Swedish metallers, Night Viper, will release their new album, Exterminator, on October 20th via Listenable records, The band is gloriously churning out a unique blend of incisive thrash riffage through catchy hooks and stunning melodic vocals.

For old school aficionados, the whole listening experience is not remote from Kill ‘Em All-era Metallica and punching 80s heavy metal in terms of musical arrangements and attitude. Head banging is mandatory and it’s a ripper.

Band guitarist Thomas Sutton is blessing us with a track-by-track commentary (below) detailing each song story and background. So now you’ll know as much as the band themselves.

Exterminator will be released in Ocard CD and limited edition black vinyl and a special version in transparent vinyl with black splatter.

Tracklisting:

“No Escape”
“Summon The Dead”
“Never Win”
“Exterminator”
“On The Run”
“Ashes”
“Going Down”
“Lady Bad Luck”
“Revenge”
“All That Remains”

Thomas Sutton’s track-by-track:

“No Escape” - “This is that classic ripping opener. I felt like we needed that kind of song, so I specifically tried to write a fast opening track for the album. Usually it doesn’t work to try to write a certain kind of song or a certain kind of way. Songs are like children; they like to go their own way. But in this case it actually worked, and it ended up being the first song on the album. The intro is kind of a mixture of the hi-hat at the beginning of ‘Thunderstruck’ from AC/DC at Donnington in 1991, and Hans Zimmer’s Batman soundtracks. From there it’s pure riff-festing, hip shaking and face melting.”

“Summon The Dead” - “Have you see the video for this yet? It’s out there! Another fast, riffy, Metallica-type song. We released this as a single, but re-recorded it for the album. I actually had the middle section in a song I had with my first ever band, probably around 2003. I always loved that section, so I’m happy it found a perfect home in this song. I can’t stop headbanging throughout this entire track every time we play it. Love it! After the song was finished, I asked Sofie Lee if the lyrics were about anything in particular, or whether they were just tough heavy metal shit. ‘Just tough heavy metal shit’, she replied. Good, then!”

“Never Win” - “This is one of those songs that I feel walks the line that mid-to-late period Motörhead did. It’s metal, but it’s also very rock ’n’ roll. I really love Sofie Lee’s melodies and lyrics on this. Very defiant, very encouraging. Very crunchy but cutting riffs. And a bit of a lonely country feel to the intro. And verrrrrry catchy.”

“Exterminator” - “Ooooh, a title track! We certainly didn’t write it to be that way, but we liked the sound and attitude of the word, ‘Exterminator’, so we went for it. This song talks about what women have to put up with as musicians in the hardrock/metal scene. I would love to be able to say that things were getting better quickly, but they’re not, really. We’ll get there! Musically, my brother described this song as ‘a slab of meat’. Hehe! Like a meat sandwich with meat bread all washed down with a nice big glass of meat. Extremely headbangable main riff, and thrashy midsection. And some ‘Beneath The Remains’-era Sepultura influence if you know what you’re listening for.”

“On The Run” - “Our nickname for this one was ‘Arena Rock’. It’s just the kind of song that gives you images of thousands of people fist banging in perfect unison. Kinda makes me think of Accept, or something. Very simple, but very effective. We’ve already played it live a few times, and people dig it!”

“Ashes” - “Most of our songs have a freshness and fun feeling to them, but this is a darker one. Spooky, but rockin’ as always. It’s actually one of the songs that I was planning to use for an Entombed/Dismember style band, but which turned out to work perfectly for Night Viper. Some amazing tom work and fills from Jonna, and Sofie Lee proves again that she can write wonderful memorable melodies over even very unforgiving riffs. One of our new favourites.”

“Going Down” - “I just wanted to write a song that was a total face-punching from start to finish. It’s under 2 minutes, actually. Sofie Lee sounds furious, the solos are screaming. And yes, that is me shouting random shit in the background. Listen carefully!”

“Lady Bad Luck” - “One of the most melodic songs on the album. It has an almost sweetness to it. Check out Johan’s opening solo. Blows my hair back every time! He actually totally forgot to record one of his solos in this song, and since I was staying in Madrid where we recorded for an extra week, I had to come up with something on the spot. This is one of two tracks on which Jonna used a different snare to the rest of the album. Bonus points if you can pick what the other one is.”

“Revenge” - “Now here’s an oldy. Besides a couple of changes, we were playing this song with my first ever band in the early 2000’s. I figured it would stay unrecorded forever, but it just kept coming back into my head. I would find myself humming it at weird times. So, we put it together as a Night Viper song, and now, 15 years or so after I wrote it, it’s finally on a record. Someone told me it sound kinda like Diamond Head. I think it shows I was listening to a lot of Hellacopters at the time.”

“All That Remains” - “Somehow both epic and very danceable! Our nickname for this one was ‘The Disco Song’. As soon as we heard Ruben’s demo for this, we loved it. And I really love Sofie Lee’s lyrics and melodies on this. It’s about women standing together and lifting each other up. When she sings, ‘rise and unite!’ going into the mid-section, it really brings a tear to my eye. As soon as someone suggested this as the last song on the album, we new this had to be it.”

(Photo - Tiberio Sorvillo)