Review: Witch Ripper – The Flight After the Fall

Style: Progressive Metal, Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Mastodon, Baroness, Dvne
Review by: Christopher
Country: US-WA
Release date: 3 March, 2023

I have a complicated relationship with sludge metal. Obviously, Mastodon remain the gold standard for the genre, but often the lo-fi production and lack of compositional originality repel me. The case is the same for most subgenre scenes, I suppose, but it strikes me as more of a problem with sludge—maybe because Mastodon spoilt me with their crystalline production and genre-leading talent, or maybe I’m just jaded. Let’s see if Seattle-based quartet Witch Ripper’s second full-length, The Flight After the Fall, can make me do a Frasier Crane and make me say “I’m listening!”

Witch Ripper’s main influence is undeniably Mastodon, and the gruff vocals and sludgy riffs which lumber along before exploding into long noodling sections are straight-up Crack the Skye. The cleans, too, are redolent of Brann Dailor with added power metal twang. Other stoner and sludge standards can be heard too within their style like the gruff harshes and heaviness of Neurosis, as well as some of Baroness’ heavy stoner metal inflections. Melodic sections vie against the sludgiest riffs you can imagine, all shored up by some absolutely masterful drumming from kit-bludgeoner-in-chief, Joe Eck.

Witch Ripper boast on their Bandcamp that they’ve incorporated the sounds of bands like Muse, Queen, and David Bowie into The Flight After the Fall. And on opening track “Enter the Loop” it’s all there: the arpeggiated synth underneath the clean chorus, the sense of theatre in some of the guitar riffs, and the closing guitar solo, which is pure Brian May to the point of explicitly referencing “Bohemian Rhapsody”. 

However, after the opening number showcase of their more eclectic classic rock influences, these all but disappear. “Madness and Ritual Solitude” is pure prog sludge, “The Obsidian Forge” contains a later riff which sounds like a besludgened Muse but is mostly lifted from the Mastodon crib sheet, and “Icarus Equation” features a climax that goes full David Bowie. Other than the above instances, these influences are somewhat absent; I’d actually like to hear more of this vibe, albeit done with a little more finesse than Witch Ripper have managed here. 

Which leads me to my main problem with Witch Ripper: their homages can be rather blatant. The main riff of “The Obsidian Forge” skirts a little too close to that of Mastodon’s “Crack the Skye”, the climax of “Icarus Equation” features a heavy-handed nod to Bowie’s “Space Oddity”; even the arpeggiated synth under the chorus of “Enter the Loop” instantly took me back to Muse’s “Stockholm Syndrome”. It’s fun to pick up on these little musical Easter eggs, but one fears they’ve miscalculated their own Icarus equation, because they’re flying damn close to the sun with these references. It’s not that I dislike the homages—far from it—it’s that these are basically the only instances in which they instantiate these influences on the entire album. Why not fold these influences into your style more subtly and consistently and make them truly your own?

The Flight After the Fall is a showcase of both Witch Ripper’s talent and their vinyl collection. While guessing which records they revere is easy, Witch Ripper nevertheless demonstrate their excellent compositional powers and that they’re having great fun with their referencing—I think I’m having fun with it too, but I would like to see the band transcend mere homage and incorporate these more unconventional influences into their sludgy style in order to fully own them. However, despite my misgivings, The Flight After the Fall is nevertheless one of the stronger releases among the prog sludge underground that I’ve heard, and if it has you doing the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing gif from Once Upon A Time In Hollywood a few times while listening then, well, what’s the harm in that?  

Recommended tracks: Enter the Loop, The Obsidian Forge, Icarus Equation
You may also like: Ashbreather, Anciients, Pull Down the Sun
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives Page

Label: Magnetic Eye Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Witch Ripper is:
– Joe Eck (drums)
– Curtis Parker (vocals, guitars)
– Coltan Anderson (guitars)
– Brian Kim (bass)