The Standard: Svneater on the Origins of their Name, their Local Scene and New Album ‘Never Return’

Born out of both a personal and collective uncertainty, Never Return, the third album from Vancouver progressive death/black metal warriors Svneater follows their acclaimed 2021 album Chinook and finds the band exploring a period in time which has seen climate emergency, a global pandemic and the kind of worldwide upheaval which most of us will have never witnessed before.

All of this unease has been channelled by the band into the harsh, progressive tones of their new album and, for the latest in our series The Standard, V13 sat down with guitarist and vocalist Vitharr Monteith and guitarist James Readman to have them talk more about the album.

For those not familiar with SVNEATR can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?

Vitharr Monteith (guitars and vocals): “In the simplest terms, we are a black metal band local to Vancouver, Canada. That said, I find it hard to put labels on what we do because we are influenced by all sorts of music and we allow ourselves to explore different sounds while keeping that dark atmosphere intact. There’s death metal in there, 80s speed metal, some progressive elements, whatever serves the song.”

Tell us about your upcoming album, Never Return, what was your experience of making it like? What went on behind the scenes?

James Readman (guitars): “Never Return was interesting to make given the deadline we had set ourselves. We wanted to produce an entirely new, original album after signing with Prosthetic, so the writing process ended up a fair bit shorter than it was with Chinook. We definitely didn’t rush, as we still ended up taking a bit longer than we’d originally aimed for, but it led to some really cool spontaneous decisions made on the record.”

Vitharr: “We started recording with drums in August 2021 and we were continuing to write and record all the way up until January/February of 2023. Then due to scheduling and whatnot we had to wait a year to release it. I do think it was worth it though, as mentally taxing as it was to have to sit on it. The extra time allowed us to hone in, make necessary edits and write accompanying parts with synths, contrabass/cello and additional vocal lines.”

What is the story behind the name of the new record?

Vitharr: “Never Return is about the anxieties of the time period during which it was written. During the Covid pandemic, I genuinely didn’t know if we would ever play again. The record was written, in some ways, as a potential final statement. It’s about failing dreams, despair and living in a cold world. That said, what Never Return represents to me is continuing onward out of spite for whatever fate may or may not throw at you.”

How did you link up with Prosthetic for this release and what about them was attractive enough to make you sign?

Vitharr: “Prosthetic reached out to us shortly after the release of Chinook in 2021. I think we were curious about what having a team behind us could help us achieve. Prosthetic has released some great records over the years that we hold in high regard so we’re pretty confident in this partnership.”

James: “Chinook was a relatively expensive venture out of pocket, so to get any funding for the recording process was a step up for us. We had actually joked about sending music to different labels while we were finishing Chinook, one of which being Prosthetic, thinking that we wouldn’t get anywhere with such a well-known label. I remember specifically mentioning Prosthetic in that conversation since some bands I really like had been or were currently signed with them. Little did we know!”

Which do you enjoy the most: writing, recording, practising, or playing live?

Vitharr: “Playing live is the best. I love the end result of practising/writing/recording and hearing songs/albums come together but during that process, it can become overwhelming. I’m still not entirely sure how we’ve done 3 records without some disaster fucking the whole thing up haha. When you’re playing live, you can just become lost in the moment. It’s a very grounding and spiritual experience as a performer.”

James: “I like writing and playing live the most. Improvisation is my favourite thing, so I like any situation where I can do that.”

Politics and Music. Yay, Nay or What the Hay?

Vitharr: “Absolutely. Art and politics are intrinsically linked and always have been.”

James: “Political music is fine, I think we’re pretty politically charged. Break the establishment, destroy corporate capitalism.”

Svneater ‘Never Return’ Album Artwork

What do you think of the current state of the genre you play in?

Vitharr: “I think there’s room for some growth/innovation. Metal in general right now is going through a nostalgic phase and I hope that more bands will look at breaking free of that. There are great records that fit neatly into black metal genre boxes of course but variety is needed.”

James: “I think current black metal and its various crossover genres are amazing. There’s never been more diversity, so there’s always cool new projects to find out about.”

What is the music scene like where you’re based?

Vitharr: “Lots of death metal. Lots of deathcore. Lots of great bands though the black metal scene is a bit small when it comes to local shows.”

James: “Vancouver = death metal. But it’s good, the community is pretty tight. It’s been rough for small venues though. Support your local metal scene. Shout out to Bully’s.

Do you have any touring plans in support of the new recording?

James: “Definitely big touring plans. The USA is planned for early fall this year and we’re working on Europe for next year. Shawn (Hillman, bass) is our mastermind for a lot of the tour planning.”

What are some of the lesser-known fun facts about the group that people might be surprised to hear?

Vitharr: “Well the name, SVNEATR has a history to it. We started out being “Suneater” back in 2014. I kid you not, the Job for a Cowboy album called Suneater was announced just 2 weeks after we chose our name. So we talked and changed it to “Svneater” after the Lvcifyre album. It was the drummer at the time who suggested dropping the second “E”.

And then it stuck. Since then, people have had trouble reading the name, and we’ve been called everything from swan-eater to seven-eater, sweater and sventar. I maintain that we were the original Suneater and will die on that hill.”

James: “I’m English so I have a funny accent. Shawn is a classical musician and plays something like 4 instruments. I love playing jazz. Most of our songs have very stupid working titles until Brendan writes lyrics (eg. “Zuccs of Hazard”).”

Do you have anything you’d like to tell any fans reading right now?

Vitharr: “Stick with it, whatever “it” is for you. Stay bitter at the world and live your dreams out of spite.”

James: “Thanks for all of the support we’ve had and go check out the new record. We’re really proud of this one and we hope everyone enjoys it!”

Svneater’s new album, Never Return, is out now through Prosthetic Records and you can pick up your copy here.