As much as metal is a genre that prizes originality and forward thought, nowhere else will you find the 20-year cycle of popularity more worshipped and dudes in patched up denim jackets wistfully looking back at days gone by than in our beloved corner of the musical universe. The world of metal will throw all its love behind the likes of Voivod, Zeal & Ardor, and other bands that defy genre and convention, but a lot of the time a re-jigged take on the sounds of the past is all it takes to open up the pit and air out wallets. For instance, sometimes effectively borrowing and speeding up a handful of riffs from Kill ‘Em All and making a band of it is all it takes.
This is arguably what James McBain has done with the majority of his tenure as the solitary force behind Aberdeen's Hellripper. As the sands have tumbled through the hourglass, the everything-ist (vocals/guitar/bass/drums/recording/engineering/etc.) has added influence from crossover, blackened thrash and '80s west coast speed metal to the mix, but as one could never tag this Scottish one-man rippin' n' tearin' wrecking crew as original, it's more important that this one-man rippin' n' tearin' wrecking crew adds unassailable intensity and boundless energy to the metal canon instead of his twist on the past being added to the staid, stilted and stuffy scrap heap.
Plus, there's a reason kids who weren't born until well after the '80s and folks clocking at and about the half-century mark still get their thongs in a twirl at the sound of "Hit the Lights," "Motorbreath," "Phantom Lord" and "The Four Horsemen." As such, the connection as to why Hellripper's 2017's full-length debut Coagulating Darkness and 2020's The Affair of the Poisons gets blood young and old coursing though young and old veins is obvious.
Note that this adulatory introduction to the artistry of McBain's blackened thrashing career isn't designed to be a cautionary tale to his decision to make progress. However, it should be noted that he has advanced and expanded the Hellripper sound and cause on album number three. Let's be perfectly clear that Warlocks Grim and Withered Hags still explodes with all the spirited vitality of the "band's" previous seven or so recordings, even as tempos vary, guitars are more lush and layered, melodic strength is expanded upon and the lyrical topics venture into more arcane legends and history.
The riffs may look beyond what have become the usual sources but remain wired for maximum potency with their pace, groove and impact propelled by the fact that McBain has improved as a drummer (or drum programmer). As well, his guitar playing has improved all around; solos ooze with shredder technique, blues rock soul and infectious power metal phrasing while he's added broader strokes of panache and flair to the speedy Yasuyuki Suzuki (Abigail, Barbatos), Hetfield, Mustaine, Fenriz and Mantas-stirred rhythm playing. Added to the fray is something like the album's closer ("Mester Stoor Worm") which flirts with understated orchestral overtones before moving towards a denouement that reminds of progressive hardcore and AOR in the melody department.
"The Nuckelavee" and "I, The Deciever" fire up the album with definitive, staccato shotgun blasts of NWOBHM ramped up to fighter jet speeds that alternate with a creepy and spidery post-punk arpeggios. The title track follows that opening combo with about as epic and proggy a showing as Hellripper has ever put on display. It's seven-plus minutes of mid-paced classic Metallica thunder injected with Slough Feg and Hammers of Misfortune melodies and understated bagpipes adding to the closing calamity.
"Goat Vomit Nightmare" and "The Cursed Carrion Crown" takes Toxic Holocaust and Midnight through a wringer hand-cranked by Savage Grace, Exciter, Abattoir, Wolf and, yes, Kill ‘Em All, but adds in mid-section half-time slow downs that attach new textural dimensions to McBain's customary grip it and rip it style. Adding more melodic bits to the equation is "The Hissing Marshes," a track which seethes with the voluminous fullness of multi-layered guitars shanking speed metal with something on par with Dokken's flashier moments.
It may not be the full-on dragging of Metallica's debut through a vat of corpse paint that has personified previous Hellripper ripping, but Warlocks Grim and Withered Hags bursts with growth and a mature exploration of different avenues of darkness and eeriness while maintaining that original high octane burning.
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