Coronach

From the moment that Hellripper burst into the metal world’s simmering consciousness back in 2014, the speed metal throne was destined to be conquered. Conceived and executed by young Scotsman James McBain, the band’s debut EP – The Manifestation Of Evil – laid down a blueprint for the subgenre’s evolution, bringing grit and intelligence to an unfussy combination of Venom-style black metal and blistering, blackened rock ‘n’ roll. Over a decade on, McBain’s creative urges have taken Hellripper to unexpected heights.

Now widely acknowledged as chief standard bearers for blackened thrash, Hellripper will release their first album for Century Media in 2026, the mighty Coronach. Fuelled by a sizeable uptick in live performances, and buoyed by the ecstatic reaction to Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags, Hellripper reach new levels of incisive, metallic intensity on Coronach. True to McBain’s original philosophy, but bolder, braver and more adventurous than ever before, the new album is fully of highly evolved speed metal anthems that demand much more from themselves than just furious D-beats and squealing solos.

“You can still expect an abundance of speed metal and a whole lot of rock ‘n’ roll, but there’s some post-punk influence there, there’s some progressive influence there and there’s a substantial death metal influence too,” explains McBain. “For the first time, I experimented with piano, synthesiser, celesta, cello and violin, and there are some bagpipes present too, as with the last album. I felt that this helped create the ‘cold’ atmosphere that I wanted the album to exude. I’ve tried some new vocal approaches too that I think give a couple of the tracks a little more dynamics. But don’t get me wrong - despite these new influences and the experimentation, it’s still most definitely a speed metal album and contains some of my fastest and most aggressive music to date. I’d like to think I haven’t gone completely off the rails!”

Released: March 2026
Cat: 19958415181
Label: Century Media

Listen

Tracklist