When the vicious new Vesen album ‘This Time It’s Personal’ had finished kicking me about the room like a soggy football I was rather suprised at how keen I was to interview them, and so Ave Noctum went out and bagged a little time with guitarist/ vocalist Ronny Østli who lent his time, thought and humor to us as we talked anger, being comfortable with demons and a wake up call to promoters out there.

AN: Hello Vesen, and Ronny Østli thanks for taking the time to do an interview with Ave Noctum. I hope things are good in the Vesen camp and you are still pleased with the destruction your latest superb album is causing.

Ronny. Thank you for the great review. Well, as you and many others seem to enjoy the album I’m not sure how much destruction we cause. So we’re not as pleased as we could be. No seriously, we’re very satisfied with the result and when the reviews are great we know we haven’t wasted our time. But of course, we are yet to see if people actually buy the record.

AN: I know its now four albums in for you, but I hope you wouldn’t mind filling in a little history as I’m sure ‘This Time Its Personal’ is going to get you a lot of new fans: How did you come together and decide that the world needed your particular brand of darkness and spite.

Ronny: I’m pretty sure many believe This time it’s personal is our debut album. We had our first rehersal in 1999, and we were really fresh on our instruments. After a decade with great black metal and classic releases the quality and excitement had already stepped up a year or two. But still we thought the world needed another unskilled band and underproduced release. I’m speaking about our first demo, Ilddåp, released after a few rehersals. We did some shows, went through some line-up changes and released more demos. In 2005 we released our first album Ugly. At this point we had evolved the black/thrash style we’ve built our further career on, and some of the songs are still in our live set. We’re not huge fans of symphonic power metal, so why the style is ugly and dark was nothing we decided. It came natural! The years went by and so far this has resulted in four albums and the three of us performing this ugliness today have been in the band since the start.

AN: Is the band a group with a leader when it comes to writing and recording or is this a pot that everyone pours their own dark ideas into and you just see what comes out?

Ronny: A new Vesen album is a result of the three of us together. We all write music and the songs are completed in the rehearsal room. On one side we all know what Vesen shall sound like, but yeah, we for sure dare to present some untraditional ideas for each other. For the recording process our drummer Dag Olav has the producer role, but we all have our tasks to keep the band running besides playing the instruments. In the end it’s the final result that counts, and then it doesn’t matter who does what, as long as it’s done by the members of Vesen!

AN: I’ve seen you mention in interviews that for example Aura Noir were a kind of influence, but I hear a good bit of punk in the music too. Do you consider Vesen to be part of the blackthrash genre or more loosely simply part of thrash as a whole and where does the punk influence come from? On songs like the title track it has that Mongo Ninja balance of punk and metal but other songs vary it considerably to excellent effect.

Ronny. When we first entered the record market and started doing interviews Aura Noir was the biggest of only a few black/thrash acts and, it was easy to name them to describe our music. And of course, we loved the band and had very much in common. Even today I can understand the link, but I think we have moved a bit away from straight forward black/thrash. One reason is a result of the last question, we like to try some new ideas. But of course we listen to music and pick up some new influences. I’m pretty sure the punk influence you refer to is Motörhead. Again nothing we planned. We just tried to add some rock’n roll and it worked out. And as you say, it’s an excellent effect.

AN: Would you expand on the lyrical content on this album and with Vesen as a whole? I mean when you hear the fury and spite that comes from a brilliant song like ‘Billions’ or the violence in ‘Chained And Bled’ there seems to be a thick streak of nihilism and negativity but I could find few if any of the religious overtones of black metal and instead found myself hearing more down to earth concerns. Is that right or did the absence of a lyric sheet mean I misunderstood?

Ronny: The album title reflects all the lyrics on the album. It’s no concept album, but each track has some very personal words. It could be anti-religious, nihilism, negativity as well as family issues or topics from our daily lives. I’m glad the lyrics gave a meaning to you, but they can mean something else to another person. However, you will find no traditional metal lyrics on this album. We have done that before, but this time was natural to go personal. Awkward? Maybe. But why not. If you want traditional metal lyrics there are plenty of new albums out there waitin’ for ya!

AN: How did the band name Vesen cone about? I gather it is a word that means ‘being’ in a spiritual way. It seems initially an odd choice for such a dark band.

Ronny: This «being» is abstract though and can be darker than anything! We liked the idea of having a bandname in Norwegian, and Vesen came up quickly. I don’t remember if we had more alternatives, but I guess we agreed on the name without any bigger discussions. I’m proud of the name. I think it’s hard to think of any new good names for a metal band with five letters. Norwegian or English. Look at the new metal core bands, I read about a band recently having six words in their bandname!

AN: Is this anger a way of riding yourselves of demons, or is there just so much to be disgusted at in the world that you find nothing else that you can express? Is it possible to retain a sense of humor when faced with so much to scream at?

Ronny: Accept the demons. Heal some and laugh at the rest! Some demons can be healed written about, but some are there to stay. None of the members of Vesen are bombs close to explode. But without the band – who knows? For sure we get rid of much energy performing these songs.

AN: There is a fascinating and excellent song called ‘Fear Of Skin’ which even though the album is already so varied seems to stand out with its rhythmic structure and also has an atmosphere that while sounding less feral than others has an even darker tone. Where did this song come from? It seems pretty self destructive in nature to an outsider.

Ronny: Yeah, where did it come from? It has one idea that builds it all, and it was at an early stage clear that this had to be written with a certain atmosphere. It was the last song finished on the album and many hours was spent in the studio to finalize it. It for sure differs from the other tunes and again I’m glad it gives you a story.

AN: Something I have always wondered about intense and angry albums; how do you come down after recording something like ‘This Time It’s Personal’?

Ronny: To immediately write new material and think forward. The recording session are very intense and demand all our energy to push us to the limits. Leaving the studio you may feel a bit fucked up. Then it’s cure to pick up the guitar and look for new ideas. In a way you keep on where you left in the studio, but the tempo and the setting is more laidback and comfortable.

AN: Will we get to see you out on the road any time soon? Any thing you’d like to add?

Ronny: We are very keen on playing live, and especially outside Norway. At the moment we have nothing confirmed. If any promoters out there would love to have Vesen on their bill, please feel free to get in touch. Thank you very much for the interview.

Thanks again to Ronny Østli for the interview, and seriously if you want to get a bad day out of your system or just want to thrash like a fucker then get off your arse and buy Vesen’s new album ‘This Time Its Personal’. And while you’re at it, fingers crossed  get to see them live.

 Interview by Gizmo.