ZEPTER (Heavy Metal – Austria 🇦🇹) – Release “Slasher on the Highway” official lyric video – Taken from their self-titled debut album – Due Out on February 20, 2026 via High Roller Records #zepter #heavymetal

“Slasher on the Highway” is taken from ZEPTER’s self-titled 2026 debut album.
Out on High Roller Records. Available at https://www.hrrecords.de/ZEPTER

Zepter are a new traditional heavy metal band from Austria. The project started in January 2024. A few months later, an EP called »Inferno« was issued on cassette in a limited edition of 100 copies. (vinyl + CD followed shortly after as well).

“We have been knowing each other for years and have played together in other bands,” explains guitarist/vocalist Lukas about the formation of Zepter. “One day, the idea to form a traditional heavy metal band came up. And this is exactly what we did. We had our first rehearsal in January 2024 and the EP was published in April the same year. Everything happened really quick.”

HRR will release Zepter’s self-titled debut album, which Lukas describes as “authentic heavy metal of the old school, with lots of catchy hooks and tasty twin-guitar harmony parts”. According to him, “it should come across like a mixture of Thin Lizzy and UFO of the Schenker era, combined with elements of early speed metal by the likes of Acid and Slayer, as if they had been already around in 1978.”

With songs like “Exterminator”, Zepter’s music transports quite a strong NWOBHM vibe, with hints of Trespass and Tygers Of Pan Tang, first and foremost. “That’s true,” says the band’s guitarist and vocalist, “for this project the NWOBHM is a big inspiration. But it’s not the only one. We are all listening to different stuff, from blackended death metal to prog, post-punk and film music. Our smallest common nominator is the NWOBHM though. And that’s where Zepter comes in. Some specific NWOBHM bands which have inspired us are early Maiden (everything from »The Soundhouse Tapes« up until »Killers«), Saxon, Witchfinder General, Dark Star, Raven, Saracen, Angel Witch and Satan.”

T L:
01 Slasher on the Highway
02 Everlasting
03 The Slayer
04 Hit the Streets
05 The Exterminator
06 Dark Angels
07 Lonely Night (Screem Cover)
08 The Lords

:
Tobias Hochwagen – Bass
Stefan Bolda – Guitar
Alex Nemeth – Drums & Vocals (on “Lonely Night”)
Lukas Götzenberger – Guitar, Vocals, Synths

Band Links:

You can follow the band on Instagram