Hellripper is a one-man band from Scotland whose musical influences appear to have stopped evolving around 1983 or so. The first song on this album, "Bastard of Hades" lifts the main riff from Metallica's "Hit the Lights". That was probably a tactical error. It is one thing for a band to take real strong influence from famous bands, but this one is pretty egregious. Everyone knows the song and it is real obvious.
But once you get past that, the rest of the album is a pretty decent take on black/thrash metal built around early Venom and Slayer, and of course the pre-Ride the Lightning Metallica sound when the band's NWOBHM side was at the forefront of their sound. Throw in some early Sodom and you have a pretty good idea what Hellripper sounds like. The songs are all fast-paced and short with blazing solos and the psychotic shrieking vocals. The riffs are bound to cause broken necks and are absolutely infectious.
This is not the most original album in the world. Hell, groups like Skeletonwitch and Toxic Holocaust have been doing this same mix of old school metal for years now. But quality of music is just as, if not more, important than originality and this is a damn fun album. I'm on board. Keep ripping Hell.
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