalgia trip I am so
fond of. But you can only take so much of it, until the scum
rises to the top for all of us to see the differences between la
crème de la crème and those that follow. Somewhere in the middle, well
stationed and head banging in all their Bay Area glory are Tokyo’s’s Grief of War; a trio of enthusiast who do it just
right. And by 'just right' I mean they barely make the grade, but
for the most part sound too complacent to rub elbows with bands
as goods as Evile and Municipal Waste. In other words, had A
Mounting Crisis…As Their Fury Got Released been unleashed
onto the metal world back in 1991 it would have registered
somewhere below Xentrix and right next to Devastation and on top
of Re-Animator.
Besides
great songwriting what has elevated the newer crop of thrash
metal revivalists to the level of the great thrash acts of yore
such as Testament and Death Angel is the incredible level of
musicianship. Take Municipal Waste for instance; dudes may be
partiers but they rip and abuse their instruments in such a
serious manner and count amongst their ranks no the highly
skilled drummer Dave Witte who has even done time with Melt
Banana. Evile, same case, musicianship was taken to a whole
different level there and their songs thrive on the energy
that’s expressed through it. The skills bands like these two
display in their latter works are for the most part well above
the standard musicianship seen during the sub genre’s heyday.
The trait isn’t shared by all revival participants, but
technicality seems now to be an edge on thrash metal. Less
proficient players mostly focused in energy used to venture out
into crossover territory.
Grief of War
do not rejoice in their technique, so their thrash is more blunt
and void of nuances, almost colorless and lacking the level of
detail that differentiates the leaders from the herd. Hence, the
riffs are repetitive and the solos are sloppy, in the guitar
department not an ounce of invention or awe inspiring skills in
sight. “Hatred Burns”, the first cut, is first grade stuff.
The soaring guitars at the beginning of “Rat Race” leave you
thirsty, hey I am not asking for anyone to turn into Alex
Skolnick, but this just sounds like the axeman is so
concentrated in playing the notes right he lost all the passion
on the way to the rehearsal space. Vocalist Manabu Hirose, also
the guitarist, barks properly. His approach could have fit any
of the average trash metal bands from back in the day, which is
fitting for Grief of War and that’s not to say a lot.
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