Black Metal History Month- Hellripper : "Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags"

 This project from Scotland cranks out some trashing black metal, that might be more thrash than abiding in the darkness. It is about as metal as you can get. James McBain is the sole purveyor of this head banging fest. He seems to be in equal parts drummer and riff master. His snarled vocals remind me of Kreator, which is one of the larger influences looming over this project. The second song I am not as impressed by the palm muted riffage as I was the first song, but it is still very well done. There is a riff at the end of "I, the Deceiver " that reminds me of Judas Priest, but they played such a hug role influencing thrash I am not surprised. I also hear this leading into the title track. 

There is a more rock n roll influence driving the more Venom like "Goat Vomit Nightmare". Much like Venom the lyrics or occult metal non-sense. Of the first four songs, it is my least favorite. There is a feeble attempt at a metal falsetto scream going into "the Cursed Carrion Crown". Then the album develops a very uniform feel, He sticks to a more formulaic approach to cranking out high speed , yet color by numbers blackened thrash that a band like Goatwhore does way better. The songs begin to all sound the same once we are at "Poison Womb". Some of this may have the vocals to blame as if there was a more varied approach to how they are spit out in the rapid snarl it might give the needed dynamic touch. 

With black metal this one man band is common. It plays into the misanthropic archetype that is a theme in the genre. In some cases it works. Burzum is a fine example of this. With what is being done hear which requires an organic live band feel, the singular creative filter create a monochrome sound like we have here. How misanthropic can you be that you can not even play with three other musicians. The synergy created in a band environment brings new idea to the table rather than being in an echo chamber of your own mind. Technology has made this more possible as presented on this album. It is well executed but the inspiration is limited to the energy of this one man. The last song might be the album's best as it offers a wider range of dynamics and slow to allow for a more epic build. Giving this an 8, been pretty clear about what works and what doesn't , it does work more often than not to create what it is, how invested in what it is is the question for the listener.