“The humanity is what people look for in art.” Ahead of the release of Canadian black metal band SVNEATR’s third full-length LP, vocalist and guitarist Vitharr Monteith talked to us about the group’s evolution, sound and future.

On ‘Never Return,’ Monteith and company delve even further into the experimentation that defined their previous release, ‘Chinook.’ Discussing these forays into more progressive music, Vitharr shared how they view black metal as a springboard from which they have crafted their own sound— “I think what we’ve done, and how I view black metal in general, is that it’s a really good foundation. That’s what made me gravitate towards black metal in the first place— there’s a lot of room to change it up a little bit and have some of these outside influences.” Continuing on the topic, he emphasised how SVNEATR don’t feel any kind of genre confinement, instead preferring to stay flexible with their sound. This philosophy, together with name-dropped influences such as Opeth, can be heard in the greater role that clean vocals and extended instrumental passages play on the new record. As Vitharr explains, “the clean singing is sort of a challenge for me, so it’s about pushing my own abilities and capabilities. It’s something we’re going to do even more of in the future.”

That’s not to say that ‘Never Return’ is a complete departure from the group’s signature black metal sound, however: by contrast, Vitharr mentioned how, “we’ve sort of levelled things up rather than changing things too much this time.” When asked about the more intense aggression and riff-oriented songwriting that opens the new LP, he hailed the live setting as an influence, saying “we still want those big progressive and atmospheric moments, but the energy of the live show is what we’re always chasing. We really wanted to make an album with songs we can play live and have the crowd into it.” Vitharr also made note of their tour in support of blackened hardcore band Hexis, who’s high energy live shows were a “kick in the ass to keep the momentum going and keep the energy up.”

Moving onto the album’s lyrical content, Vitharr cited the pandemic as a key influence for many of the record’s themes of isolation— “‘Never Return,’ especially, came from that uncertainty around if we would ever perform again.” Several other global events have also inspired thematic elements of the album as Vitharr mentioned conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, local floods and even Elon Musk as influences for tracks such as ‘Mechanical Wolves’ or ‘Reaper of the Universe.’ The band were also unafraid of delving into more personal territory— discussing a particularly memorable passage of ‘And When Comes The Storm,’ Vitharr detailed how “we wrote it about depression, and I think that’s something we all struggle with in some shape or form. For me, it’s about triumph through those moments rather than submitting to the despair of them.”

Stepping away from the record, Vitharr also shared his thoughts on the state of the music industry at large and had some choice words to say about the rise of AI in music-making, describing it as the “big baddie, and for good reason.” Speaking on the subject, he said, “I don’t think it’ll affect things as much as people think. Where music thrives is in the live setting and you can’t really replicate that with AI. There’s no substitute for being there with people playing instruments or singing.” When pressed further on if new technologies could ever affect the group’s own output, Vitharr shot down the idea very quickly, affirming that SVNEATR are not interested in using AI art of lyrics. “I don’t know what the future holds, but in metal, there’s a greater craving for authenticity from the fans. I think anyone who ends up using AI or ghost writers gets a lot of flack for it as it is anyway.”

Speaking, finally, on the future of the band after the release of ‘Never Return,’ Vitharr revealed a number of exciting upcoming projects, including a US tour later this year and some upcoming material to be recorded with the group’s new drummer. With more experimentation and evolution to come, it seems the future is bright for SVNEATR. “I think with these three records, ‘Never Return’ is the natural progression. I’m looking to break from that a little bit— it’s reached this peak for me. I think we’re going to explore and think about how we can change it, but one thing we’ll keep is that energy and that strive for catchiness and memorability.”