Hellripper have been the best thing in the blackened speed/thrash metal arena for a long time now, at least since their first full-length, 2017’s Coagulating Darkness. It was on that album that sole member James McBain established the core of the project: early Metallica and Venom-style riffs played fast as fuck, executed with both precision and enthusiasm. In the ensuing years, McBain has stayed busy, releasing a handful of splits, an EP and three more albums, including Hellripper’s latest, Coronach.
The band’s first for Century Media, Coronach stands above everything else Hellripper have done to this point. Opener “Hunderprest” comes out of the gate swinging, mixing the scrappy, sharp riffs with melodic leads, something McBain started to really incorporate on last album Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags. Though McBain is the main instrumentalist on every release, he has a consistent crew of contributors including Desert Heretic’s Joseph Quinlan, who contributes lead guitars on a number of tracks. Vocalist Marianne also lends vocals to three songs, including the excellently-titled “Kinchyle (Goatkraft and Granite)” and “Blakk Satanik Fvkkstorm.”
The Scottish band rarely slows down, so even songwriting choices like the piano intro of “The Art of Resurrection” lend a pleasant surprise to the black ‘n’ roll tendencies of the song. There’s also plenty of Scottish tradition in the songs, from the bagpipes on the album’s closing track to the scattered bits of Scottish folklore and mythology written into the songs. Sure, Hellripper are musically interesting but they’re also thematically interesting, daring to interpret the monsters and evil of speed and black metal in a new way.
When McBain spoke to Decibel in 2023, he said:
“While writing [Warlocks Grim], I was listening to my usual stuff but I was listening to a lot of classic bands like AC/DC, Black Sabbath, as well as Alice in Chains, even bands like Oasis and Manic Street Preachers, Smashing Pumpkins, the Beatles. Maybe that stuff creeps in. If I hear something I like in their music, I think, ‘Maybe I can try and put this in a speed metal context.’”
It’s that sense of awareness and desire not to repeat himself that makes McBain a great songwriter and it’s what keeps Hellripper sounding fresh despite releasing four albums, 2 EPs, five splits and a few singles (including a Decibel flexi!). Coronach is a crowning achievement and an album that any self-respecting speed metal fan needs to get on immediately.
