Bongripper is an American instrumental doom metal band from Chicago, formed in 2005. The group’s line-up consists of Nick Dellacroce, Daniel O’Connor, Ronald Petzke and Dennis Pleckham. Their music sits within doom metal, sludge metal and stoner metal, and they are also associated with sludge, drone and experimental forms.

Recording history

The band self-releases much of its early work. Its first album, The Great Barrier Reefer, appears in 2006 as a single 79-minute composition, written with the aim of being longer than Sleep’s Dopesmoker. In 2007, Bongripper releases Hippie Killer and Heroin. The following year it issues Hate Ashbury and a collaborative EP with Winters in Osaka.

In 2010, the band releases Satan Worshipping Doom. Two split EPs follow in 2013, one with Hate and one with Conan, both via Great Barrier Records. Bongripper then releases its sixth studio album, Miserable, through Great Barrier Records in 2014.

Later releases

Terminal, the band’s seventh album, is released in 2018. In 2020, Bongripper issues Glaciers, an EP recorded in 2009 and left unreleased for eleven years. In 2024, it releases its eighth album, Empty.

Selected releases

The Great Barrier Reefer, Hippie Killer, Heroin, Hate Ashbury, Meat Ditch with Winters in Osaka, Satan Worshipping Doom, Sex Tape / Snuff Film, Live At Roadburn 2012, Bongripper // Hate Split, Bongripper / Conan, Miserable, Terminal and Empty form the core of the band’s recorded output.