VENOMOUS ECHOES

Tech/Extreme Prog Metal • United States

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Venomous Echoes biography
Based in Kettering, Ohio, Venomous Echoes is one of several extreme metal projects formed by American musician Ben Vanweelden. After performing for years as a noise musician and a bassist in local metal groups like Drowner and Bog of Anguish, Vanweelden founded Venomous Echoes in 2020 as the global coronavirus crisis forced the world into lockdown. With necessity once again the mother of invention, Vanweelden used his home studio as Venomous Echoes' base of operations, learning to mix and master his material, on which he handled all vocals and instruments except for MIDI-programmed drums.

Vanweelden sought to create an unorthodox and psychedelic form of blackened death metal, inspired by the ferocity of Antediluvian and especially Portal, with influence from Leviathan and Cosmic Putrefaction creeping into his later work. A lover of 1970s progressive rock, Vanweelden incorporates its spirit and ambition into his eclectic compositions, further splicing jazz, dark ambient and power electronics. Vanweelden's guitarwork trades between Morbid Angel-esque riffing and a more atmospheric, textural style owing to his days in noise, with subtle nods to his heroes the Mars Volta.

The currently-unsigned band took its first tentative steps with a 2020 demo and the 2021 single Scripture of Hatred - both instrumental - later making a more fully-realised plunge into its now-trademark sound with the 2023 EP Twists of Slurs, on which Vanweelden figuratively and literally found his voice. The EP also launched the conceptual universe which undergirds each sonically distinct release, wherein Vanweelden, taking cues from horror films and H.P. Lovecraft, allegorically transforms his struggles with body dysmorphia and "venomous echoes" of childhood abuse into clashes with malevolent cosmic entities, the author cast as the protagonist on a journey of growth and self-acceptance.

Twists of Slurs garnered positive praise from Starkweather's Rennie Resmini, and the resulting underground buzz prompted Vanweelden to complete the project's first full-length, 2023's Writhing Tomb Amongst the Stars, jointly released independently and through Jaiban� Records. A few months later, the album was championed and distributed by Vargheist Records, whose owner, Justin V�lus, encouraged Vanweelden to send his work to the progressive-minded I, Voidhanger Records. The result was an equally enthusiastic endorsement, leading them to release Vanweelden's next two LPs: 2024's Split For...Based in Kettering, Ohio, Venomous Echoes is one of several extreme metal projects formed by American musician Ben Vanweelden. After performing for years as a noise musician and a bassist in local metal groups like Drowner and Bog of Anguish, Vanweelden founded Venomous Echoes in 2020 as the global coronavirus crisis forced the world into lockdown. With necessity once again the mother of invention, Vanweelden used his home studio as Venomous Echoes' base of operations, learning to mix and master his material, on which he handled all vocals and instruments except for MIDI-programmed drums.

Vanweelden sought to create an unorthodox and psychedelic form of blackened death metal, inspired by the ferocity of Antediluvian and especially Portal, with influence from Leviathan and Cosmic Putrefaction creeping into his later work. A lover of 1970s progressive rock, Vanweelden incorporates its spirit and ambition into his eclectic compositions, further splicing jazz, dark ambient and power electronics. Vanweelden's guitarwork trades between Morbid Angel-esque riffing and a more atmospheric, textural style owing to his days in noise, with subtle nods to his heroes the Mars Volta.

The currently-unsigned band took its first tentative steps with a 2020 demo and the 2021 single Scripture of Hatred - both instrumental - later making a more fully-realised plunge into its now-trademark sound with the 2023 EP Twists of Slurs, on which Vanweelden figuratively and literally found his voice. The EP also launched the conceptual universe which undergirds each sonically distinct release, wherein Vanweelden, taking cues from horror films and H.P. Lovecraft, allegorically transforms his struggles with body dysmorphia and "venomous echoes" of childhood abuse into clashes with malevolent cosmic entities, the author cast as the protagonist on a journey of growth and self-acceptance.

Twists of Slurs garnered positive praise from Starkweather's Rennie Resmini, and the resulting underground buzz prompted Vanweelden to complete the project's first full-length, 2023's Writhing Tomb Amongst the Stars, jointly released independently and through Jaiban� Records. A few months later, the album was championed and distributed by Vargheist Records, whose owner, Justin V�lus, encouraged Vanweelden to send his work to the progressive-minded I, Voidhanger Records. The result was an equally enthusiastic endorsement, leading them to release Vanweelden's next two LPs: 2024's Split Formations and Infinite Mania and 2025's Dysmor.

Aside from Portal, Venomous Echoes will also be of interest to fans of Blut aus Nord, Sk�phe, Wormlust, Veilburner, An Isolated Mind and - if Resmini is to be believed - early Strapping Young Lad.

- Gordy, April 2025read more