FOG OF WAR – Fog Of War

The nuclear fog is here! Sounds creepy, right? Well, don’t get too scared because the overall result is rather fun. Going almost three decades back, the USA Thrash Metal scene has been made famous by bands that were formed in the San Francisco Bay Area where NWOBHM was infused with the first wave of Speed Metal. However, the USA scene has its Eastside too. Bands like Anthrax, Overkill, and later on Municipal Waste were the New York and Virginia answers to the San Francisco Bay bands, and everything came down to the style of Thrash on display.

The young Thrashers from Fog Of War, originally based Benicia, California, didn’t actually play like most of the old San Francisco bands, but rather took direction towards the East Coast style of Thrash that occasionally implemented elements of Hardcore and Punk. The band’s debut release, Fog Of War, which was originally released independently back in 2009, has been released once again by Stormspell Records, with the addition of three tracks, which are different versions of the band’s self-titled and two demo tracks.

You can say that Fog Of War’s material is a good mix of ’80s-era Anthrax along with new efforts from Municipal Waste’s on-going crossover bewildered aggression. The main riffs, whether fast or slow, are rather simple and some were a bit overused, but still reflected a youthful sense and great energy. The first four tracks of the album, “Fog Of War”, “Death Penalty”, “Enforcer”, and “Kills On Contact”, display a type of Old School Thrash that is somewhat less riff-based and hang on quality lead guitar playing by two different guitarists that participated on the recordings. Although at first it seems that the two guys, Mosh & Wink, had dissimilar influences, they didn’t after all. As for the tracks themselves, the first two are great blasters to start the nuclear assault, and the pair afterwards come through quite nice as well, but don’t inflict the same positive pain.

Although the “M.C.T.” and “D.O.A.” tracks were exceptions, beginning with the fifth track, “M.O.S.H.”, and thereafter, Fog Of War’s direction became speedy and more like Thrash / Hardcore, which causes the overall material to become rather banal and fairly repetitive. That said, if you are a fan of Anthrax’s Fistful Of Metal, Spreading The Disease, and Among The Living, this one if for you. Also, if you are a fan of Municipal Waste’s Art Of Dying and Waste ‘Em All, Fog Of War will be a great find for you as well.

Tracklist

1. Fog of War
2. Death Penalty
3. Enforcer
4. Kills on Contact
5. M.O.S.H.
6. Six-Packin’ Heat
7. M.C.T.
8. Blood of a Thousand Sons
9. Taking Over
10. D.O.A.
11. Fog Of War (Classic Version)
12. Six-Packin’ Heat (Demo ’05)
13. Drunk Song (Demo ’05)

Lineup

Mosh – Vocals / Rhythm Guitars
Wink – Guitar (Tracks 1,2 & 4)
Jon “Lumberjack” Fryman – Guitars (Tracks 3 & 5-10)
Joe – Bass
Matt – Drums