Cripper
“Hyena”
Label: Metal Blade Records Release: November 25th
Hailing from Hannover Germany, Cripper have released three albums to date and “Hyena” is the bands fourth release,and their first for Metal Blade.
The band are a Death /Extreme Thrash band fronted by the immense talents of Britta “Elkchkuh” Gortz , who's venomous delivery though out “Hyena”is abrasive and will curdle Lucifer's blood.
Opening with chugging guitars “Hyena” thrashes and beats your head as the drums cannon into the room, its got a conventional thrash vibe about it but edges on something modern and crushing as well , and I can see right away this band being liked by fans of Arch Enemy, this is a barbarous savage opener.
The first single taken from the album “Tourniquet” is powerful, menacing and flows into a Metal Meltdown of supremacy and deep grooves It’s a track to mosh and crash too, its fast ,feverish and turbulent. The excellent “Bloodshot Money Eye” is brash and assertive its growls and howls inflame your body to thrash and dive into a pit of insanity.
“7” is insanely raspy and the middle section will have you hooked and banging you head in unison with the grooves and shouting “7 inches , making yourself hoarse! “Animated Flesh” is a vivacious head snapping killer song to have mass moshes to with some killer short solos and throughout this opus “Animated Flesh” for me personally stands out amongst the other eleven tracks on here . With a title like “Jackhammer” you get a beating of killer riffs and guttural growls to melt your brain cells.
Its taken a while and a lot of listens to fully appreciate “Hyena” but without a doubt this is an album without any fillers just killer, Thrashing , Extreme Metal exuding from your speakers for the duration!
The band wear their influences on their sleeve with a feel of Megadeth and a smattering of Kreator coming to the fore at times, but also there are some angst driven, studs in the face punk attitude, on songs like “Pure” which is a seven minute monster to end “Hyena”.
The band have an ever growing fan base and have made their mark at various established Festivals in Central Europe and played on the 70,000 tons of Metal cruise ship from Miami twice, with this release I should imagine a major breakthrough will be in order , Cripper are a band to keep your eyes open for in 2015!
Review : Seb Di Gatto Score:8/10
Tracklisting
1.Hyena
2.Tourniquet
3.Bloodshot Monkey Eye
4.A Dime For The Establishment
5.7”
6.Animated Flesh
7.The Origin
8.Patterns in The Sky
9.The Jackhammer
10.Patronized
11.Pure
