[Cover art by Paolo Girardi]
There are currently nine bands named “Ripper” listed on ye olde Metal-Archives, but it’s tough to imagine any of them earning the moniker as well as the boys from Chile featured here. And no, it did not escape me that perhaps every review of Towards Rebirth would feature some discussion of the band’s apt name, but that’s what happens when you’re a death/thrash band that names yourself RIPPER.
And Ripper undoubtedly brings the goods in a way to honor their heroes. Riffs are more than rapid-fire–they’re positively blazing, and shift from brutally bouncing thrash to fiery tremolo lines throughout. The drums are relentless, constantly doing that ultra-fast thrash pattern – that, like early Kreator, always sounds just on the verge of flying apart – but not afraid to drop back into some ride cymbal goodness when the passage requires it. The bass provides a great rumble, aided by a supremely balanced production that sacrifices none of the violence. And the gruff vocals are just charismatic enough without distracting from the album’s main intention: complete and total destruction.
The record is almost entirely single-minded in its intent, with very little variation across its brisk 41-plus minutes. And that’s more than okay, because Towards Rebirth isn’t the type of album you put on for its subtlety. That’s not to say that there aren’t a few things to break up what is otherwise a near-constant maelstrom of violence, however. Some nice leads temporarily interrupt the onslaught in the title track; “Into the Coldness of Land of Dead” finds time to be ever-so-slightly hooky; the wicked great “The Source Exterminator” has a wildly cool, super fluttery lead duel (not to mention a bass solo); and the lengthy-by-comparison (it cracks six minutes) “The Secret Dawn” empties the bucket of riffs and ideas in the album’s closest flirtation with complexity.
But all of these brief diversions seem designed not really to give the record some sense of variation or depth, but only to amplify their furious surroundings. Make no mistake about it, Ripper is out to hurt you, and they’re doing on helluva job bringing the quality ruckus throughout. Towards Rebirth is an unrelenting onslaught of rampaging death/thrash that ought to appeal to both fans that just got into the style and those that have been enjoying it for the better part of 40 years. Ripper clearly understands their name, and they clearly understand the assignment. Get ripped.
