Swedish speed metal trio Venthiax have been quietly sharpening their claws in the underground, releasing demos, live recordings, and various early material before their first proper mini-album. Clocking in at just over twenty minutes, their debut captures six focused tracks of raw speed metal energy. Drummer Emil Borg talks to us about why the band chose an ancient Egyptian theme, how being a trio shapes their sound, and what it means to push hard while staying true to the old-school spirit of the scene.
Hi! Rites of Ra is a heavy name to put on your first proper release. Why Ra? What pulled you in that direction?
-We wrote the track Rites of Ra before even thinking about releasing this mini-album. I would say that we liked the title-track very much, so we decided to name the MLP after it. Ancient Egypt as a theme is something that fits us and we are happy with the result!
Twenty-one minutes. No filler. Did you cut material to keep it that tight, or was that the natural length of the strike?
– No, we didn’t cut any material to keep it at that length. The whole process has felt very natural and straightforward. It felt right for us to release this as a mini-album. Rather go with six killer tracks in 21 minutes, than with more tracks for filler!
“Speed Metal Mayhem” feels like the core of the record. Is that track a self-portrait of the band right now?
– That is one way to interpret it and I like it. It is more of a portrait of the genuine passion for the genre within the underground scene and could be seen as a hymn to everything that falls under the speed metal swirl. And what falls into the speed metal swirl category in this example is the bands that keep it heavy, old-school with physical copies with an anti-AI mentality and a true passion to the genre.
Everyone claims the ‘80s. Very few actually sound dangerous. What makes the difference?
– Well, the 80’s is very wide in terms of metal as a genre and subculture and was the time where everything “metal” peaked. So, the difference is the different paths that the metal genre expands with where one path is the dangerous sounding one and where others aren’t.
Being a trio leaves everything exposed. Do you feel that pressure when recording, or does it push you harder?
– I tend to see it as an advantage to be a trio in the sense that you have to extend your musical capacities, in that way it is a pressure to do vocals that are satisfactory to all when your main focus is percussions. That also leaves room for development and new ways of discovering vocal styles and what fits with what. So, it is a pressure but at the same time, if you have a passion and are willing to take on something challenging which makes you develop and go forward – then that is what the goal is.
You dropped a demo, an EP, and two live albums before this mini even landed. Were you testing yourselves, or testing the scene?
– No, it wasn’t really about testing, but more of a way of releasing different variants of the songs so that there are several options of listening to it whether it is very underground and dirty sounding or cleaner, which is where the studio recording comes in when wanting the cleaner sounding version. Having live-recording is also a fun way of remembering a certain gig which makes a moment eternal in a way when released on tape.
Two live albums this early on – that’s confidence. Do you feel more at home on stage than in the studio?
– I, the drummer, personally don’t feel more at home. Don’t get me wrong, I still like the stage but the studio gives time to focus on the details on the percussion part that has to be left aside when playing live at times due to the vocals and drumming cooperating at the same time which makes the focus be more on balancing the playing than working with the details that you get done with in the studio.
Sweden has a strong extreme metal identity already. Do you feel part of that tradition, or are you trying to sidestep it?
– Yes, we do, but it is mostly (not always) the bigger Swedish cities that carry all the metal bands in terms of their origin. Being from the Huskvarna/ Jönköping region knowing that many metal bands aren’t from the area is something that we like to emphasize when we are playing live and meeting other bands. Seeing Swedish metal bands that aren’t from the Stockholm or Gothenburg area is always refreshing knowing that the passion is strong in other parts of Sweden as well and not only something that occurs in greater cities.
DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS doesn’t sign half-hearted bands. What does working with them mean in practical terms for you?
– First of all, it’s an honor working with Dying Victims knowing what sort of dedication the label puts into releasing strong metal bands that could carry whole festivals without anyone in their right mind being content once the festival is over. Seriously, Dying Victims is without a doubt one of the best labels for this sort of music out there. Working with Dying Victims means that the community and discovery of more like-minded maniacs expands, giving the prerequisites to know more bands from the label and therefore eventually play gigs with the bands.
You’ve said you want to be the loudest and most ruthless band in your area. What does that actually look like? Bigger shows? Wrecked gear? Word spreading by mouth alone? Thank you for your time!
– Yeah, we would really like to stand out as the dedicated speed/ thrash metal band that is from our area hopefully having more people discover a part of Sweden that people perhaps aren’t too familiar with in terms of knowing other metal bands that are from the Huskvarna/ Jönköping region. Playing bigger shows in that area definitely applies to that, being booked at gigs in the area opening for other greater bands is really something that we are happy to have been part of so far.
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