Dead End

Most thrash metal maniacs will agree Sodom´s "Agent Orange" can hardly be beaten, but there exists another titanic song of the same age with this title. It opened the second full-length of Grinder. In alignment with the lyrics that dealt naturally with the Vietnam War, militaristic drum rolls characterized the intro. They were underlaid with a baleful guitar line so that the discomfort of the American soldiers became tangible. After the intro, the song turns into a thrash metal gem. Intelligent lyrics are combined with brilliant riffs, an outstanding solo section and vehement drumming. It must also be pointed out that the the vocalist performed in a considerable manner while being supported by strong backing vocals. Due to the excellent song structure, I am no longer sure whether Tom Angelripper´s classic really remains unrivaled. However, this marked a terrific first number. Unfortunately, "Dead End" had its highs and lows. Some tunes remained far behind the outstanding opener, but more on that later.

First of all, let´s talk about the production. It should have had more effectiveness, because it lacked a bit of power and heaviness. But I do not want to be too picky. All instruments sounded clear and they were well balanced without creating a sterile sound. In conclusion, this was no outstanding, but a more than passable production. However, far more important were the songs itself.

As indicated above, Grinder presented more killer tracks than just the opener. The majority of the songs, for example "Just Another Scar" or the title track, sounded as powerful as the opener. They were well constructed, offered a lot of diversity and were driven by vibrant riffs. Once again, the energizing vocals have also to be mentioned. Apart from this, these highlights had definitely remarkable texts. The same was true with regard to the remaining songs. Carefully chosen lines like "Silence seems so loud in here" (taken from "Inside") were almost philosophical. The cover motif had style, too. But, naturally, it is of much more relevance that there were significant quality differences between the individual songs. Generally speaking, it is laudable that they kept an eye on musical diversity. It gets even better, you will fortunately not find a real letdown. However, there are some tunes that fall under the category "pretty decent". For instance, "Train Raid" sounds like a leftover of a fun-punk band while "Inside" follows a melancholic approach. These songs do not really fit the context and should maybe not had been used for a regular full-length. Despite of that, the hit rate of Grinder´s songs was more than satisfactory.

Therefore, if you like intelligently executed thrash, you should check out this courageous album. Grinder did their best to create a special work without fearing to cross the borders of their genre. Pubescent teenagers who only want to abuse good music in order to provoke their parents should stay away from this record.

Perhaps I wasn't the only one fooled by the cover art into thinking that Grinder had transformed somehow into an early death metal band, but that's just the cover art, and the actual audio content is still very much thrash metal. The production here had improved leaps and bounds over the previous Dawn for the Living, and the band were writing in a more spacious, expansive tone, but despite the few moments of truly interesting music offered through Dead End, the album becomes a stunted bore, with Arizona styled vocals (half Phil Rind of Sacred Reich, half Eric A.K. of Flotsam & Jetsam) that offer a little more melody than the usual German thrashers, but lack all of the blazing, venomous charm of their peers.

A song like "Dead End" really represents my feelings about the album. It opens as incredibly generic thrash with no guitars worth a damn, then transforms into this schizoid landscape in which the band experiment with mood, eventually upscaling to fast as balls speed/thrash with ripping solos. Despite the band's obvious level of competence in its craft, the song is at best an uneven, forgettable assault arriving in a time of far better options. The opener "Agent Orange" is simply not as good as Sodom's song/album of the same type, but the intro that sets up the surge of belligerent riffing is well done, and the verse riffs aren't bad. The band utilizes a lot of melody in "Total Control" and "Why", almost attempting to bridge into a progressive/thrash terrain, but sadly, despite the good drumming and occasionally well plotted melodies, they are not interesting.

"Train Raid" is even worse, a spastic blues/punk piece that doesn't mesh well with the album, and the neo-classical gone bounce thrash of "Inside" almost gimps itself. Had Dead End been gifted with more straight forward fare ala the pickup of "Agent Orange" or "Just Another Scar", then it might have gotten by on its sheer good looks, but as it stands, it's yet another example of those records that drift off into the spark of their imagination without producing a theory or relativity or any other worthwhile innovation. 'Proficient' and 'expansive' are words I would use to expand Grinder as they cycled through the three albums of their career (before mutating into the power metal band Capricorn), but 'quality' is one descriptor that eludes them.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

By the year 1989 thrash had exploded. Most of the territory was explored and new albums were simply an improvement of older bands; originality was scarce. Not that did mattered, because nobody at that point listened to new thrash bands to hear something original. Right? Wrong. At least according to Grinder, who not only managed to create awesome headbangable metal, but also came up with an original sound.

The highlight of their career is found at the second album; Dead End. The basis for their unique sound are strong basslines who hold together all of the instruments. The bass is easily the best feature and its strong compressed and mid-centered tone bring all of the songs to a higher level. The guitars are crunchy and heavily distorted, providing great thrash riffs and sweet high-pitched solos and harmonies.

The drums sound like your average speed metal deal; never taking the forefront but a perfect companion to the rest of the band. The vocals are also outstanding, able to provide high shrieks as well as mid-frequency aggressive thrash vocals. Don't let the origin of Grinder fool you though; they are closer to USA thrash than their German compatriots of the time. Overall this is an awesome record and the only problem is that it's not entirely consistent. Recommended to all thrash and speed metal fans!

Created in the mid 80's this band is not so well known among the thrash fans across the world. Like every band born in Germany in those days GRINDER is worth it. And Kicks Ass in the oldschool way.
When i first heard 'Dead End" i was really pleased with the thrash holocaust that was marching through my head. The album starts with the opening "Agent Orange", wich is the best track in the album. The scorching intro prevails into a strong, tight and heavy thrash masterpiece, wich should be pleasure for the ears of the thrash fans. The song goes with fast drum beat, the bass and guitar section are strong and solid and the vocal is clean and the chorus are remarkable. After this GRINDER slows the temp with the main track "Dead End", wich has great guitar solo part. The following short song "The Blade Is Back" goes wild again wich made of it a real headbanging hymn, followed by the slow heavy "Inside". The next track "Just Another Scar" is the other best on the album. It starts slow and for the sake of the maniacs goes wild after 30sec. with one of the best chorus sections i have ever heard. The solos are well puted and the sound is heavy and fast. The song is followed by the mid-tempo crusher called "Total Control" wich is great with his solidness and heavy sound. After that is the reason why this album is not rated 100%. The instrumental "Why" has really nice solo parts but it just don't fit in the whole album sound. Everything comes in place with beer, mosh, "frinedly violent" anthem "Train Raid". God damn it - i love this song. It's fast, brutal and cheerful and made me break my head into the wall. COME ON FOLKS LET'S DO THE TRAIN RAID...ALL ON BOARD and let the beer spill. The album is closed the same way it started - with the dark and solid "Unlock The Morgue".
What can i say - this album brought back to me the nostalgy of the 80's Thrash and i recommand it to every real fen of this style. You know what to do - shut down MTV, forget the posers and blow your neighbour ears with thrash wich is heavy loud and kicks ass!