Artist: Ültra Raptör
Country: Canada
Label: Fighter Records
Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD
Year: 2025
Admittedly, for a good while I have avoided listening to this band for rather obvious reasons. Although I do not consider myself a humourless stiff upper lip kind of guy, but for the most part, “funny” metal bands feel to me like an uncomfortable or even annoying contradiction to the aesthetic values of the genre. There’s a few obvious exceptions, but a quick glance at Napalm Records’ roster often gives more reason to cry than to laugh. All those so called “funny” and gimmicky bands are doing the metal genre no good. And for a long time I thought Ültra Raptör were part of this movement as well, but, while their imagery around dinosaurs and whatnot might seem a bit , their take on Heavy-/Speed-/Thrash Metal is definitely not just about fun.
If we drop all the prehistoric images, what is left is a thoroughly enjoyable piece of metal that clearly harkens back to the heydays of bands like Running Wild, Gravedigger, Rage or even very old Blind Guardian as well as a few more of those German bands that have set themselves the goal of showing Heavy Metal from its rawest and ugliest side. Ugly, in the best sense of the word, that is. No finesse, smooth transitions or meticulously thought-out compositions. This is the kind of heavy metal based on a brisk tempo, punchy riffs and shouting vocals that will cause nightmares for fans of Bruce Dickinson, Ronnie James Dio or Geoff Tate. In about 40 minutes, this second album by the Canadians roars by, covering virtually all genre traditions. Flashy guitar work and strong hooks ensure that many of the songs stick in your mind, and perhaps most importantly, the unbridled energy contained in the music is reminiscent of the bands that were pushing the boundaries of speed and brutality in Heavy Metal around 1985. Yet it never sounds dated. Despite obvious references to the past, the solid production firmly anchors Ültra Raptör in the present, without detracting from the raw power of the music.
Although I have a soft spot for science fiction from the 1960s, which often managed to blend prehistoric worlds with futuristic scenes and so a cover like this one for ‘Fossilised’ should have appealed to me, I still hesitated before putting the music on. A lesson that applies to a large part of those old and often classic Heavy-/Speed-/Thrash Metal records from the golden 80s: don’t judge a book by its cover, ‘Fossilized’ is a very enjoyable record.
