Freak Inside

Freak Inside not only sees a forward stride in production values for the young, female-fronted German thrash act Cripper, but also in its general songwriting capacity. Where their debut EP Killer Escort Service had some raw energy to it, pulverizing guitars and Britta's brute, blunt vocal stylings, the mix sounded a bit off and most of the songs were really not all that special. Here they've improved in that department, with a good deal of variation from track to track, and not afraid to draw some inspiration from outside genres like melodic death and hardcore where it suits a composition. Now, I wouldn't go as to label this a must have, but it's ripe with the promise that we might have a new Holy Moses on our hands.

The content ranges from straight thrashers with pure Bay Area appeal reminiscent of Master of Puppets or late 80s Exodus ("Fire Walk With Me", "Trapped", "Slowly Beaten Hate Machine") to slower, groove tracks like "60bpm" which have more in common with Gorefest's Erase. Once in a while the band will thread in a dour melody ("Shortcut" and "60bpm" again) which honestly reminded me of the mighty Bolt Thrower, so there's a fair amount happening here to keep the attention span from the mere, plugging thrash rhythms of the guitars, which while well written, are rarely breathtaking in of themselves. Through it all, Britta weaves her pissed off, gruff vocals like a hybrid of Sabina Classen and Jan-Chris de Koeijer's late 90s attitude, with some backing in the gang shout sections that gives the material an urban aspect. Outside of Holy Moses, this material doesn't sound a whole lot like the German veterans most have come to recognize from the region, but that's really a strength, because Cripper stands out, if only slightly.

About the only real issue with Freak Inside is that the writing, while improved, still doesn't distinguish itself through the choruses. It's as if the band concentrated hard on making the mix sound better, making the individual leads and verse/bridge riffs superior to their demo/EP material, and forgetting that the chorus sections should be climactic and exciting. This is thrash metal! I can't comprehend why so many bands neglect such an important element that made it popular to begin with. A few of them here are just breakdowns with Görtz hammering some lines with little charisma to them, and they sometimes feel like a letdown. The album is 52 minutes long, with 12 tracks, and I'm not sure I can remember a single chorus. Otherwise, it's solid for a self-released full-length debut. The lyrics are decent, the cover sculpture interesting, and the music marginally better conceived than the usual mindlessness of fresh 21st century thrash acts.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Whoa! This definitely IS a surprise! The music this band plays is the last thing I expected to hear from them! It seems that Germany is full of surprises and this is not the first time I listen to some decent Thrash Metal coming from there. Remember my review on COURAGEOUS? I guess CRIPPER is a similar case...

The German thrashers CRIPPER were born in 2005, debuting with their 2006 EP "Killer Escort Service". In 2007, the band recorded and released its debut full-length album "Freak Inside" and distributed it themselves. One year later, they decided to release an extended version of the album, which means one bonus track and a video clip for the song "Shortcut".

With the help of SAOL, which means "Service for Artist Owned Labels" and is a service of cmm GmbH, CRIPPER are back(?) to thrash you once again with... the same old stuff! Anyway, since I believe that this re-release is not so important, I will just try to present the album to those who don’t know the band.

I guess that the re-release of "Freak Inside" only serves a wider distribution network and nothing more. Anyway, musically the band stands more for the US style of Thrash Metal putting aside any German Thrash Metal influences. Catchy and aggressive riffs are being thrown right into your face and I can say that the guitarists have made a more than good job regarding the riffing section. Let’s not forget that there is a rule in Thrash Metal that says the better your riffs are, the better you Thrash is! The surprise this band hides for you is its female singer, Britta Gortz. A really beautiful woman with huge balls! Imagine an angel with black hair and blue eyes singing like a macho guy! If it wasn’t for that "I could smash your balls" attitude I swear I could ask her to marry me!

So, until now we only have good things about this band. Catchy riffs, aggression and nice song structures that will probably challenge you to bang your head several times. The fact is, why did I start feeling kind of bored after several listening sessions? Maybe it is the weak production. Or maybe it is that the vocals need a slight improvement. You know what... I could have said that this is one more mediocre Thrash Metal band but their resemblance to my beloved RECKLESS TIDE and the beautiful eyes of Britta managed to make me believe that we can see some great stuff from them in the near future. I guess that ARCH ENEMY’s Angela has already started shaking.

Originally written for Metal-Temple.Com
Yiannis D.