Hellripper Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags Reissue Review
Hellripper
Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags Reissue
Peaceville Records
2023/2026
Let’s shift a few gears and talk some Black Metal, something I don’t normally spend a lot of time with. I’m rarely impressed enough to make it past a song or two before I feel the urge to run screaming into the woods like I’ve just stumbled onto a goat sacrifice. But, as has happened a few times this year, a handful of releases have managed to pull me in.
This time around we’re looking at a reissue of “Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags” from Hellripper. The album originally dropped in 2023, and now it’s getting another press. Why? I couldn’t tell you. This is all new territory for me, the band and the album alike. If you’re already familiar with Hellripper, none of what I’m about to say will shock you. If you’re not, well… I’ve got a few thoughts.
First off, this isn’t your corpse-paint-wearing cousin’s frosty forest Black Metal. What Hellripper delivers here is essentially Speed Metal with a blackened snarl, and it hits you like a runaway freight train the moment the first riff kicks in. There’s as much worship here for Motörhead as there is for Venom, and that’s the hook that really dragged me in. The riffs have that scrappy, Punk-fueled bite, and the whole thing runs on the philosophy of “everything louder than everything else.”
Now, can I understand the vocals? Absolutely not. Not a single damn word. But honestly, that’s not the point. The real draw here is the riff barrage and relentless speed. This album lives in that sweet spot where the guitars scream turn it up to ten and rip the fuckin’ knobs off!
What surprised me most is the occasional epic flair that sneaks into the guitar leads and melodic runs. Every now and then the band slips in a moment that feels almost triumphant before immediately flooring the gas pedal again. It’s enough to keep things interesting and prevent the record from becoming a blur of blast beats and infernal shouting.
A few tracks do stretch out a bit, but that actually works in the album’s favor. It gives Hellripper room to stretch their legs and show they’ve got more going on than just raw velocity. The band never loses the plot or wanders off into some bizarre Black Metal side quest involving candles, daggers, and questionable livestock. Instead, they keep the songs tight and focused while still delivering a high-speed ride through a landscape of shrieks, riffs, and controlled chaos.
If all Black Metal sounded like this, I might actually get into the spirit of things - throw on some corpse paint, stand in the corner brooding, maybe mutter “Hail Satan” under my breath while making breakfast in the morning. As it stands, bands like Hellripper are a bit of a rarity to me.
I’m still scratching my head over the sudden reissue, but considering how much I enjoyed this record, I’m not exactly complaining. So, to all you Speed Metal and Black Metal faithful out there: if this somehow slipped past you the first time around, now’s your chance to fix that. Go ahead - Satan is calling.
Standouts – “The Nuckelavee”, “Goat Vomit Nightmare”, “The Hissing Marshes” and the bonus track – a re-recorded version of the band’s classic, “Mephistophelian Dreams”