Interview with Nir Beer of Speedrush

In the non-stop world of thrash metal, where speed and intensity dominate, few bands manage to capture the spirit of the genre like Speedrush. Coming from the live metal scene of Athens, the
Speedrush have been exploring the boundaries of sound since 2005, delivering raw, relentless energy that captivates fans worldwide. Following the release of their explosive second album, Division Mortality, their sound has reached new heights – faster, heavier, and with a melodic approach that reinforces their signature thrash style. I had the opportunity to meet with the band to discuss their journey, the challenges of creating Division Mortality and the road ahead. Join us for an authentic, candid conversation with the driving force behind Speedrush's sonic assault.

Greetings, I'm Vangelis Farris from Metalourgio and I want to thank you for your time. To begin with, I would like you to tell us a few things about yourself so that our readers can get to know you even better.

Good evening from us too, Vangelis, and thank you for your time! In short, we are an Athenian band that has been playing traditional speed/thrash metal since XNUMX, we just released our second album, with a lot of effort since we are almost all of an age where we have children, working outside of Athens, etc. but with a lot of work, love for what we do and stubbornness...somehow we made it!

How did the name “Speedrush” came about and how does it reflect the essence of your music?

Our name means the rush of speed and when we started the band 20 years ago, it seemed cool as a name! Hahaha! Since we like fast music, we think it suits us.

What were some of the key influences, both musically and personally, that shaped your sound?

All of us in the band are fans of the traditional speed and thrash sound of the 80s and 90s, indicatively some of our influences are Razor, Hallows Eve, Destruction, Kreator, Sodom, Judas Priest, Coroner, Slayer, Megadeth, Helloween of the first 2 , Savage Grace etc., these are the things we grew up with and this is the sound we serve.

Thrash metal has evolved a lot in recent years. How do you think that Speedrush join the modern thrash scene?

I wouldn't say that thrash as a genre has evolved much, but it has certainly raised the level, both domestically and globally, both compositionally and executionally. Likewise, we have matured a lot compositionally since our first record, at least for us the difference is chaotic!

Your music is known for its aggression and energy which produces. Can you describe to us the composition process of your songs?

Usually someone has a basic idea/some basic riffs and we either get together and work on it together, or they present us with a piece as is and from there we make corrections together until we reach a result that we like.

How do you balance speed, aggression and melody inyour pieces? Do you think there is some secret to achieve this combination?

No, we don't think there is any secret. Look speed is a big part of us synthetically. It's what we like as fans, fast metal music. Personally (with some exceptions, of course), I can't listen to doom or stoner, for example, I'm bored, I want speed. But speed alone doesn't say anything, it must be accompanied by interesting topics to keep the interest (both ours and our listeners's).

Lyrically, what themes or ideas drive Speedrush's songs?

Whatever strikes us at the time the lyrics are written. We have lyrics about social issues and everyday life (Into the Abyss, Ride with Death, Blood Legacy etc.), about the role of heavy metal in our everyday life (Speedrush, Sons of Thunder, Iron Wisdom), but also some more "irrelevant" ones but which stick with the music such as Malevolent Torture which talks about medieval torture and Beyond the Vortex which deals with stories of mysteriously disappearing planes and ships.

How does your music address timeless social issues?

"Social issues" is a very general umbrella and includes dozens of topics, which, however, do not leave us indifferent, so we refer to them, sometimes in a caustic and ironic way, sometimes with a dose of melancholy or even despair, depending on how shitty things we have done as mankind! Hahaha!

When you create a new record, how do you know a track is ready? Do you have any rituals or practices in the studio?

No, we don't have a "ritual", we work on a piece until we bring it to a level and a form that satisfies us as composers and as listeners.

Your record Endless War has been praised for its raw energy. Should we expect the same for your new work "Division Mortality"?

The energy is definitely still there, not to mention multiple times. The difference with Endless War is that Division Mortality is more mature, more worked, yet still fast and menacing. Imagine if Endless War was a raw knife. Division Mortality is therefore more weighted, with a sharper blade and therefore more deadly! It's music by metalheads for metalheads!

Which track do you think represents or will represent the “ultimate Speedrush song” and why?

I'm between the self-titled Speedrush from our first record and Ride with Death from the current one. The first is intertwined with our history, it is one of the first tracks we have written and it is experiential for us, we have connected it to many scenes, while the second has a very nice flow, it is one of the strongest tracks we have written and one of my Division Mortality favorites.

Can you share any memorable or difficult moments from recording Division Mortality?

