Rumpelstiltskin Grinder

Screw the thrash metal revival, let's talk about the speed metal revival. Heads-down champs of all that is gold-y and mouldy, Philadelphia's Rumpelstiltskin Grinder are back with their second album, and what's changed? Well, what's changed on your vinyl copy of Extreme Aggression over the past 20 years? Nothing. And nothing's changed here, as these guys just let their long hair cover their faces and play as fast as they freaking can without it getting death or grind. "Graveyard Vandalism" is ludicrously speedy, the riff at 2:41 in "Traitor's Blood" is almost too fast and every song contains about a novella's worth of lyrics. Some tunes, like "Brainwasher C. 1655" and "Fiends in the Mountain, Ghouls in the Valley" (honestly, I love these song titles), add a bit of German thrash melody amidst the double-bass barrage and oh-so-perfect riffing. The production is crisp, clear and complements the surprisingly solid instrumentation nicely. All things told, it's pretty over-the-top stuff, and when you add the great sense of humour to it all (get a load of that cover art!) this is a raging slab of metal that pokes fun at the genre but obviously respects the hell out of it. Great stuff, and if you're worried about redundancy, you obviously weren't a speed metal fan to begin with, so bugger off.