Ripped to Shreds – Sanshi

Written by on 06-10-2024 at 21:00.

Here we have new material from the American death metal band Ripped to Shreds. This is their fourth release, titled Sanshiv, once again released via Relapse Records. The band was originally born from the mind of musical mastermind Andrew Lee and started as a solo project. Meanwhile the band consists of four members, all of whom seem to contribute to the vocals.

The band has been extensively discussed here at Zware Metalen, so I’ll spare you a lengthy introduction. If you’re looking for trivia, don’t hesitate to check out the reviews for the previous albums 魔經 – Demon Scriptures, 亂 (Luan), and 劇變 (Jubian).

The death metal of Ripped to Shreds is characterized by the well-known, filthy guitar sound often found in Swedish old school death metal. As a fan of death metal myself, I love this filthy guitar tone, which fits the genre perfectly. And the band knows how to squeeze delicious riffs out of those guitars. Wonderfully old school, yet also somewhat unconventional and at times very melodic. Moreover, the band does not confine itself to the boundaries of a single genre. Living in Effigy is a great example: starting off with typical Swedeath we arrive through a doom-like section at a beautifully melodic bridge, only to be suddenly surprised by a fast blast beat. The song ends with the Swedeath sound from the beginning.

Throughout the length of the album, the band alternates between midtempo, doom, and hyperspeed, throwing in tempo changes at every turn. This keeps things lively and on plenty of occasions the guitarists are supplying the songs with extremely tasty riffing or piercing solos. Standing out as well are the vocals that are handled by multiple musicians, creating a lot of variety.

As mentioned earlier, genre conventions are foreign to the guys from Ripped to Shreds, so they finish the album off with an unmistakable Terrorizer-like grindcore track, as heard below. I think it’s a great closer!

Just like my late father always ordered babi pangang with white rice when we went for Chinese because he knew exactly what he was getting, so is this new Ripped to Shreds. If you enjoyed the previous albums, Sanshi will certainly appeal to you as well. The comments in the previous reviews also apply to this release: the unfiltered grasp at influences from various genres is present here again. Is there a clear common thread of what to expect throughout the album? Maybe not, but isn’t that precisely the charm of the band? But hey, tastes differ. I personally enjoy the releases from Ripped to Shreds time and time again, and this one gets another big thumbs up! But did you expect otherwise?

Score:

85/100

Label:

Relapse Records, 2024

Tracklisting:

  1. Into the Court of Yanluowang
  2. Force Fed
  3. 燒冥紙 (Sacrificial Fire)
  4. 孽鏡臺 (Visions of Sin, Mirror of Darkness)
  5. Feast of the Deceased
  6. 殭屍復活 (Horrendous Corpse Resurrection)
  7. Living in Effigy
  8. 冥婚 (Corpse Betrothal)
  9. Cultivating Towards Ascension
  10. Perverting the Funeral Rites, Stripping for the Dead

Line-up:

  • Andrew Lee – Guitars, vocals
  • Ryan – Bass
  • Brian – Drums
  • Michael Chavez – Guitars, vocals

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