A Band Apart: Five Deadly Venoms

by Shane Barnes

The hills of Athens ain’t no Court Street. Windy roads and acres of thick woods choke out any and all evidence of civilization. It’s like Deliverance, but with fewer banjos — and plenty of progressive rock. This sound, unordinary to the Athens scene, is thanks to the cabaret-meets-jazz-meets-classical style of the Dayton-born band Five Deadly Venoms.

The band of four friendly OU students — brothers Ben and Sam Ashman, long-time member Matt Emmons and relative newcomer Jamie Rymers — is surprisingly fussy at times (arguing over the merits of Chipotle, cat monikers). But when they play together, all of that contention becomes static noise.

Practicing in Matt and Ben’s farmhouse rental, the band packs into a cubby stuffed with instruments and swimming with wires that threaten each man’s movement. After a brief discussion about the set-list, the band begins to play. The house, and its plentiful acres, is covered in a dense, varied blanket of sound.

Matt’s synthesizers — he always uses synthesizers on “Horror Resistance Death”— chime in, setting the pace until Sam’s sax enters with a few staccato spurts, and then it all comes together in a fine package wrapped in Yes, Bach and, arguably, the first two songs of Traffic’s 1970 album John Barleycorn Must Die. Ben pounds away a progressive roll on the drums, normally Matt’s domain, providing the all-important backbone of the piece, and Jamie plucks away at his bass, head bobbing up and down like some sort of Muppet. Finally the song crescendos and the band comes to a halt.

It’s readily evident that the group, which began with Matt and Ben — who have been playing together for more than 10 years — is not only one of the most stylistically diverse bands in Athens, but also one of the most talented. This comes as no surprise when their musical history is taken into consideration: each of the members is proficient in at least three instruments, amounting to more than 10 total (cello, sax, clarinet, drums of all types, bass, guitar, organ, piano, etc., plus a few overlaps). Further, they have between them more than 25 years of experience. It is because of this heavily instrumental background that the group is predominantly musically driven, opposed to vocally — and that’s what sets them apart.

Athens’ music scene consists primarily of traditionally mainstream-sounding acts such as the once-folk Russenorsk, punk We March! or metal Skeletonwitch. Five Deadly Venoms, like so many bands in general, defies concrete classification. The Wakeman-esque keyboards and, when utilized, Ben’s calm, measured vocals work with the other elements to set the band apart. Whether it’s classic, jazz, or rock makes no difference. Though each member seems to be set on sounding like one thing or the other, Sam sums it up perfectly. “It’s something everyone can dance to, but also think about.”