Ripper (CHL) - Towards Rebirth (2026)^{Release ID: 69973}

It has been a decade since Ripper's terrific "Experiment of Existence" album was released and there have been wholesale lineup changes with mainman, guitarist and vocalist Patricio Spalinger, the only member remaining from the lineup that recorded that sophomore album. For most of the intervening decade Patricio has been concentrating on his Venus Torment solo project as well as featuring in several other outfits such as Slaughterhousse and The Missings, but has now decided that the time is ripe for a new Ripper offering. He has assembled an impressive array of talent this time around with guitarist Nicolás Young (Critical Defiance, Demoniac) and drummer Javier Buzeta, who appeared on Mayhemic' s excellent 2024 "Toba" album, being joined by bassist Tomás Barriga of heavy metallers Axe Battler.

If you are in any way familiar with the chilean thrash scene then "Towards Rebirth" will be instantly familiar. After a short 'spooky synth' intro we are treated / subjected to an onslaght of breakneck riffs, pulsating basslines and screaming solos accompanied by gruff, bellowing vocals and an intensity that references death metal as much as thrash, with it all barely seeming to hold together as it tears past as a gale of energetic velocity. Buzeta sets the pace, battering away in a flurry of machine-gun double kicks and pulverising thrashbeats that goad the riffs into a demonic charge, ably bolstered by Barriga's busy and kinetic basslines. The two combine inordinately well and are as much a force of nature as a metal rhythm section. The riffs are mighty beasts indeed and are actually quite memorable and melodic, despite the fact that they hurtle past like an express train, providing more than enough ammunition for a damn good neck wrenching. As we have come to expect from chilean thrashers, the solos are where they like to go to town, with hyper kinetic shredding and smoking fretboards being the order of the day, providing the artistic flights of fantasy in contrast to the tightly focussed ballistics of the riffs and rhythm section. The album is, arguably, slightly front-loaded with the final three tracks from the instrumental "The Secret Dawn" onwards not feeling quite as awesome as the rest, but even these three are still pretty decent thrash workouts.

What I think appeals to me most about the chilean scene is that it takes the intensity and vitriol of the older, late eighties and early nineties, deaththrash records and transforms them with ultra-tight focus and undoubtedly superior technical skill into an even more impressive beast and, with ultra clear production, finally realising the potential that so many of those earlier records possessed. In so doing albums like "Towards Rebirth" don't just rehash a thirty-plus year-old trope, but present a thorougly modern sound that taps into the vigour and energy that thrash once possessed in spades, but which long ago had started to feel staid and stilted.