Scottish one-man blackened speed metal project HELLRIPPER,  the solo endeavor of James McBain, released a new single titled “Hunderprest”. The track is taken from the forthcoming album “Coronach”, which is set for release on March 27th via Century Media Records. You can check out the music video, featuring live footage filmed at Damnation Festival 2025, below.

“Coronach” was recorded and mixed by James McBain at Coronach Studios in Scotland and then mastered by Damien Herring at Subterranean Watchtower Studios in the USA. The cover artwork was created by Adam Burke / Nightjar Illustration.

McBain describes “Hunderprest” as the perfect album opener:

“‘Hunderprest’ hits immediately with a chaotic deluge of dissonance, and is what I felt to be the perfect way to open the album — leaving the listener with no time to prepare. Based on the legend of ‘Hunderprest,’ or ‘dog priest’ – the vampire of Melrose Abbey. The sinful chaplain inherited his nickname because of his habit of hunting on horseback with his pack of hounds.

After his death, legend says he was buried in the graveyard of Melrose Abbey; and because his spirit could not find peace, he would rise from his grave when night fell to harass the villagers and his former mistress to satisfy his bloodthirst. He was eventually defeated when a group of monks from Melrose Abbey exhumed Hunderprest’s blood-soaked body in broad daylight and set it on fire, throwing the ashes into the wind to be sure that the vampire would no longer be able to torment the town.

Musically, the track primarily takes influence from a mixture of thrash (KREATOR, MERCILESS, METALLICA) and black (WATAIN, ROTTING CHRIST, TRIBULATION) metal, with a healthy dose of some more ‘atmospheric’ d-beat elements from the likes of OATHBREAKER and FALL OF EFRAFA.”