Monthly Metal Mixtape: May 2023

It’s been a while since we’ve bothered with an intro to these. You might notice that it’s May and this is the first one of these this year. We’re getting pretty loose on the “monthly” part. Secondly, the mixtape is pretty much just Mike and I raving about a new-ish record we like. If you think that sounds fun, join us. We like reading about what everyone’s listening to. We don’t coordinate, so it always comes as a surprise to see what the other writes about. We have yet to double up and talk about the same record. Looking up both of the bands this month on Metal Archives though, I noticed that both have a track on the comp Worldwide Organization of Metalheads Against Nazis II. You could say we have a type. But now, onto the music.

Allfather – A Violent Truth (2023, Self-Released)

The painful looking painting on the cover of UK sludge metal band Allfather’s latest album is The Corpses of the De Witt Brothers, a depiction of the political elite de Witt brothers of the Netherlands in 1672, having been torn apart by an angry mob. I am not a historian so I do not know the conditions of the event, but the usage of the image speaks volumes to the rage within and where it’s aimed. Rumbling, groovy, pummeling, antiauthoritarian, antifascist metalhead’s metal is the sonic nature here.

While an extremely pissed off punky sludge metal is most certainly the backbone of the sound, thrashy mid-paced galloping groove, and occasional razor blasts or black metal dot the sound bringing an eclecticism to the whole experience. The variety and riffs on display here brings to mind something a little bit like Mastodon meets Crowbar with a more straightforward, bludgeoning urgency to the whole thing than produced by either band. Put one ear to metal song of the year contender “Take Their Eyes” to see what I mean. Tom B’s bellowing, classic sludge metal vocals guide us on a journey held together by the fantastic singalong chorus hook, “We’ll leave them swinging with a Carrion Crown” while the rumbling groovy main riff of the song keeps the head nodding. Add a wicked hard rock guitar solo, a black metal face melting section, and a breakdown complete with callout, “When it's eye for an eye then we'll take two / When the world goes blind it’s on them not you”. It’s incredibly fun, incredibly groovy metally metal goodness for a jam-packed 27 minutes, and one of the best straightforward badass metal listens you can have this year. – Mike Tri

Hellripper – Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags (2023, Peaceville)

I recently read this book called Bea Wolf. It’s a graphic novel for kids, written by Zach Weinersmith and illustrated by Boulet, and it’s an adaptation of Beowulf where our heroes are kids in their glorious, adult-free, stocked-full-of-candy treehouse. The villain is the boring adult neighbor, Mr. Grindle, who can turn kids into fun-loathing adults with a single touch. The premise and alliteration-heavy language is incredible and it has been far and away my favorite book I’ve read this year. Which got me thinking – what’s the musical equivalent? Is there any record I’ve listened to that has stood out to such a degree that it’s inarguably at the top of my list a quarter of the way through the year?

I think the frontrunner has to be Hellripper’s Warlock Grim & Withered Hags. James McBain, the lone individual behind the Scottish band, is on his third release as Hellripper and while 2017’s Coagulating Darkness was one of my favorites, I slept on the follow up. Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags even fits my theme, as the record draws from Scottish folklore lyrically and much like Bea Wolf its use of language is quite poetic (“Speak, o’ witches three / Why dost thou linger ‘pon this heath? / Force thine knowledge and secrets arcane ‘pon me”). Musically, this is so much more than the black/thrash played super-fast of the debut, though those Venom/Motörhead moments still abound, like the ripper of “Goat Vomit Nightmare” or punky “The Hissing Marshes.” Opener “The Nuckelavee” has some seriously melodic riffs and an air-guitar god solo; the whole thing is so much more advanced than what I remembered. “I, The Deceiver” has moments that feel like prime-80s thrash, a total Ride the Lightning/Master of Puppets feeling solo, and even includes what could be considered by some measures an epic chorus. The title track in particular shines with its moody, mid-tempo riffs that eventually line up with the stellar usage of bagpipes. Taken all together it’s a grand amalgamation of their punk/speed/black/thrash metal sound evolving with increased songwriting creativity and a healthy dose of the epic – literary and literally. – SteveO