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Rumpelstiltskin Grinder > Buried in the Front Yard... > Reviews
Rumpelstiltskin Grinder - Buried in the Front Yard...

Get off my lawn, you glorified leprechaun - 52%

autothrall, November 2nd, 2010

Rumpelstiltskin Grinder are a fairly perplexing act that arrived right on the leading edge of the modern thrash retrospective, but they've got little to nothing in common with most of the mediocre 80s worship nerds. Granted, there is clearly a huge influence from both the chunky power of Bay Area thrash and a hardcore saturation that owes a little to say, Demolition Hammer or the NY crossover bands like Cro-Mags and Crumbsuckers, but this is flavored with a little edge of technicality, a tiny trace of death metal. Add to this the curious but attractive cover art and the band's bizarre name and it fills a rather unique niche: demented fairy tale thrash? The lyrics expand upon this, of course, often covering such subjects as military hardware ("Ode to Tanks") and government conspiracies ("Stealing E.T."), but they're always engaging some medium of cryptic silliness that make the band a little hard to take seriously, and I'm sure they don't want you to.

Whether or not this is welcome, of course, depends on whether or not you find the band's sense of humor actually funny. I do not. It feels like we're not always in on some inside joke, or like some spastic internet memes given audio flesh. Thus, for my own enjoyment, I had to rely entirely on the band's musical skill and composition, and here at least they do not completely drop the ball. "Stealing E.T." presents some hammering, schizoid thrash, and there are a handful of brazen sub-tech rhythms and a flighty but frenetic lead sequence which certainly deliver, though they seem encapsulated in less interesting fare that does little but drive the mosh pit. "Orange and Black Attack" has a worthwhile opening trot, like a less intense Dark Angel or Demolition Hammer, but then throws this away on a dumb chorus of 'No, we're not fucking around' which threatens you from a pretty boring, typical thrash riff.

There are several other highlights like the bustling lattice of woven, muted melodies that inaugurates "Grab a Shovel (We've Got Bodies to Bury)" or the thumpy bass and melodic slicing of "Unleash the Troll" which veers towards a more technical black/thrash territory, but even these are not entirely solid or memorable in the greater context of their combined riff qualities. "Grinder" is basically a melodic death/thrash piece which, while vivacious and sprightly like the Swedish overlords, with a chugged/arpeggio trade off during the bridge, but nothing here seems to attract the attention after a listen or two. "The Day Merman Met Todd 'The Harpoon" sucks aside from its exotic bridge. "Let the Fools Cheer" has some worthwhile if annoying guitar lines, but the splattered bark of the vocalist seems to clutter the composition, and "Ode to Tanks" opens with a grievously dull rolling hardcore/thrash mosh rhythm that continues into the verse like we were listening to Earth Crisis with a different vocalist. It grows more interesting as it proceeds into warlike, melodic thrash territory, but still forgettable.

With a bit more emphasis on its apparent strengths in musicianship and a few less cloying, dull breakdown segments, Buried in the Front Yard might have been a decent debut of modern thrash that kept one eye forward with the other on the past. The guitars are very chunky, and they seem a little off balance with the leads, though the muted melodies the band are constantly inhabiting sound bold enough. The vocals are appropriately vicious, somewhere between a Don Doty and Chuck Schuldiner, but upon any examination of the lyrics, they quickly lose their edge. It's ironic, because not all of the prose is necessarily terrible: the subject matter might be folly, but Rumpelstiltskin Grinder have put at least a little thought into it, and since they've done the same for just about every element of the music, it deftly manages to avoid the Pit of Suck.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

extremely good - 97%

Thudburg, December 24th, 2008

Rumpelstiltskin Grinder's Buried in the Front Yard is a masterful modern thrash album compared to many of the other new revivalist bands. The great thing about this album is that it isn't just a rehash of the 80s but it has a complete different sound to it that I can't truly relate to any other band. The originality factor in the album is astounding. The riffs, vocals, and the song structure in general are truly amazing and refreshing to hear.

At first sight the band may seem strange due to their lyrical themes and what not and to be frank I'm still rather confused and I really have no clue as to how they came up with some of the strange ideas for their songs. Don't let the oddness of the album cover and track titles turn you away. If anything it only makes the album more awesome by adding obscurity to it. This is definitely all in good fun however as it adds comedic relief throughout the album while keeping the technicality and professionalism in the music.

The first song sets the pace for the entire album. The vocals are extremely well done and are quite raspy giving it sort of a hardcore punk vibe which fits extremely well with the material on the album. You find yourself singing along to the extremely catchy choruses. From the aggressive “No we're not fucking around!” on Orange and Black Attack to the awesome “Let the fools cheer!”. The guitar breakdowns are extremely well done like on the tracks Grab a Shovel, Unleash the troll, and pretty much every song for that matter. The solos in the songs move at fucking blazing speeds, the guitar tones are perfect as well. The drumming in this album is just non stop thunderage. They help the song move at ridiculous speeds at times and the drummer pretty much flawless. It is quite amazing how such a new band released a near perfect debut album such as this one. The production quality is great, I don't see how it could be any better. The fact the band has managed to capture a distinct sound so early on in their career is quite astounding.

Ode to Tanks is the perfect closer with alternating lead parts giving the song one hell of an energetic feel as both guitarists are able to display their skills. The album is over way before you want it to be, which is the only downside. A few extra songs surely would have scored this album a hundred. All in all, this album is definitely worth a purchase if you see it around. If your looking for original thrash material made by the new up and coming thrashers then definitely give RSG a listen. Just don't be too disappointed when the album is over, a new album is underway for January!

