Witch Ripper are back and so is the dark story these US metal innovators present to all those ready to listen. Their new music video for “The Portal” offers a glimpse of a sinister cult and serves as the first advance single from their forthcoming third studio album “Through the Hourglass”, which will be revealed on April 10th, 2026, via Magnetic Eye Records.
Watch the video for “The Portal” below.
Witch Ripper comments on “The Portal”: “We really wanted to set the tone of Through the Hourglass with a bang”, vocalist and guitarist Curtis Parker writes. “A pummeling drum intro, knuckle-dragger riffs and highlighting more evil melodies on the guitar. ‘The Portal’ kicks off an album with darker themes of loss, confusion, and dread while maintaining our love of big hooks and catchy riffs. Our story’s main character asks: ‘What have I woken up to?’ – and we’re all about to find out”!
Pre-order “Through the Hourglass” here.
Tracklist:
1. Odyssey in Retrograde
2. The Portal
3. Symmetry of the Hourglass
4. Echoes and Dust
5. The Clock Queen
6. Proxima Centuari
7. The Spiral Eye
On their third full-length, “Through the Hourglass”, Witch Ripper unleash the full potential of their stunning ability to deliver captivating melodies, catchy riffs, and merciless hooks in sheer droves.
The US metal band perfectly combines melodic heaviness with pinches of progressive, sludge, and other styles with seeming ease. Witch Ripper can be generally located within the wider sonic realm that is inhabited by Mastodon, Baroness, and High On Fire, yet they also continue to channel the rock bombast of Queen and David Bowie as well as the modern prog of Coheed And Cambria and Muse.
While Witch Ripper’s songwriting has climbed to a new peak, they continue with their loving pastiche of the legendary pulp science fiction stories of old. “Through the Hourglass” extends the story that began on their sophomore full-length, “The Flight after the Fall” (2023), in which the central character’s search for peace in death by flying into a black hole proved futile. As “Through the Hourglass” begins, he awakens to a world without time and a familiar dark presence from his past…
Conceived in 2012 in the city of grey skies, lush vegetation and loud rock, Seattle, Washington’s Witch Ripper garnered critical acclaim and a strong buzz in the underground scene with their sludgy self-titled EP (2012) and debut full-length “Homestead” (2018). The second album, “The Flight after the Fall”, made the band’s name on a global scale, as the band dramatically expanded the range of their sound in ways both catchy and progressive.
On stage, Witch Ripper have performed alongside heavy rock outfits such as Monolord, Conan, and Castle Rat as well as modern metal acts including Slipknot, Gojira, and Khemmis among many others.
Witch Ripper are already at work planning for tour across the United States once more and hope for a first voyage to Europe in support of releasing “Through the Hourglass”. Metal is anything but dead, and this album is living proof of its vibrant present.
P.S.: Music aficionados will find a revelation hiding in the key of each song.
Line-up:
Chad Fox – Guitar, vocals
Brian Kim – Bass, vocals
Curtis Parker – Guitar, vocals
Joe Eck – Drums
Guest musician:
Irene Barber – vocals on “The Spiral Eye”
Recording by Matt Bayles at Studio Litho & EXES Audio, Seattle, WA (US)
Mix by Matt Bayles at Studio Litho, Seattle, WA (US)
Mastering by Brad Boatright at Audio Siege Studios, Portland, OR (US)
Cover art by Chris Panatier
Layout by Łukasz Jaszak
Weblinks:
www.facebook.com/witchripper
www.instagram.com/witch_ripper
