Cripper

Formed in 2005 within the northern German city of Hildesheim by then-students Christian Bröhenhorst and Jonathan Stenger, the Hannover-based outfit Cripper emerged as a female-fronted metal unit whose sound fuses vintage thrash with blackened death metal. Critics have linked the group’s approach to outfits such as Holy Moses, Arch Enemy, Kvelertak, and Spiders. The band attained its strongest configuration once Britta Görtz joined on vocals, her feral scream and characteristic death-metal rattle appearing for the first time on the 2006 debut EP Killer Escort Service. The following year saw the release of the first full-length album, Freak Inside, with Devil Reveals arriving in 2009; that record earned the group an appearance at Wacken Open Air. Their third studio effort, Antagonist, surfaced in 2012, and 2014 brought their Metal Blade debut, Hyena.