SOURCE – Samsara arrives three years after your debut album in 2016. How have you expanded and developed your sound since that album? Was there anything you particular musical element or characteristic you wanted to incorporate into the new full-length?
Ash Gray (guitar) – New record Venom Prison writes needs to be a progression or new musical elements, we never wanted to write the same record twice so going into Samsara we knew it had to be more musically advanced from Animus, all round band progression. We introduced Venom Prison’s more technical side, melodic touches and more aggression.
Every record for me just needs to be fresh, if we wrote the same record again and again it wouldn’t only bore fans but also the band itself.
SOURCE – Musically, the sound of Samsara comes straight out of the playbook for metal extreme and it is done wonderfully well. Are there any particular bands or albums that had a direct influence on the sound of your band?
Ash Gray (guitar) – Not really if I’m honest, we as a band take in a lot of musical influences from various artists and bands but like mentioned previously Samsara had to be more.
SOURCE – Are you the type of band that comes to the studio with a lot of extra material to choose from, or do you generally only write the number of songs you’ll need for an album?
Ash Gray (guitar) – For sure, when writing an album you always have those songs that don’t quite make it to the record and 99% of the time it’s nothing to do with the songs even being bad, it’s mainly finding a set of songs that sit next to each other on a record well and play through without songs clashing or similar aspects from previous songs on the record. That for me is what makes a good record. I’m sure Samsara had something ridiculous like 17 or 18 songs before hitting the studio. Your first set of songs for a record will never be perfect so you have to graft a little bit more to ensure you’re getting the best quality on a record.
SOURCE – What are your thoughts on streaming services like Spotify and Pandora?
Ash Gray (guitar) – I want to dislike it because that’s the general opinion to have on these services but we are in that day and age where we need people to stream our records, record plays etc can affect a lot of aspect to a band progressing, a lot of tours are based on number which I can see why some would say it’s unfair but if a band is about to do a headline tour they need to make sure their supports are helping towards the package just as much as the headline band. So yeah streaming our record on Spotify is a massive help believe it or not.
SOURCE – Have you experienced any differences in how the foreign press treats you and the band compared to how native press and media treats and writes about you?
Ash Gray (guitar) – Not really to be honest, we generally have good press around the world which is incredible for us and very grateful. The aim is to make Venom Prison a worldwide band and not just a UK band so really we just need press to keep Venom Prison in the eye of the public so people can listen to our music and discover our band.
SOURCE – Do you think people are more likely to ‘get’ the band if they see you live or hear you on record?
Ash Gray (guitar) – I think there will always be a difference, the record shows aggression and sounds aggressive but live you get to experience that moment of seeing 45 mins back to back and the full production which does bring it to life in my personal opinion.
SOURCE – Can you introduce us to your band members and tell us whether we should know them from other bands or projects. Do they have other activities at this moment in time?
Ash Gray (guitar) – So myself (Ash) I use to play in a hardcore band called Brutality Will Prevail Met Larissa who played in Wolf Down at the time then we formed Venom Prison.
Ben and Mike, Larissa knew through Wolf Down touring with their band at the time True Valiance, I knew of Ben and Mike prior to Venom Prison but we properly met through Venom Prison.
Joe our drummer I know he has or is playing in a couple of other bands at the moment, Human Error being one of them but I believe Venom Prison is his first touring band he’s been in so that’s cool to be able to see him progress and gain experience through touring.
SOURCE – What future plans have you got in store as a band?
Ash Gray (guitar) – Well write a record, I would say tour but isn’t exactly the best time with the Corona Virus preventing us from touring but we can keep busy at home with other tasks. So in future… album 3, tour, see new places, see familiar places and progress as a band and people.
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