The press dropped many names when trying to place Shining´s previous album on the musical map, from The Mars Volta and Slayer via King Crimson and Mahavishnu Orchestra to Henry Cow, This Heat, Ornette Coleman, Ligeti and Messiaen. One thing they all agreed on was the striking originality of this young group who had gone through a radical transition from starting out as a postbop jazz quartet. With ”In The Kingdom Of Kitsch You Will Be A Monster” they tried to squeze in as much as they could, but masterful editing and production from Kåre Chr. Vestrheim made it all stick together in a very convincing way. Vestrheim is also the producer of this album.

Multi instrumentalist, writer and mainman Jørgen Munkeby is, like many of his contemporaries from a young generation of Norwegian musicians, not content with sticking to one genre but listens to and draw inspiration from several places, something that is as evident with ”Grindstone” as it was with it's predecessor. Just witness how they move between complex riffing, filmic soundscapes, jazz, classical and modern composition.

Munkeby was a member of Jaga Jazzist since their first album in 96 and left the band a few years ago. He is also playing with a couple of other bands and writes music for film, theater and dance. Drummer Torstein Lofthus is one of the most used session drummers in Norway and has played with a number of local pop acts. Andreas Schei replaced Morten Qvenild after the Kingdom album, and is also a former Jaga Jazzist keyboard player. New bass player is Morten Strøm, who has played with a number of singer/songwriters.