Hellripper/Batsheva – Split

Hellripper, a blackened speed metal band from the UK, has joined forces with the more straightforward American black metal group Batsheva to release a short split. Hellripper’s side is up first, and despite offering just two tracks (and only one original), it is a solid effort. Both songs follow a relatively similar template, as they’re driven by old-school sounding speed metal riffs that are charged up just a bit more than they would have been in the 1980s. The vocals are completely savage, and are the aspect of the music that really shows the black metal influence. In addition, Hellripper’s lead playing shows a lot of Motorhead worship. Although the shredding can get a bit faster at times (particularly the intro solo on “Hell’s Rock n’ Roll”), the approach is ultimately quite bluesy. The overall goal of this side of the split is to make something with a quick, powerful punch, and Hellripper succeeds. The only even slightly negative comment I can make is that the cover song really sounds no different from the other song on this side of the split, aside from being a bit faster.

Side 2 of this split belongs to Batsheva, and you’ll notice quite immediately that it’s a jarring change. Make no mistake, these two bands have pretty much the opposite philosophy. Batsheva’s music is built more around atmosphere than riffs. In fact, the opening track, “Liturgy of Endless Night”, is a 2-minute instrumental that attempts to set the mood before the carnage begins. Once Batsheva’s side of the split really gets going, it is certainly a good effort. Tremolo picking is in full effect, alongside completely demonic and ghoulish vocals. The band switches up the feel of the music often, moving between more rocking mid-paced beats and slow blasting sections. This will definitely appeal to anyone who worships the Norwegian scene of the early 1990s, though Batsheva is not quite as distinctive as many of the bands from that time.

Overall, this split is an interesting, but worthy purchase. It is a bit puzzling as to why the band’s released this together, since their fanbases may not overlap perfectly. Regardless of this fact, anyone who enjoys black metal vocals can find something worthwhile on both sides of the split, and fans of extreme metal in general are likely to get something out of this release.

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Highlights

"Hell's Rock n' Roll"

"Inter Spinas"

Final Rating

3.5/5 or 70%. 

Written by Scott 

Hellripper – The Manifestation of Evil

One look at the cover art for “The Manifestation of Evil” should tell you immediately what Hellripper is all about. Both the band name and the lack of colour indicate that this release is going to consist of raw, primal evil. In other words: blackened speed metal! The band (or rather, 1-man show) waste no time with filler as there are 4 tracks here that don’t even combine for 10 minutes of playtime. Nevertheless, Hellripper’s brevity plays to their strengths. This is most evident on the opening track “Flesh Ripper”, where great riffs reign supreme. This song is by far the best on the EP, and its chorus is incredibly infectious, both because of the riff underneath it, and because of the calls of “beware of the Flesh Ripper!”. Whether you cite Venom, Midnight, Bathory, or whoever else as an influence, this song fits the bill. Things get even more enjoyable when the guitars cut out in favour of a drum/bass break before the Motorhead-esque guitar solo. But as quickly as the song gets going, it’s over.

Luckily for us listeners, song two, “Total Mayhem”, is the other highlight. Once again, the song is successful because of its punky, simplistic riffing in the chorus, and easy to growl along to chorus. This song steps up the speed even further than “Flesh Ripper” did, and ultimately provides an incredibly energetic jolt to an already inspired release. After these two tracks, Hellripper provides two more songs in a similar vein. They don’t manage to be quite as good as the first couple of tracks, but they definitely don't sound out of place. With that said, “Trial By Fire” is differs from the rest of the EP in that it offers some harmonized guitars at one point.

The mainman behind Hellripper, James McBain, has the perfect voice for this sound. His words sound more like tortured screams. They’re understandable enough that you don’t lose that old-school 80s feel, but are also brutal enough that the band doesn’t feel tame compared to their peers. At times, it actually seems as though his voice becomes harsher. For example, “Black Mass Sacrifice” shows McBain actively trying to rip his throat out. This is in stark contrast to the first two songs where he was closer to Cronos than he would become on this later track. In any case, his vocals, along with all of the rest of the instrumentation, are more than competent. The only slight complaint I have is that the production seems to differ between the songs. Nothing sounds drastically different, but I noticed during each listen that I had to adjust the volume as each new track started. In any case, this type of music isn’t meant to sound perfect, so it doesn’t hurt the release too bad. Ultimately, “The Manifestation of Evil” is exactly what the title describes. This release is a prime example of witching metal, and a necessary release for all fans of this style.

Be sure to check out and like Hellripper on Facebook!

Highlights

"Flesh Ripper"

"Total Mayhem"

Final Rating

4.1/5 or 82%. 

Written by Scott