Hi everyone, Bigthony Ragetano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of this new Hellripper album, Coronach.

Here we have a brand new record from one-man black metal wrecking crew, Mr. James McBain, AKA Hellripper, a man who I believe is now on his 4th solo album under this name. And it's a record that had some doozy singles – I will call them doozies, you cannot stop me – but they were so damn good that they really got me paying attention to Hellripper for the first time. Even though, in the underground, this has been a beloved act for a minute.

Pretty much every one of Hellripper's main albums has been met with at least some praise so far, with the last album, 2023's Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags, maybe being the most well-received – a project that was packed with some pretty clean production and lots of punchy thrash riffs. Something that might be a bit of an esthetic no-no in black metal purist circles, but I think it is at least a little bit warranted, given the super high level of skill and virtuosity that goes into nearly every Hellripper track.

However, I do think McBain is trying to find maybe a bit more of a middle ground with that on this new record here, as the production on this LP is noticeably spacier, more atmospheric, the increase of reverb bringing at least some semblance of that classic '90s black metal vibe, with just a little bit of smudginess in the finer details there. But listening closely, you can still hear McBain is playing the hell out of those drums.

Nearly every solo on this thing screams with the ferocity and passion you would expect from a top-tier speed metal tune. And that's kinda the blend of sounds and influences that makes Hellripper special. Yes, of course you do have those standard occult, grim, baseline black metal sounds, be it the blast beats, the nasally, screamed, harsh vocals, the tremolo-picked guitars, but then all of that is amped up and hyped up with high tempos, with righteous melodies you would typically get from a speed metal or an old-school heavy metal track with a hard rock bent, à la Motörhead.

It sounds kind of crazy in concept that those things alone would make a black metal project stand out in 2026, especially considering many of the genre's early adopters were borrowing all sorts of ideas from prevailing metal styles at the time, in the mid-'80s and early '90s. Even Bathory was bringing some speed metal vibes on their early stuff. So in a way, what Hellripper is doing here on this record, has been doing for years now, is actually kind of full circle.

Maybe the only difference being it is now getting hit with a super high flashy level of skill and execution, which is very much exemplified by some great singles and some catchy standouts too, whether it be on the track "Kinchyle," which features some pumping hard rock riffs, catchy gang choruses too, devilish lead vocals, and some tight drumming to back it all up. Dare I say, it is the snappiest black metal song I've heard this year, with some super blasphemous lyrics that fit into a surprisingly addictive flow.

Then we have "The Art of Resurrection," which in a lot of ways is just as memorable, despite it not being a single. Also loving the epic bridge on this track: "This is my calling, this is my fate, this is my destiny, this is the only way." The track is so theatrical and over-the-top in all the best ways.

Also want to give a big, fat shoutout to "Blakk Satanik Fvkkstorm." Of course I would want to mention that one. It's really the barn burner of the record, or church burner. Sorry. The main guitar riff and lick passages of this track are so insanely tight and fast and energetic. I love the way they sync up with the drums so perfectly between the verses, the chorus sections. It's just such a perfectly timed and mapped out song from beginning to end.

And of course I would be remiss if I did not mention "Mortercheyn," which somehow has even more intense pacing to it. Also, the harmonized hammer-on guitar lick passages are fantastic. I've never heard a black metal song that sounded so ready for a space and an audience that was, like, arena-sized. Again, even though at its core this is very much a black metal album, there is still an element of old-school heavy metal showmanship to this record that pours through on pretty much every song here. But with all of that being said, the rest of the record, while I did not dislike it, I just merely thought was maybe just okay in comparison, or ran a little redundant or one-dimensional.

I mean, it was a little disheartening to hear the incredible levels of musicianship showcased throughout the entirety of this LP, but simultaneously see just how lacking in versatility the overall runtime is, how limited I think the sounds on this record are. And for sure, there are efforts to infuse instrumental or sort of low-key musical passages into at least some of these tracks, some clean vocals too. But more often than not, for Hellripper, these feel out of place with the faster, more aggressive heavy metal bits, and just really fail to muster up the kind of beauty or mystique you might enjoy from a melodic black metal classic, from Immortal for example, or maybe even a black metal record that has more folk leanings, which we've seen many of those in recent years.

How one-note some of these tracks in this album can feel really comes through on tracks where the drum grooves might get a bit stale, like on "Sculptor's Cave," or even the closing title track, which is a pretty lengthy and ambitious moment for the album that really falls short because the more subtle passages of this track, the more harmonious passages just aren't as compelling as Hellripper's most ripping sections.

So when I say this album is a bit one-note or lacking in variety, it's, it's not for lack of effort. It's because these alternative moments just don't go over nearly as well. But maybe this is something that could be hammered out more on a future release. Either way, I am liking the record for the most part and am feeling a light to decent 7 on it.

Anthony Fantano. Hellripper. Forever.