Hellripper, formed in 2014 by James McBain, is widely regarded as one of the rising forces in thrash, a view cemented by the fact that the band have now signed to the renowned Peaceville Records. Played, recorded and mixed almost entirely by Mcbain (with a few friends adding the odd vocal or lead guitar part) and mastered by Brad Boatright, The Affair of The Poisons is the sort of potent, blackened thrash that has been Peaceville’s bread and butter since the label’s inception, and McBain delivers it with a fervent panache that is entirely irresistible.
Wasting no time in getting to the point, Hellripper unleash hell with the gloriously blackened thrash of the title track racing towards the listener like one of the horsemen of the apocalypse. Utterly unabashed in its allegiance to the old school, it’s a rampant blast that pairs reverb-drenched, guttural vocals with hyper-speed, super-sharp guitars and it sets out Hellripper’s stall in five, blood-soaked minutes. Not that the band are a one-shot deal. Spectre’s Of The Blood Moon Sabbath sounds like Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, placed in a lidless blender and splattered across the ceiling. At three and a half minutes, it should dash past in an instant, but such is the ferocity of the band’s delivery, that it feels almost twice its length and the listener is left battered and bruised by the conclusion. Vampire’s Grave, a sub-three-minute race to the finish line, maintains the classic vibe (only this time it’s Motorhead being subjected to the grinder), whilst giving the listener every opportunity to headbang until they puke. It’s a blistering track and an album highlight, just watch the cleaning bill in its wake. The first half of the album comes screeching to a halt with Beyond The Convent Walls a stunningly violent assault on the senses that feels like the work of an organic band rather than a home recording.
Opening out the second side (and let’s face it, this is an album made for vinyl), Savage Blasphemy is pure thrash heaven (or should that be hell?), with its scything guitars and borderline unintelligible vocal smear. With dizzying guitar runs and a percussive tidal wave threatening to submerge the listener, it paves the way for the super-short Hexennacht (Walpurgis) to sweep the decks with its Adrian-Smith-On-Steroids riffing guaranteed to leave all but the most po-faced with a huge shit-eating grin slathered across their features. The brilliantly-titled Blood Orgy Of The She-Devils (you can almost hear Rob Zombie grinding his teeth not to have taken that one) is equally blistering in its deployment, worrying the listener with a guitar riff so potent it should carry a health warning. It leaves The Hanging Tree to bark this hellhound hoarse, and this it does in grand style, McBain stretching his venomous attack over five gruelling minutes that adopt an almost Bolt Thrower-esque momentum.
This eight-song set is a testament to McBain’s remark able grasp of the genre and you would never say that it was anything other than the work of a full band laying waste to a studio, surrounded by bottles of Jager and the bones of the fallen. Utterly unrepentant, The Affair Of The Poisons is a pure old school record that opts to refine rather than redefine the wheel. The result is nothing more or less than a great blackened thrash album and, with its wonderful, comic-book art (Skadvaldur), it’s a must for fans of bands such as Venom, Kreator and Autopsy. The perfect successor to the bands McBain admires, Hellripper have set the bar high with The Affair Of The Poisons – pretty much essential metal. 9/10
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