In general, our recordings took years, they were done in different studios, from home studios to professional studios, personally I will never forget the final mixes and masterings done in Matrix studio by Giannis Petrogiannis who helped us a lot, and listening to the final files I could not I believe that this "Odyssey" that lasted years on end, was coming to an end!

Speedrush have a reputation for intense live shows. How do you prepare for a live performance?

We're slapping each other to get the energy up – just kidding, aside from our rehearsals (of course), before a show we like to chill with friends with some beers outside the venue, nothing special.

What has been the craziest or most memorable experience from a Speedrush show so far?

A highlight for me was our performance in Malta in 2017 at a mostly death metal festival, and while a series of unfortunate events had stressed us out to an awful degree, once we got on stage the stress melted away and we played like there was no tomorrow, to the extent that while until then the DJ between the bands was playing death metal, from our appearance until the end he was playing non-stop thrash! I guess we did something right...

How do you feel about your fan base? Have they influenced your musical direction in any way?

I wouldn't say that our fans have influenced our musical direction in any way, but fortunately through our involvement in music we have met wonderful people from different corners of the world!

With the rise of artificial intelligence in music production andsongwriting, what are your thoughts on its impact of creativity and authenticity in the metal scene? Do you see it as a tool or as a threat?

We don't see it as a threat exactly, we understand its instrumentalization, but it is very far from our philosophy. It is supposed that art as a whole is a transcendence of the everyday life of man, a form of expression and an escape route from banality, what is the value of art without these elements? A perfect image is still a perfect image, but it has a different value if it is created by a human hand, it creates a different impression that the creator managed to produce such harmony, than if it is the creation of a software, it takes away the magic like that. I refer to "image" because that's the form of AI we've been exposed to for now, but the same (perhaps more blatantly) applies to creating music.

In today's climate of heightened political correctness, how do you walk the line between artistic expression and societal expectations in your lyrics?

We haven't faced any problem at the moment, not that we have particularly provocative lyrics, we are all more or less politicized in our everyday life, but we don't find a reason to project it through our band. The golden rule should be "don't worry so much about political correctness, just try not to be a jerk!"

As metal has evolved, how do you see its identity shifting from its roots? Are there aspects of the original metal ethos that you feel are in danger of being lost in today's music landscape?

Look, the level is constantly rising, sonically and compositionally. It has always been the goal of most metal bands since their birth to evolve and make their work (be it a demo or a full length album) sound as professional as possible. From a point on, the spontaneity, the toughness, the "whimsiness" we say, which I personally consider important elements in metal, is lost a bit, I find it difficult to connect with a record if it sounds "clinically" clean and perfect. On the other hand, to hear a band in 2024 and to sound like a demo from 1984 and that sounds "made up" to me to tell the truth.

How do you ensure that your music resonates with the diverse voices of your generation, especially to those who feel marginalized?

No one can guarantee you that your music will resonate, we are honest with ourselves and express ourselves musically as we have in mind, we believe that there are enough people who can identify with our lyrics and music.

How do you envision the evolution of Thrash and Speed ​​Metal in the coming years, especially in relation to technological developments and social changes?

Without wanting to sound pessimistic, I don't exactly see an evolution in speed and thrash metal, in fact I don't think it needs any change or evolution. As a genre it has been defined for years, with little glimpses of evolution (eg Vektor). How to reinvent the wheel anymore in such a genre, you don't need to. What is missing is that to be played WELL. AUTHENTICALLY. Generally in metal (and in thrash as a consequence) I believe that two things are missing a lot these days, the first is personality, for a band to have a personal sound and style, to stand out from the rest. A VERY difficult thing. The second thing missing is the GOOD songs. Something that stays with you, humming it inside you for hours. Something that has a flow. In this we focused on avoiding as much as possible the trivial "verse-chorus-verse-chorus-solo-chorus-end" setup, and spent more time on the flow of each track, what will suit it, what we want to experiment with, added extra riffs, acoustic passages, polyphonic parts, in general we searched enough to get a result that satisfies us, we are now at an age where we are demanding from our hearings and from ourselves!

What's next for Speedrush? Do you have plans for any tours or collaborations in the near future?

We aim to play live as much as possible to promote Division Mortality and in fact the first show will be announced very soon!

Thank you very much for your time, Do you have anything final to say to Metalourgio readers?

We thank you for your time and the constant support of Metalourgio, I hope you enjoy our new album and we will see you soon up and down the board!

The interview was conducted by Vangelis Farris