Full EP Stream: Hellripper – “Black Arts & Alchemy”

Scotland’s Hellripper has delivered nasty, ripping release after nasty, ripping release in their short existence. The work of one James McBain, Hellripper has been extremely prolific, putting out eight original releases plus a compilation since 2015.

That pace hasn’t hurt the quality of Hellripper’s music, as new EP Black Arts & Alchemy can attest to. Taking a more punk approach this time around compared to 2017’s Coagulating Darkness full-length, Black Arts & Alchemy is a four-song ripper that doesn’t take its foot off the gas until the final notes of “Headless Angels” and contains some of Hellripper’s best songs yet.

Black Arts & Alchemy contains some of my favorite work to date,” McBain explains. “The songs are more punk-influenced than on Coagulating Darkness and sonically, I think it’s the best Hellripper release yet, with a ‘fuller’ and ‘heavier’ sound. As always, the EP was recorded and mixed at home by myself, but this time I got Joel Grind [Toxic Holocaust] on board for the mastering process which definitely helped how the end-product turned out!”

Black Arts & Alchemy is out on April 5 via Reaper Metal.