Rumpelstiltskin Grinder - Buried in the Front Yard (2005)

Rumpelstiltskin Grinder - Buried in the Front Yard
(Relapse Records) 2005

1. "Stealing E.T." (4:11)
2. "Orange And Black Attack" (5:00)
3. "Grab A Shovel (We Have Got Bodies To Bury)" (4:50)
4. "The Day Merman Met Todd The Harpoon Wilson" (4:25)
5. "Unleash The Troll" (3:46)
6. "Grinder" (4:16)
7. "Let The Fools Cheer" (3:40)
8. "Ode To Tanks" (4:10)

I was anxious to hear this band after reading glowing comments such as
"Buried in the Front Yard is a wonderful homage to classic 80's thrash
bands like Exodus, Kreator, Destruction, Violence, Death Angel..." and
"Rumpelstiltskin Grinder are the perfect combination of Dissection and
Kreater-esque thrash metal." The most common review seems to be
"...this band signals a comeback in 80's thrash". Truth be told, being
a huge fan, I was expecting a certain sound and that is not exactly
what I got. Certainly Rumpelstiltskin Grinder are good musicians. This
metal band from Philadelphia knows how to play their instruments! Their
drummer is excellent; his double bass is fast as hell and his beats are
simple, yet work well for each song. The thrashy vocals would probably
have sounded good on any Death or Possessed CD. No doubt these guys
have a lot of thrash metal influences. I would be willing to bet that
these guys eat, breath and sleep heavy metal. Bands like Death,
Destruction and Kreator most certainly inspired them. However there is
something about this band that doesn't scream "thrash" to me. I get
that same feeling form other modern thrash bands like The Haunted.
There's just something lacking that bands like Exodus and Kreator had.
I may commit blasphemy here, but I almost hear more in common with the
current crop of metalcore bands than with the classic thrash bands.
That's not to say this CD sucks either. There's actually plenty of
metal here including the addicting "Orange & Black Attack" with its
sing-along chorus, "No! We're Not F***ing Around!", or the insane
guitar aggression of "Grab a Shovel (We've Got Bodies to Bury)". As
might be expected from the song titles, the lyrics are pretty goofy and
expletive filled. Overall, a satisfying album, but not exactly what I
was expecting or hoping for. Rumpelstiltskin Grinder are an intense,
aggressive metal band.

I'll have to hear these guys. You make it sound pretty sweet (even if they aren't exactly thrash).

I think I may not like it all that much. I played it a couple times and it's ok, but I agree that it does not fit squarely into the thrash category. Not that I only like thrash, but whatever this is, it's not a favorite of mine. One song actually has some black metal style riffing.

ack

AchrisK wrote:

I think I may not like it all that much. I played it a couple times and it's ok, but I agree that it does not fit squarely into the thrash category. Not that I only like thrash, but whatever this is, it's not a favorite of mine. One song actually has some black metal style riffing.

ack

I couldn't put a finger on it either. Hard to define I guess.

A better--and more old school-sounding band--from Philadelphia would be BITCHSLICER. They were going to open for Vengeance Rising last year at the doomed SD&DM fest.

They're worth checking out...


)+(

I've checked them out before (Bitchslicer). The music was cool, but the lyrics were pretty dumb. The band name is also kinda lame. I did like their playing style, though.

As for the band this thread is about, I checked out a few tracks. Pretty cool, but something was just missing for me. It was one of those cool-to-hear-every-now-and-then-but-not-to-own sounding things. I'll have to check 'em out a bit more before I decide.

Their name would lead me to suspect that they are really into German music. As you know Grinder was a German thrash band in the late 80's; also Rumplestiltskin was a heavy German prog band in the early 70's. Could be coincidence I guess, since they are from Philly. Do they sound like they listen to a lot of German music?

Correction- Rumplestiltskin was on the German Label Bellephon, and their second album was issued only in Germany, but the band was English personel wise. So there's a flaw in my theory which probaly isn't even right in the first place.

I thought this album was really cool and I could definitely hear the thrash influences in it. I will, however, admit that many of the modern thrash bands do not have the same something that older bands did/do.

Anyway, going back to Rumpelstiltskin Grinder...
Which tracks do you think were the highlights from the album?

I'd have to go back and listen to it again to pick out some standout cuts. I am not that intimately familiar with it yet that I can remember the individual tracks.