Band: Rumpelstiltskin Grinder
Title: Living For Death, Destroying The Rest
Label: Relapse Records
Distribution: Rough Trade
Release date: 23/01/2009
Review: CD

Living For Death, Destroying The Rest is the second studio album by Philadelphia-based band Rumpelstiltskin Grinder (what’s in a name???), after the 2005-release Buried In The Front Yard (also released through Relapse). The album goes mainly on in the vein of that debut, meaning: harsh, fast, melodic and technical Thrash Metal with both an old school-approach and a modern sound. The members, who are / were also involved with bands as Armageddon (the Pennsylvanian one), Evil Divine, Dust Is Everywhere, XXX Maniak or Solace In The Shadows, to name a few, bring nothing new nor renewing, yet again the craftsmanship, the perfect instrument-handling and the nice compositions make this album exceed the grey masses shamelessly. The mainly up-tempo tracks are pretty groovy and rhythmic and do include elements from Crossover / Hardcore. Together with the humoristic lyrics and the extra-ordinary artwork (damn, this is modernised old skool too!), the musical package sort of fits, and even though there is a clear lack of originality, the overall quality is sufficient. It is clear that this stuff is necessary material for fans of, let’s say, Exodus, Sodom, Toxic Holocaust or Municipal Waste amongst others…

80/100

Ivan Tibos.