"A Time of Crisis" is the comeback album of HERETIC, a classic Heavy Metal band who knows firsthand what a time of crisis feels like. After an unwelcoming setback when vocalist Mike Howe abandoned ship to join METAL CHURCH, HERETIC diminished from the Metal scene for nearly twenty years. Though this band attempts to dust off the axes in favor of a much-needed revival, there's not much in this album that this generation of Metalheads, young and old, has not already seen or heard.

There are some edgy elements in a few songs that put some of these tunes as pseudo or semi-thrash. But it's just simply not enough to drive you over the edge in pure blood-pumping Thrash energy. There is a lot of potential energy that builds in songs like "Tomorrow's Plague" and "Betrayed." Because these songs are toward the beginning, I kept expecting this potential energy to build, like a ball being rolled up a hill. But after hearing the overly stated agenda of "For Your Faith" and the lesser version of the remake of "Heretic," I concluded that this album never comes up with a tune that would label this album as the innovative Thrash work that I expected.

All due credit to soloist Glenn Rogers, formerly of HIRAX, as he holds his own with ripping solos; I would also like to credit Julian Mendez with his sufficient capability to combine pissy growling with anthemic shouts and raspy melodies. However, this album sounds as confused as Captain America when he realized he had been trapped under ice (completely incidental METALLICA reference) for nearly seventy years. If "Time of Crisis" had been released twenty years ago, HERETIC might be skipping to a different beat that would make them more successful in today's ever-changing world of Heavy Metal.