HARDWARES

The humorously-monikered Philadelphia-based RUMPLESTILTSKIN GRINDER have unleashed its pulverizing third full-length platter, Ghostmaker. Thrash is the main ingredient here, but the band also incorporate death, black and grind metal elements intermittently throughout the disc. Noticing similarities to SODOM, KREATOR and even Swedish melodeath influences of AMON AMARTH wouldn’t be off-base. The vicious vocals of Shawn Riley grabs your attention immediately on CD opener ‘Those Who Are Unseen’ and continues throughout the CD. The 12 tracks are well-balanced with some decent transitions and tempo changes. There’s also some tasty, well-placed guitar solos (‘Iron Jaw,’ ‘A Lurking Thief,’ ‘Nightworms’). While Ghostmaker is not groundbreaking in the least, it’s easy to notice that there’s something interesting brewing in the RsG camp. The CD manages to conjure up some lively grooves, splattered with some calculated melody and a decent, not-too-polished production, handled by the band themselves. They aren’t quite there yet, but on Ghostmaker, Rumplestiltskin Grinder prove they are headed in the right direction.