Witch Ripper presents their sophomore full-length album »The Flight After The Fall«, out now via Magnetic Eye Records
Seattle progressive sludge metal band Witch Ripper presents their sophomore full-length album, »The Flight After The Fall«, which was just released yesterday, March 3rd, 2023 via Magnetic Eye Records.
Tracklist:
01. Enter The Loop
02. Madness And Ritual Solitude
03. The Obsidian Forge
04. Icarus Equation
05. Everlasting In Retrograde Pts I & II
The band elaborates: “To quote Billy Corgan. “Today is the greatest”.
It’s finally release day for our second album »The Flight After The Fall«. Literal years of thought, stress, effort, money and care went into to putting this album out. As a band we could not be more proud of the final package. We put everything into this album. We pushed ourselves musically in a big way. We set up to record an album that we didn’t know we could accomplish but we said we were not going to compromise. What ended up on this record is that. No compromise on the artistic vision we had.
Huge thanks to Magnetic Eye for believing in our music. We’re a weird band for them to sign. We’re heavier and more progressive than a lot of their acts but they took a risk on us because of the strength of this album. They’ve been so supportive. They have pushed us to work harder. They have just straight up told us they love this album which is something that we needed to hear.
Lastly, we truly hope people take the time to check out »The Flight After The Fall«. For people that know our band and might think they know what to expect we really believe that they are going to be in for a (hopefully good) surprise. For new fans. Welcome! We appreciate you finding us and our art. We hope that this album connects with you as much as it does with us.
For everyone who has gotten their pre orders. Big freaking thank you. The album is out now. Stream it, buy the album or CD and just dive into this weird sci-fi tale of love and loss that we’ve created. Thank you all. We love you and truly appreciate all the support!”
Photos by Jake Chaplin
Courtesy of All Noir PR:
Obsession and insanity. The anguish of failure. Hope and loss. The crushing cosmic void. The dramatic intensity of metal is a natural fit for immersive, multi-sensory storytelling, and on the ambitious and explosive »The Flight After The Fall«, Seattle’s Witch Ripper plot a course for the center of the universe with a concept album of soaring, impassioned prog and incendiary sludge.
Telling the story of a scientist fleeing earth with his wife in deep freeze to seek out a cure for her illness, »The Flight After The Fall« swings for the far reaches of the galaxy and brings each song home with profound confidence. »Enter The Loop« spotlights the band’s full arsenal: a brilliant chorus vocal, pummeling percussion, clattering, bilious riffs, gut-splitting bellows, dense instrumental interplay, layered production, and propulsive songwriting awash in striking dynamics and rich, emotional shifts. Parker’s and Fox’s guitars work together in a nervy, snaky twang, but also sink deep into snarling, sandblasted distortion. The solo and harmonized guitar at the end burst with a yearning, Brian May energy. The band’s venomous sludge hits heaviest on »The Obsidian Forge«, where Kim’s growling bass drags the guitars into a subterranean churn before the song closes with an extended instrumental section that cruises on, aiming for some infinite horizon that almost sounds like Metallica’s “Orion” filtered through the Allman Brothers.
Similar to Mastodon’s Brann Dailor or Yautja’s Tyler Coburn, Eck’s drumming is the nuclear reactor at Witch Ripper’s core, anchoring every song with outrageous fluidity and thunderous power. On the droning, hypnotic opening of »Madness And Ritual Solitude«, he summons a percussive tornado with tumbling, tom-heavy drums that tap into the same atavistic energy as early High On Fire. »Icarus Equation« is the emotional peak of the story’s arc, overflowing with melancholy and longing, desperation and fury. Parker’s punishing midsong vocal leads into a searing, anguished guitar solo that sizzles and flails into a huge, full-band stomp that punctuates the moment the narrator realizes his loss.
On »The Flight After The Fall«, Witch Ripper don’t just capture lightning in a bottle; they wrestle entire storms from their throats and instruments with every hairpin turn, churning riff, and snaking, melodic unison. The two-part, 16-minute closing track »Everlasting In Retrograde« careens through waves of titanic riffs and instrumentals of chiming, aquatic psychedelia like the Ocean or Isis at their most atmospheric, but circles again and again to Fox’s insistent refrain: “It takes every part of me.” Witch Ripper have given every part of themselves to this remarkable album, and they invite us to bring all of ourselves to experience it.
Order »The Flight After The Fall« at THIS LOCATION!
Biography:
Before leaving Minneapolis to return home to Seattle, guitarist/singer Curtis Parker crafted an EP meant to serve as a blueprint for the direction of his next musical endeavor. Built on that foundation, Witch Ripper came together as a band in the Emerald City, releasing debut LP »Homestead« on DHU Records in 2018 to critical acclaim. The album fused dense sludge with stoner grooves and in-the-red hardcore speed, announcing Witch Ripper as a rising force in jagged, churning metal.
During the pandemic, Parker, alongside bassist Brian Kim and manic drummer Joe Eck, began expanding their collective musical palette, welcoming second guitarist/vocalist Chad Fox into the fold and setting to work with heightened aspirations. The product of their broad ambition is the gargantuan and stunning »The Flight After The Fall«.
»The Flight After The Fall« is packed with as much aggression and barely tamed electricity as fans of the band would expect, but also welcomes fleetly intricate guitar interplay, touches of subtle synth and cosmic atmospherics, and unshakably catchy clean vocal hooks. In short, Witch Ripper maintains its brutal roots while embracing the arena rock bombast of Queen and David Bowie and the exuberant modern prog of Coheed And Cambria and Muse.
Witch Ripper is:
Chad Fox – Guitar, Vocals
Brian Kim – Bass, Vocals
Curtis Parker – Guitar, Vocals
Joe Eck – Drums
In support of their new album, Witch Ripper have announced the first US shows. A European tour is in the making. Please see below for all currently confirmed live dates.
Witch Ripper Live:
18 Mar 2023 Seattle, WA (US) Substation
29 Mar 2023 Portland, OR (US) High Water Mark
30 Mar 2023 Eugene, OR (US) Old Nick’s
31 Mar 2023 San Francisco, CA (US) Kilowatt Bar +Brume +Nite
01 Apr 2023 San Jose, CA (US) The Caravan Lounge
02 Apr 2023 Los Angeles, CA (US) Redwood Bar
04 Apr 2023 Tempe, AZ (US) Yucca Tap Room
05 Apr 2023 Albuquerque, NM (US) Moonlight Lounge
07 Apr 2023 Denver, CO (US) Skylark Lounge
08 Apr 2023 Salt Lake City, UT (US) Aces High Saloon
09 Apr 2023 Boise, ID (US) The Shredder
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well