warble while alternating between shred-heavy thrash and heavily orchestrated prog, only to finish—amazingly—with a ferocious pro-vegan rap. Despite some anything-goes arrangements that take everything too far, Manifesto is an ambitious work that achieves most of its curators’ eclectic vision. J.D. CONSIDINE
Rumpelstiltskin Grinder LIVING FOR DEATH, DESTROYING THE REST (RELAPSE)
Rumpelstiltskin Grinder certainly split opinions with their 2005 debut, Buried in the Front Yard. The Pennsylvanians return without frontman Eli Shaika (bassist Shawn Riley sings now) but with a bit of tongue still in cheek—see song titles like “Friends in the Mountain, Ghouls in the Valley”—and even more metal in hand. “Beware the Thrash Brigade” is a pummeling assault of Motörhead proportions while “Nothing Defeats the Skull,” “Traitor’s Blood,” and the three-part “Dethroning the Tyrant” display dizzying dynamic shifts. So don’t be afraid of a little humor with your headbanging—a slam and a smile will do you good. GARY GRAFF
core lifers Napalm Death show no signs of relenting, relaxing, or even slightly slowing down, not even for a split blast beat. From unforgiving opener “Strong Arm” to grind-haiku “A No-Sided Argument,” the Deathsters are machine-like in their hyper-speed insurgency, even taking on the cybernetic sheen of Meshuggah on the title track and its successor, “Life and Limb.” It’s a little bizarre to hear the leaders aping their followers, but the band quickly—very quickly— recovers their slash-and-burn selves on “Fallacy Dominion,” which hinges on an evil minor-chord jangle and vocalist Barney Greenway’s signature attack-bark. J. BENNETT
band, booming and pounding somewhere between Godflesh, My Bloody Valentine, and a dump truck full of bowling balls. On album No. 4, their feedback blasts are more precise and less consuming; they chug on real guitars and they’ve replaced their stiff industrial beats with funky breaks. It doesn’t make for their most musically heavy album, but it is certainly their heaviest, lyrically. Pulling no political punches, Gutter Tactics opens with sound bites of Reverend Jeremiah Wright (Obama’s pastor, scrutinized for anti-American rhetoric) and peaks with an eight-minute epic called “Who Medgar Evers Was…” (look it up).
CHRISTOPHER R. WEINGARTEN
CHRIS KROVATIN
ZENA TSARFIN
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