Cripper is a death/thrash band from Germany and here we have their 4th album called “Hyena“. Following the footsteps of Sabina Classen and Holy Moses, Cripper is a female-fronted band. If we were to describe their style it would be something combining the vocals of Holy Moses and the later Destruction/Kreator material.
The album kicks off with a thrashing title track, devastating everything in its path Teutonic thrash style, including breaks and melodic solos. Things get a bit groovy with “Tourniquet” before going into the regular thrash madness. The groove goes on with “Bloodshot Monkey Eye” a midtempo track with a great solo and a beautiful outro. “A Dime For The Establishment” kicks off in full speed ahead destroying everything in its path showing a bit of modern thrash influence by The Haunted.
“7”” comes up next with a groovy intro only to go full speed after the addictive chorus. A march beat brings “Animated Flesh”, a midtempo headbanging track with a fast break after the 2 minute mark followed by a high speed solo. The next one called “The Origin”, a mostly midtempo track showing strong Pantera influences on the main riff.
What follows is another thrasher called “Patterns In The Sky” built to destroy Teutonic thrash style (I can see Frau Sabina smiling while listening to this one) with lots of great soloing. Another groovy riff brings us “The Jackhammer”, a midtempo headbanging track. “Patronized” kicks off, showing both the groovy aspects and the old school thrash attitude. The album ends with its longest track “Pure” (clocking at nearly 8 minutes), a track eating your soul away with its blackened atmosphere.
Cripper have made a solid mixture of German thrash tradition and influences from Pantera/The Haunted etc., which resulted to a great record for them. Well done guys!
[page_title text=”FEATURED SONG”]