Criminally Underrated! - 97%

The_Boss, April 9th, 2008

Rumpelstiltskin Grinder could be considered as a member of the retro-thrash movement but they certainly aren’t your average run of the mill retro-thrash band like Merciless Death or Avenger of Blood playing pure 80’s worship or sucking the dick’s of some legendary band. I find it impossible to have a conversation with anyone about this band because no one seems to know these guys exist; which is a damn shame because I haven’t had this much fun thrashing around and listening to thrash in a long time.

Their debut album Buried in the Front Yard is simply a modern day thrash masterpiece that no one has heard of it seems. Having an almost cult following, these guys are slowly gaining more attention I think, but it seems to be happening at a terribly slow pace. Roaring into life, this album starts out rolling like a tank into your skull with heavy riffs that slaughter all posers at first sight with Stealing E.T. with punishing twin guitar attacks and rumbling drums that don’t relent. The double bass and blast beats found here are some of the best in modern thrash; the drummer is very talented showing much variety throughout. The bassist even has plenty of moments where bass fills and solos stand out being a large part of the rhythm section on this album working perfectly. The guitars as I mentioned earlier are nothing short of fantastic. I can’t see how anyone would find the guitar tone here less than perfect with fusing the perfect melodic riffs with sheer speed and tight production here.

The best song rolls up next with Orange and Black Attack having some awesome melodic moments and headbanging parts with a killer and catchy chorus. If you aren’t singing along to this as well as many of the others songs here then there’s something wrong with you. The rest of the album continues along at a similar balls to the wall thrash attack that literally doesn’t relent the entire way. With such highlights like the awesome riffing and ‘breakdown’ part in Grab A Shovel (We’ve Got Bodies to Bury) I find it impossible to not enjoy the neck snapping parts and sing along parts like “NOT THE BACKYARD” as a gang styled back up vocals. Buried in the Front Yard features a pleasant and entertaining usage of back up gang vocals, as they are called similar to what you can find on a Dekapitator album.

Rumpelstiltskin Grinder features a similar approach to humor as you can find on a Helloween or Edguy release where it is done with such seriousness and force or to the point where you enjoy it without realizing. Such perfect execution through the lyrics and how Shawn Riley sings with such captivating power and allows you to sing along or such. His vocals are perfect having force and a little punk flare thrown in for fast singing with attitude. Songs like Unleash the Troll with the killer riffs and solo and hilarious chorus will make you sing along and you won’t even know it until it’s over and you realize you sang along to a song about unleashing a troll for about 3 minutes.

I mention again that Rumpelstiltskin Grinder are criminally underrated with only one full length and a live album out in roughly 5 years making them a rather young band, but I highly recommend them to anyone who is a fan of thrash metal. These guys are at the top of the heap and with just one album I think I can classify them as a top tier thrash band, higher than some veteran bands even. This is a really mature release for such young guys with perfectly executed riffs, song structures and awesome solos. The guitars are the biggest factor here in this, with these two guys roaring all over the place riffing with such speed and force it’s impossible not to break your neck or sit back in wonder while your ears are bleeding after hearing some wicked shredding all while keeping such beautiful melody. Check out Unleash the Troll at 2:41 what a fucking riff! Truly amazing how these guys who are highly talented musicians can do all this on their debut album coming out of no where and slaughtering all opposition early on. If you can find Buried in the Front Yard I suggest checking this album out because it is top quality thrash metal with absolutely no faults that I can find and no filler, literally every song is completely memorable and awesome in each way, which is a rare thing nowadays. Rumpelstiltskin Grinder have nailed it here and I for one am eagerly anticipating for another release, but in the mean time this album will be on constant rotation.

Far from a mid-career-Gwar... - 100%

CallerOfTheCthulhu, October 23rd, 2005

There are only two areas in the world that good thrash bands come from, and those areas are Canada and the state of Pennsylvania. In this case, Rumpelstiltskin Grinder hails from Pennsylvania. With their best foot forward, Buried In The Front Yard proves to be a worthy contendor for the metal universe.

First look at the cover will show that they plan to play at their title as much as possible. As soon as you flip the case it proves even moreso with astranged titles such as "Stealing E.T." and "The Day Merman Met Todd 'The Harpoon' Wilson". While the band may seem as thought they can't be taken seriously, this release is far from being comedic or mid-career-Gwar.

The album roars into high gear with the blistering track "Stealing E.T." and it just doesn't stop from there. Rumpelstiltskin Grinder perfectly blend melodic with mayhem on this and every other track on the record. Next is "Orange & Black Attack" which let's loose a few f-bombs (much like any traditional thrash band now-a-days), and continues on to the not-as-funny-as-it's-name track "The Day Merman Met Todd 'The Harpoon' Wilson".

It basically stays that way with insane songs, and a few catchy ones that will stay in your head like "Grinder" and "Unleash The Troll". However, the standout track on this release would have to be the perfectly arranged track "Ode To Tanks" which truly is an ode to the most destructive man-made creations on the face of this earth. Well...one of them anyhow. And by the time this track finishes you'll be craving more.

So, in short, Rumpelstiltskin Grinder may seem like it's not worth the money you don't have, but it very much is. While the group keeps a hint of comedy with themselves, they are a force not to be reckoned with. The album will probably stay on repeat since there are no audible flaws to the recording or CD itself. This is a must have for any metal enthusiast.