Photo by Jenny Segerfelt Stenby

Night Viper is a brand-new band that sounds really, really old. Formed in Gothenburg only last year, the heavy metal obsessives that make up this five-person onslaught boast both an impressive pedigree (current and former members of Miasmal, Church of Misery, and Firebird pad their ranks) and a powerhouse vocalist in Sophie-Lee Johansson.

The vocals tend to make or break this kind of backwards-glancing heavy metal of this variety, and Johansson’s commanding pipes see her alternate a full-throated banshee wail with a low, menacing croon that elevates Night Viper’s already high-quality blend of 80s thrash, speed metal, hot rockin’ riffs and freshly-minted NWOBHM. It’s heady stuff, and sounds like it would absolutely slay live.

Svart Records is primed to release the band’s debut full-length on December 4, and I’m going to go ahead and predict that this is far from the last we’ll hear of Night Viper. Get yourself an earful of “The Hammer” below: