Explore 7 Hellripper songs inspired by real historical horrors, from Scottish folklore and witch trials to demonic possession and black masses
From blasted Highland moors to the scorched pages of demonology manuals, Hellripper’s blackened speed metal is steeped in folkloric dread and historical horror. These seven tracks tap into chilling legends and real-world atrocities, crafting a sonic grimoire for those who dare to listen.
Who is Hellripper?
Hailing from Aberdeen, Hellripper is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist James McBain, who has built the project into a global force in extreme metal since its inception in 2014.
Drawing comparisons to Venom, Bathory and Motörhead, McBain’s one-man band assault is known for its furious riffs, satanic themes and uncanny knack for fusing real history with unholy melody.
With three full-length albums – Coagulating Darkness (2017), The Affair of the Poisons (2020) and Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags (2023) – Hellripper has earned a devoted following for his blistering homage to blackened folklore and forgotten horror.
Hellripper songs based on historical horrors
Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags, from Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags (2023)
“Ye warlocks grim and wither’d hags / To fiery flames consigned…”
The title track weaves together spectral threads of Scottish folklore, echoing Robert Burns’ 1791 poem Address to the Deil. Drawing from tales of the Devil’s visitations, Highland faeries and the ancient fear of ‘black art’ practitioners, this song opens the album like a summoning.
Interesting Fact: Burns wrote Address to the Deil partly as satire, but Hellripper treats its subject with the dread it deserves, using the poet’s words to conjure a landscape stalked by warlocks and hags.
The Nuckelavee, from Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags (2023)
“Skinless horror, sea-born death / Bringer of plague with toxic breath…”
Inspired by Orcadian legend, the Nuckelavee is a horse-like demon with no skin, its raw musculature and venomous breath spreading disease wherever it roams.
This ghastly entity is Hellripper’s take on ecological horror rooted in ancient myth.
Interesting Fact: In folklore, The Nuckelavee could not cross freshwater, and locals believed only a sudden rainstorm – or the goddesses of water – could drive it back to the sea.
Mester Stoor Worm, from Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags (2023)
“Serpent of sorrow, coiled in the deep / The earth it mourns, the oceans weep…”
A lesser-known monster of Orcadian folklore, the Mester Stoor Worm was a world-ending sea serpent so vast its body formed the geography of northern Europe.
Hellripper transforms this myth into a storm-driven epic of doom and defiance.
Interesting Fact: According to legend, when the Worm was slain by a hero prince, its teeth became the Orkney Isles and its body formed Iceland.
Poison Womb (The Curse of the Witch), from Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags (2023)
“Marked at birth, cursed to flame / Her sinless soul they could not tame…”
This searing track invokes the dark legacy of Scotland’s witch trials, focusing on the misogynistic paranoia that led to mass executions.
It draws from real testimonies where women were accused of unnatural births and devil’s marks.
Interesting Fact: Between 1563 and 1736, nearly 4,000 people were accused of witchcraft in Scotland — 80 per cent of them women. Torture was legal, and execution was often by strangulation and burning.
Spectres of the Blood Moon Sabbath, from The Affair of the Poisons (2020)
“Crimson sabbath, blood moon rise / Blackened rites beneath cursed skies…”
Evoking imagery straight out of Malleus Maleficarum, this track conjures the imagined rituals of witches’ sabbaths—orgiastic midnight gatherings where pacts were sealed and sacrifices made.
Whether symbolic or real, these tales terrified Europe for centuries.
Interesting Fact: Witch hunters often claimed these sabbaths occurred during lunar eclipses or blood moons — natural phenomena twisted into signs of Satanic presence.
The Affair of the Poisons, from The Affair of the Poisons (2020)
“Powdered death in gilded halls / The Devil walks through Versailles’ walls…”
This blistering track recounts the real-life 17th-century scandal that rocked the French royal court.
Fortune tellers, poisoners and alleged witches were arrested in droves, accused of black masses, baby sacrifices and plotting against Louis XIV.
Interesting Fact: Catherine Monvoisin (“La Voisin”), a prominent fortune teller, confessed under torture to conducting hundreds of black masses for aristocrats—some allegedly atop naked women as altars.
Anneliese, from Coagulating Darkness (2017)
“Chains that bind the spirit’s cry / Sanctified through screams and lies…”
Based on the true story of Anneliese Michel, a German woman whose death during a 1970s Catholic exorcism shocked the world.
The Church’s brutal methods and the subsequent trial brought worldwide attention to modern possession cases.
Interesting Fact: Anneliese’s parents and the two priests involved were convicted of negligent homicide, and her tapes remain among the most chilling ever recorded in an exorcism case.
What’s your favourite song from Hellripper? Tell us in the comments section below.
