Ültra Raptör hail from Canada and previously released the album “Tyrants” in 2001. The band deal in deliberately cheesy, tough-guy heavy rock—broad-shouldered speed metal with far too much ironic distance. Every so often you get bands who try to blend humour with heavy metal and push everything to excess. I don’t object in principle, though it’s hard to find many that make the formula work—perhaps Steel Panther, though I’m no fan, even if they’ve clearly been successful.
The problem is writing good comedy; it’s harder than people think. It’s one thing to make your mates and family laugh, but once you put it out to strangers it often isn’t funny at all. Even professional comedians miss. Music is a tricky medium for comedy, too. Maybe their lyrics about dinosaurs and cars are genuinely hilarious, but I can’t say—the band didn’t send the words and they’re not online yet, with the album a week from release. Either way, nothing here suggests they’re especially funny.
Can you separate the attempted humour from the music? To a point, yes—but sadly the music isn’t much cop either. This is fairly standard heavy and speed metal, mostly stuck at the same tempo, with riffs that were played out forty years ago. I struggle most with Phil T. Lung’s vocals. All told, this is a band I wouldn’t recommend to anyone.
Release October 7th, 2025 on Fighter Records.
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