“The Hardrock Haven Band of the Month is a band we firmly believe needs to be heard. Each month, one Hardrock Haven staff member has their opportunity to pick a band they feel is going to break soon; a band that is deserved of nationwide attention; and lastly, a band that just kicks ass.” … Derric Miller.

Hardrock Haven is proud to continue into our second year for our feature installment — Band of the Month — and this time around we journey to the land of the rising sun, Japan, to discover the band Grief of War.

Straight “outta” Tokyo, Japan, February’s Band of the Month is the extreme metal band Grief of War. They were formed in 2002 “for the purpose of being the true heir of real heavy metal.” After many hundreds of hours of rehearsals they had created a self titled demo by 2003. Numerous local shops sold the demo and this lead to them touring around Japan for the next few years, including a tour with Danish powerhouse Mnemic.

They originally released their current debut album A Mounting Crisis... As Their Fury Got Released in 2005 in Japan only, on the local label Yggr Drasill. On Feb. 19 this record will finally hit Stateside as they are now on the extreme metal label Prosthetic Records. This release is 80% old school Bay Area Thrash and 20% power metal, with plenty of more modern accents added for good measure. It has 10 cuts lasting a powerful 44 minutes.

Perhaps the best thing about their record is the number of spirited guitar leads and solos, something the Japanese people not only understand but admire as well. The top guitarists of the past 30 years including Michael Shenker, Yngwie Malmsteen and George Lynch are still significantly more popular and commercially successful in Japan than in North America. The architect of these sweet melodic solos is Ken Sato who gets set up brilliantly with the smooth rhythms of fellow axe man Hiroyuki Inoue. The band personally describes its own style as “Samurai Crunch,” and while that name might remind some of a breakfast cereal it will not once they let this album destroy their car stereo. On this record they are a bit raw but that’s part of the reason this album works.

They also hit the controversial side of things with the wild Armageddon cover art continuing inside on the liner notes. It shows a crowd of people wearing gas masks with one person holding a sign that says “America-World's Biggest Terrorist.” Obviously a fan of peace over the choice of war, the boys were very nice and gentle when they first came to the U.S.

People that truly miss powerful ‘80s metal styles will love this band. They should mature and grow technically as a band with their songwriting and instrumentation, and as they do they just might conquer the world.

You can pre order this CD or only $9.99 at http://www.myspace.com/griefofwar

Band Members
Manabu Hirose - vocals, bass
Ken Sato - lead/rhythm guitar
Hiroyuki Inoue - rhythm guitar
Isao Matuzaki – drums