[Review] Possessor - The Ripper

Possessor are a London based thrash trio. We’ve already enjoyed their first full-length release in 2016 “Dead by Dawn”. Fuzz and thrash couldn’t have worked better together and our expectations were very high. We were more than thrilled when we first heard their second release. “The Ripper” gets as thrash and sludgy as it could be.

You get to feel instant kicks from track to track. The album is consisted of 9 killer boogie-thrash tracks. It was released by Graven Earth Records and Wicked Lester Records on November 2017.

First comes “Conjure and Possesses” starting with catchy riffs and Cathedral-like distortion in vocals. “Guillotine” has the continuity of the first track with lots of mosh-pit potential while “Wet Cemetery” is distorted with edgy playing, more into melody and in black at the same time than the previous tracks.

“The Slime” gets deeper into the head-banging thing with lots of riffs and “Whitechapel Murders” follows the same average path with catchy melody vocal lines and less guitar distortion.

The 'consistency' we are enjoying, do follows in “Lava” with the same excitement of the previous track and more into sludge. “Notting Hell” is a small ritual bridge, just to get you into the mood and “Hacksaw” follows with tight guitars, being probably the most thrashy of all tracks.
The ending track is the instrumental “Earth Shaker” and the title couldn’t have described it better. It speeds up, it gets slow, it’s fuzzy, it’s full of riffs. “The Ripper” ends with the most complex track of the album, which stands out and seals a very good record.

In general, the guitars are starring, the drums do lots of hard work while the bass and the vocals are distorted enough to push a sludgy attitude in the foreground. “The Ripper” is outstanding and gets you from start to end to head-banging. It’s old-school but has a lot of gloomy elements; it’s the album we wanted to listen.

Also, you get a little hint about the album’s mood by the very London-ly title (well, guess who the Ripper might be) and the macabre yet simple artwork. It’s promising, it’s fetching and the result will not disappoint any listener who enjoys dark, fuzzy yet old-school sounds.

by Gaia

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