Apologies to the guy in Black Viper who our editor attacked outside The Little Devil in Tilburg during Roadburn Festival. She overheard him telling some guys in the smoking area that he was in this “new band called Black Viper” and she just sort of grabbed him and scratched him, which is kind of her way of saying ‘Your band is fucking great’. They are. Marek Steven is less violent so we sent him to find out more about them.

Storming With Vengeance demo is great. Can you introduce us to Black Viper? Cato: The band actually started around 2012 as a one-man project because I made some riffs which didn’t fit into [his other band] Deathhammer, but I thought they were good enough to make something out of. I then made some demo tracks without vocals but didn’t release them. I also started to record an EP in 2013 but that also didn’t get finished. Then I moved to Oslo in 2013 right where Arild and Christoffer live. I hooked up with them and Black Viper finally became a full band. Then we rehearsed without vocals for a while – as we couldn`t find anyone who could sing – and we … Read More

Flight is the latest collaboration to emerge out of Norway’s ‘Kolbotn Thrashers Union’; a comical term invented some time ago to support the mass of talent in this mystic part of Norge. Flight shares its members with those in Condor, Gouge, Purple Hill Witch, Mion’s Hill and Mabuse. Bass player and co-founder, Jonas Bye tells us about the formation of the band: “We always drink beer and listen to Judas Priest. I guess the idea of Flight came naturally because we weren’t playing in a heavy metal band at the time. It wasn’t really a conscious choice.” After having the pleasure of listening to Flight’s un-released rough demos, it is safe to say they are far more enriched in the rocky pre-NWOBHM sound. Jonas elaborates on their less-common played style of heavy metal; “We play what feels the best for us and we try to experiment a bit in that frame. It’s not like we try to make a blueprint of ’77 heavy metal. We are gripped by influences from all over. Nobody except Iron Maiden can be Iron Maiden”.

Talking with Jonas about the lack of distinctive band names today, unlike the original and self-explanatory bands such as Saxon … Read More

Norway’s Töxik Death was formed in 2003 by “two metalheads starting a band,” exclaims guitarist and founding member Anders. “It was nothing more original than that. Morbid thrash was our thing, and we wanted to create something ourselves.” Even with such enthusiasm, it took four years for the limited EP, ‘Happy Fukking Holocaust’ (Misantrof ANTIRecords), to appear. “I don’t know really,” replies Anders when asked why it took so long to release their debut. “Lack of everything I guess! I wanted to do something, but the rest of the band wasn’t that interested. The lack of a decent drummer in the area didn’t make things easier either.” Another five years would pass before ‘Demo 2012’ became a reality. “The same story started over again,” says Anders. “It didn’t turn out quite as good as hoped, and after the EP the vocalist and the bassist moved away so it was impossible to keep that line-up. Then in late 2011, I decided to start looking for new members. Bjarte was brought in as an additional guitarist and he was joined by new drummer, Robin, bassist, Robert, and Eirik on vocals. All the riffs for the demo were ready so we just started rehearsing and writing … Read More