The Reapers – Rip It Up

Rebellion Records / LSM Vinyl

 

Debuting late last year with an appearance on Rebellion Records’ seventh volume of the “Oi! Ain’t Dead” series, The Reapers instantly impressed while they stood their ground amongst the other contributors – Savage Beat, Live By The Sword, Complaint and Razorblade. Not that strange of course, because despite that the band only formed a year or two ago, these lads have had years of experience in another Dutch outfit – Discharger!

 

Now the time has come for the band’s debut LP “Rip It Up” for Rebellion Records and LSM Vinyl and indeed, they are rippin’ it up straight from the start! Kicking the record off with a portion of the ‘I’m mad as hell...’ speech by Peter Finch’s character Howard Beal in the movie ‘Network’, the tone to get furious is immediately set, while the aggression of The Reapers’ sound provides the perfect soundtrack to get mad, mad hell!

 

Sounding like a heavy weight version of the likes of The Templars, The Veros, The Janitors, Last Crusade etc... the Dutch deliver some old fashioned, hard-hitting skinhead rock ‘n’ roll that never goes out of style! Relatable lyrics, snarling lead-vocals, clean guitars, sublime melodies, massive back-up vocals, I wrote it all before – but “Rip It Up” has it all! “Ultra-Violence”, “Bankers”, “Never Chance”, “The Righteous Ones”, “Wrong Side Of The River”, “Sirens Of Sorrow” (reminding me of The Corps), “Alcohol”, “Saturday Night” – these guys kick out anthem after anthem, with “Ugly Mug” and “Always The Underdog” being my absolute favorites – guaranteed earwurms!

 

Though we are only in the second week of 2019, I can easily say that “Rip It Up” will be one of my favorites of this year! Delivering pure fire and aggro with the right attitude and sound, this record is a must for fans of the aforementioned bands! The Reapers rule, ok!