Rumpelstiltskin Grinder - Living for Death, Destroying the Rest
Rating
RIYL
Toxic HolocaustMetallica
Slayer
Release Date
01/20/2009
Label
RelapseTracklist
Nothing Defeats the SkullGraveyard Vandalization
Brainwasher C.1655
Fiends in the Mountain, Ghouls in the Valley
Spyborg
Traitor's Blood
Beware the Thrash Brigade
Sewers of Doom(Dethroning the Tyrant Part 1)
Darkness Never Ending(Dethroning the Tyrant Part 2)
Revolution of Underground Legions(Dethroning the Tyrant Part 3)
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Old school thrash has enjoyed a resurgence as of late with the success of bands like Toxic Holocaust and Municipal Waste, as they gained some attention in the mainstream. You can add the “criminal thrash” (as they like to be called) outfit Rumpelstiltskin Grinder to that list as well. The Pennsylvanian four-piece has unleashed a good old fashioned slab of speed/black metal with their newest release Living for Death, Destroying the Rest.
LFDDTR finds these rogues building on the foundation their 2006 debut full-length Buried in the Front Yard laid: technical, 80’s revival thrash with the occasional breakdown or guitar solo peppered in and song titles like “Nothing Defeats the Skull” and “Spyborg.” Rumpelstiltskin Grinder have self-appointed themselves leaders of the thrash/speed metal movement (and, apparently, leaders of an international crime syndicate if you read the bio on their website) of the new millennium and it’s easy to see why. Choose any song on the album and a number of 20th century influences come to mind, from legends like Slayer and Venom to basically anyone signed to Metal Blade or any other prominent metal label in the early 1980’s.
The biggest problems for Rumpelstiltskin Grinder aren’t their hokey crime stories or their unapologetic borrowing from their forefathers, it’s that they do very little to stand out from their peers, even those who are riding the recent wave of thrash. Most of it stems from Shawn Riley’s double duty on bass and lead vocals. His voice doesn’t possess the same distinction that makes his peers within the genre great. On the other hand, the guitars and drums haul ass through most of the record and have a rough, almost unpolished feel to them, which mostly suits the band well.
Only a few songs really capture the good characteristics of the two genres (thrash and black metal) that RG focus on, like “Graveyard Vandalization”, “Spyborg” and “Darkness Never Ending (Dethroning the Tyrant Part 2).” The back half of the album has a decidedly more black metal feel to it, which may or may not have been the band’s intention. Too many of the songs don’t do enough to stand out, though, and show that this outfit needs to concentrate less on their back-story and more on their tunes.
--Dan Strobel
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