Interview with VENENUM

by Vpower

The Band: Venenum

Country: Germany

http://www.munenev.com/

VENENUM is a German death metal act that debuted with the EP Venenum in 2011. After that a long wait until their first full-length that will be out on Mach 17^th  through    Sepulchral Voice Records. The wait is over and if you like death metal you won’t be disappointed.

Venenum started back in 2008 and you released your first recording in 2011, the Ep Venenum. Why so many years between that ep and your new album "Trance of Death"?

One of the main reasons was the distance in between us. I was living in Austria until a year ago and we weren’t able to rehearse as a full band on a frequent base. It was hard to make progress and it took a long time for the album to take shape. Then our old guitarist left the band which didn’t make things easier and we had to continue as a three-piece for some time until we found a new one.

What has changed, if something, since that 2011 till now?

A lot of things have changed since the release of our mini-album. We got a new guitarist who is contributing a lot to the band and I moved to Germany a little bit over a year ago. Since then things are going very well.

Your Ep was much acclaimed by fans, but those fans have been waiting and starving a long time for your new album. Now the wait is over and I believe those fans will be more than satisfied with "Trance of Death"

We put a lot of time and effort in this record and are very proud of the result. The new album is quite a step forward compared to our first release but it has definitely been a natural progression though it might seem like a bigger change for the listener who hasn’t got the insight on the time in between the records. 

How much of that gap of 5 years you have dedicated to compose the new album and how much to watch reality shows on tv :), hang out around or whatever?

We have spent all the time and opportunities available to us on writing this album.

Who are the guys in charge of the composition tasks inside the band?

We are all involved in the songwriting and work on the material together as a band.

"Trance Of Death" will be released on March 17th, will you publish any single, lyric video, etc before that date?

There will be a song or two available to listen to online before the release date.

"Trance Of Death" sets Venenum as one of the Death Metal bands of the moment, dark, intense and full of variety

Atmosphere and diversity is very important to us and we try to create different moods with our music. This album definitely doesn’t lack of intensity or variety.

What bands have influenced your sound?

We are influenced by a lot of different genres and bands, too many to list.

Maybe now it's time for Venenum to influence other bands in the future...

That’s not for us to say.

It seems obvious that your lyrics much have a dark approach, nothing about heroes, dragons of butterflies flying in the grassland..., but can you detail us a little more their meaning?

Most of the lyrics on this album are based on the music, so we tried to put the atmosphere of those songs into words. The B-side has more of a concept to it which represents a kind of transition through different mental and physical states. How to interpret the lyrics or the meaning of the album is totally up to you. We prefer to encourage the listeners’ imagination instead of interfering with it.

I would like to remark that you are a death metal band, but opened to new horizons, that's why I said you could influence new bands in the future. For example, we find very cool the use of keyboards, or the heavy and doom parts we can find in the middle

We don’t like to limit ourselves and are open to new and different things. Of course you have to stay authentic and should not force yourself to change but to suppress progression is also bad. Stagnation is the worst thing that can happen to an artist.

Your trilogy Trance of Death explains very well that feeling, occult metal flowing throughout the songs, mixed with your death metal attack, it sounds really fresh

Most of the material on the B-side is relatively new compared to the rest of the album and stands out in the sense of arrangement and complexity. We are trying to push the boundaries on the title track and each part takes the music to another level.

Also, this kind of songs make us think that Venenum might be a very dinamic act, with a constant evolution in their style, is that your DNA?

It is something that comes natural to us and has probably also to do with the music that we prefer to listen to. Like I said before, we want our music to be dynamic and diverse and we are not afraid to explore something new and different.

Being a band from Germany, you have it all to do many gigs around and increase your popularity as hell. Any dates already?

We have a gig in Oberhausen on March 18th and are going on a European tour together with Reveal from Sweden in April.

And last, just to stop the legions growing anxious... we won't have to wait another six years to get your second album, right?

We are very much looking forward to work on new material so I hope it won’t take us so long the next time.