Venom Prison: "We weren't afraid of trying new things"

Three albums deep, and Welsh metallers Venom Prison are really hitting their stride. With their new full-length 'Erebos' - which shares a name with the Greek god of darkness, a child of Chaos, 'FYI' - they've pulled out all the stops for a blistering level up. Guitarist Ash Gray fills us in.

Hello Ash! What are you up to today?
I am keeping busy, getting ready for the album campaign and sorting a bunch of stuff behind the scenes for the band.

You've had an eventful couple of years, with postponed live shows, new music and a new record deal - how have you found it all? Are you in a good place?
It's been very constant if I'm honest. With all live shows being postponed, it was time to figure out what this band was going to do for the time being and make sure we stay active and creative and not just sit on this band. I'd say we and myself are in a good place at the moment, having our new album 'Erebos' on the horizon and future plans/creatives. We have a clear indication of what we are heading for, feeling confident that people will be into everything.

At what point did you start working on the new album, was it before the pandemic kicked off? What was your headspace like going into it?
Myself and Ben [Thomas] are always writing, so it's usually what song or songs kick start the idea for a record off. We had just come out of the studio in December 2019 after rerecording 'Primeval' - we added two new songs on that release - that would be the start of the pool of new songs we started collecting. Having more time for this record really helped us reflect and make the right decisions. Headspace was certainly different, a lot more critical, figuring out how 'Erebos' would sound was difficult; we didn't want to create a version two of previous records, each Venom Prison record we try to approach differently and give each album its own character and personality. Once we found a clear idea, we just ran with it.

Were there any topics you especially wanted to tackle with the release or any new tricks you wanted to try? What were your initial goals?
The goal really was to create our most progressed record to date and understand what we as a band could do to take those steps forward without affecting the integrity of the band and making sure we maintained our roots. We wanted bigger, catchier, more structured songwriting, which I feel we achieved but adding all these additional layers such as synths, electronics, keys, strings, clean vocals, and just giving Venom Prison much more depth overall. We didn't want to create the same record again, so carefully reflecting on each song off 'Erebos' and making sure it is truly how Venom Prison should be taking steps forward.

How did those first ideas and aims evolve once the record started coming together?
Usually, when we start pre-production, we write a flood of songs. I think myself and Ben got to 20 songs between us. Some songs were what I called 'Animus' or 'Samsara' Version 2, and they just weren't the songs for 'Erebos'. We kept going until we got to 'Judges Of The Underworld', which was the first song written, and once it carved a path for it to be a clear indication overall how we wanted 'Erebos' to sound, we just went from there - and making sure that each song of the record felt like it could be a single, we weren't afraid of trying new things.

Which of the album's songs have you been most excited for fans to hear?
I honestly couldn't say, as when writing records, I see them as full play-throughs. We try to make a record a full cycle with each song leading into one another, so the context of the record shines when it's played in its entirety. We honestly took so much time with each song, and reflecting on the pool of songs we had on the side as well, to make sure nothing was overlooked. They all felt like singles. During the process, we had our ten songs in a folder ready which we believed to be 'Erebos' songs; when revisiting the pool of pre-produced songs, we noticed one or two that were, in fact, stronger and more "'Erebos'". We'd switch songs out in the folder, work on them more and just come to the point where a full play-through of whatever songs were picked would all be its own character and personality.

Where would you like this album to take you?
I try not to get caught up in "oh, I want this to be very successful" - I just want it to be a progression, growth, and something new for the band and listeners. I believe 'Erebos' will start to open the door to the band's more creative side, and already we have plans for what we'd like to do in the future in terms of creating, so as a whole, it's made the band more creatively-minded. P

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Venom Prison: "We weren't afraid of trying new things"

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