BLACK VIPER - Hellions of Fire LP HRR 659, ltd 600, 100 x neon orange (HRR mailorder exclusive) + 200 x black + 300 x red/ black splatter vinyl, high gloss cardboard cover, poster, lyric sheet, 2nd pressing: ltd 300, 150 x black + 150 x transparent electric blue vinyl, matt cardboard cover, poster, insert, 3rd pressing: ltd 500, 150 x black, 150 x white + 200 x transparent blood red with yellow splatter vinyl, black vinyl bonus 10", lyric sheet Salvador Armijo - vocals Arild M. Torp – guitars Kato Marchant - bass Cato Stormoen – drums - Intro / Hellions of Fire - Metal Blitzkrieg - Quest for Power / The Fountain of Might - Storming with Vengeance - Suspiria - Freedom’s Reign - Nightmare Mausoleum (The Sleeper Must Awaken) bonus 10" (3rd pressing) -Storming with Vengeance -Metal Blitzkrieg -Freedom's Reign 1st + 2nd pressing: SOLD OUT! 3rd pressing: AVAILABLE

Black Viper is a new metal outfit hailing from Oslo in Norway. The band started out as a solo project in late 2012/early 2013 when drummer Cato began to write some songs inspired by traditional heavy metal and speed metal that did not suit his other band Deathhammer. He takes over the story: “I recorded a couple of instrumental demo tracks in 2013 and also began recording an EP which didn’t get finished, probably because I was moving to Oslo. When I moved there, I finally got a band together and we started to rehearse and recorded and released our demo »Storming With Vengeance« in 2016. Then we played a few gigs and started to record our debut album »Hellions Of Fire« which is now finished and due for release very soon. We also lost our bassist in the process of recording the album, but we quickly found a new one and are now ready to ‘kill with power’!” All three tracks of the mentioned demo tape have been re-recorded for the album. Cato explains: “We even got an offer for releasing the demo on vinyl but we declined. Now they sound as good as they can, we just needed to get something out. That being said, I still think the demo sounds ripping!” “The album is pretty much a mix between heavy metal and speed metal (fast heavy metal anyway)”, continues the drummer. “The new material will be a bit different though, as some tracks off the album are already very old. Our new stuff which we haven’t started rehearsing yet is much more powerful and more classic US metal than speed metal (maybe a bit like Crimson Glory, Queensrÿche, Fates Warning (I wish ...). If anything, then »Hellions Of Fire« sounds a bit like the first Savage Grace album.” According to Cato, Black Viper are big US metal fans: “Yeah totally, at least Agent Steel. The US metal bands just sounded so larger than life and so over the top metal it hurts. Of course, without Priest and Maiden it would not have happened, but yes, we are very inspired by the massive power and supremacy of the US metal gods. The first Heathen album is a total ripper! Merciless E-string attack which even Hetfield in the glory days would approve of.” Although coming from Oslo, Black Viper do not feel inspired by the metal heritage of Norway: “Ha ha, absolutely not. I mean, we got some Norwegian bands which dabbled with speed metal in the 1980s, like Witchhammer and Anesthesia for example, but they just sound inspired by the same things we’re probably inspired by, like Helloween and Iron Maiden and so on. Norway has always been insanely weak with heavy metal and speed metal. It’s been a little bit better the last years actually but it’s practically nothing compared to countries like Sweden, Germany and the US. I don’t mind at all though, music is not a competition and which country a band is from couldn’t matter less to me. Sometimes it’s a bit embarrassing when I meet people from countries who never had a big history of metal and they wanna show off obscure gems from ‘their’ country and it’s often just a daft copy of classic bands. I wish people wouldn’t be so proud of their countries sometimes. Anyway, I would say we sound like metal from all over this rotten earth, mainly US metal but also European sounds. I never cared much about local or national scenes either. I hang with the few people I like and that’s it. I don’t even go much to the regular metal bars (prefer rock ’n’ roll or punk places), so I wouldn’t know what’s hip in Oslo at the moment. Great bands appear from time to time but it can be any genre really. Many people seem to think that black metal is the shit in Norway, but it’s not. I mean, people who are genuinely into music of course listen to good black metal, but it’s not like people gather in dark cellars with candlelights listening to Gorgoroth or something. At least many people in Oslo are open-minded music wise and that’s always a plus in my book.” Matthias Mader