In today’s metal climate, it’s very important to people like me to get something different in our collections so that we’re not listening to the same fucking thing over and over again, but every and then there’s a surprisingly welcome change when a band comes along to bring us something that does nothing to even sound different from classic material, yet it excels. It’s almost always heavy metal that does that for me, and it’s thanks to Black Viper that we’re back to something that sounds old but feels super fresh.

Every time I encounter a new heavy metal act I always feel as though there isn’t enough of these bands to go around, but like many things, they’re definitely there. I just need to fucking look for them to see how sprawling and impressive the heavy metal scene has maintained into today with so many new acts coming out to pay homage to classic works while still feeling new enough to the point where I feel like I’m listening to the style for the first time. Black Viper manages to accomplish just that as their debut of “Hellions of Fire” manages to really bring home a sound and elicits a feeling as though Manowar was revamped for the modern age with uncompromising heaviness for the style, riffs for days, and a grand, epic scale that simply can’t be contained in a four-minute song. The seven tracks that Black Viper brings to the table here are simply face-melting for the style given the awesome speed with impeccable musicianship that cannot be denied as this whole record doesn’t have a single weakness in sight. Each track allows “Hellions of Fire” to become a record that so damned intoxicating to listen to that it becomes hard to stop listening to it entirely as everything we’re given here is the epitome of what it means to be a staggering, promising act in today’s heavy metal climate.

I truly can’t get enough of bands like Black Viper where they do nothing but justice for the original flame of metal as a whole while not allowing that to prevent them from chasing after their own sound to achieve and perform for us. It’s because of albums like “Hellions of Fire” that I always find myself coming back to the genre for more and more after years of doing it because of the simple fact that it’s fucking amazing.

LISTEN to “Hellions of Fire” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Black Viper on Facebook here.