Satanic Ripper: Southern Black Spells

South American mayhem-makers draw up a battle plan

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Satanic Ripper play ‘Evil Grave Metal’ and with such a great band name you’d feel cheated if they played anything else.

Southern Black Spells is a rusty stab of South American blackened dirge in the time-honoured tradition of the bestial legions from the region.

The trademark barbarity of Sarcofago, Vulcano and Holocausto is represented with full force, although the band have a more subtle edge when it comes to crafting something more memorable than the usual raw blast. In particular, the throaty violence of the vocals and lead guitar weave together to create a truly desperate climax in some hellishly catchy thrash moments and riffs sprawl onwards in a controlled chaos of haunting quality, while slower passages invoke a more atmospheric madness similar to that of Mystifier. Satanic Ripper are a true testament that South American hordes can always be relied upon to keep things to an over-the-top vicious standard, and …Spells should earn them a place at the forefront of the pack.