WOMBRIPPER
“FROM THE DEPTHS OF FLESH”
Album Review by Dark Juan

5/10

Wombripper are: Not as irritating as Womb were.

Andrei Petrov – Drums
Ivan Markin – Guitars
Daniil Kuskov – Guitars and Vocals
Konstantin Korolev – Bass

Thank god for decent pictures and actual names and the instruments they play. Wombripper have instantly gained points for being sensible and not making Dark Juan have to trawl the deeper and more unpleasant reaches of the internet to actually find out who the fuck they are. As you might have gathered from their names, they hail from the Eastern part of the world, specifically being domiciled in Nizhny Novgorod in the Russian Federation. This immediately makes them interesting to me as the only other Russian act I have been aware of in recent years is TaTu, and that’s only because Trevor Horn (Buggles! Video Killed The Radio Star, anyone?) produced All The Things She Said, (or Ya Shloshna Su Ma if you want the Russian language version…) memorably covered by The Berzerker, of all people. If you ever want to be assailed by possibly the worst cover version of all time (or greatest, depending on whether or not you are a masochist, or believe gabba techno infused death metal with distorted 909 kick drums is the greatest musical genre ever) I would encourage you to indulge yourself via the splendid (ly awful) Youtube video of it and consider yourself entertained in a manner superior to Maximus Decimus Veridius (General of the Felix Legions, Commander of the Armies of the North, etc, etc) fighting all manner of other gladiators and vanquishing them all with his mighty thews and the singing steel of his gladius. Cheeky.

Wombripper, then. Not as terrible as the name might suggest. Almost adequate, even. How this lot have escaped Putin and the FSB and the subsequent arrest and incarceration is beyond me. This is not music the Kremlin would find acceptable – in fact it might be fair to say that it is a Russian copy of the Capitalist American scum’s 90s death metal, specifically the Morrisound era. Wombripper’s sound is indistinguishable from Deicide, Massacre (Dawn Of Eternity – now there’s the death metal benchmark in a single song – the mighty and incomparable Kam Lee on vocals), Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse. Which, to be fair, is some pretty exalted company to be compared to. Sadly, Wombripper don’t quite cut it. Don’t get me wrong, they make a very engaging noise and they are youthful, competent and sound like they are having the time of their lives, but they are by no means death metal greats. They sound exactly like cheap Russian knock offs of quality Western products. Stand out moments include Torn By The Nails – which is a good song but I can’t shake the feeling of Poundland Deicide and Prenatal Death, which really is just hamming up Cannibal Corpse and Obituary to an incredible degree which borders on the comedic – The Carry On Shredding of metal, if you will. The song titles also hint at either an identity crisis or just attempts to shock as much as they can, encompassing both Cannibal Corpse and Deicide style ultraviolence and blasphemy, respectively. The thing is, Wombripper do not share the same sense of humour as the aforementioned bands. They are entirely too serious for their own good and this is not a good thing at all. Teenage Dark Juan would have found them utterly compelling, fully ordained Dark Juan less so. They have a certain naive charm, but no muscle. Yes, this is a Rocky Horror Picture Show quote from Frank N. Furter. No, you can’t do me for plagiarism because I have admitted to it, so fuck off.

Also, the production job leaves a lot to be desired. It sounds like a load of metal pans clattering down some stairs. Instruments fade in and out of hearing and frequently the drums overpower everything else. Frequently you can only hear one guitar, the solos sit far too far to the front of the mix and the bass is just a kind of faintly irritating buzz at the back. It is rudimentary at best, and shockingly awful at worst.

wombripper.bandcamp.com

In summary then – a promising record from a country with pretty much zero metal pedigree. I like the band, even though their sound is basically composed of Boss MT-2 Metal Zone pedals, a noisegate and not a lot else, I like their influences and I like the honesty with which they wear them on their sleeves and I like death metal anyway, so they were on to a winner, being assigned this reviewer. Wombripper will never be great or reach stratospheric levels of fame, but they are that rare and precious thing – a good, honest band.

The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System has a 3am start tomorrow and is NOT happy about it and awards Wombripper 5/10 for an average, although competent album. That’s the equivalent of a bog standard murder being cursorily investigated by a jaded homicide detective with marital problems and a wisecracking sidekick.

TRACKLIST

Still Unborn
Immolation Rites
Torn By The Nails
Frantic Exhumation
Restless
The Suicidal Recreation
Locked In The Iced Coffin
Godless Slaughter (In The Name Of Doom)
Prenatal Death
Shredded Corpse Remains
Already Dead
Morbid Aberration

https://wombripper.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/wombripperband52/

This review is the property of Dark Juan and Metal Gods TV. It is strictly prohibited to copy any part of this review, unless you have all of the parties’ permission, or are the band/record label/PR company in question. Failure to adhere to these instructions will be considered as Plagiarism and you will be reported to the appropriate authorities.

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