It stand to reason that with each new album an artist creates, the goal is to showcase the best, most authentic version of themselves. Make no mistake, that doesn’t mean that we, the listeners, have to like the output; but even in those cases where a new album may fall flat on the ears of […]

When James McBain the guitarist/vocalist of the excellent Rats of Reality isn’t breaking apart Pangaea with that band’s blackened, demonic d-beat, he’s at the helm of his solo project Hellripper.  He’s a veritable one man wrecking crew playing all of the instruments (aside from Mark Lerche’s lead on “Trial by Fire”) and the end result […]