Savage Mania - Demonic Assault Savage Mania

Let's hop into the time machine and travel back 40 years to the 1980s. At that time, a rebellious thrash metal scene was developing in Germany, producing classics across the board. In 1985 KREATOR came up with „Endless Pain“; DESTRUCTION created Infernal Overkill“ and SODOM released their EP „In The Sign Of Evil“. Not much later, TANKARD, HOLY MOSES, EXUMER, VIOLENT FORCE, DARKNESS and many others followed. A new era began, Teutonic thrash metal was born and caused a minor earthquake that still leaves its mark today.

The spirit of that era is authentically reflected in the sound of SAVAGE MANIA, a Swedish band formed in 2019. The quartet is genuine, bursting with energy, and launched their debut album, which can be mentioned in the same breath as the classics named above. Drummer/Vocalist Viktor Suominen and guitar player Jesper Jönsson founded the band, trying to find their own old-school sound through covers. „We met when we were out drinking and a friend of ours introduced us to each other and we started to talk about metal and stuff like that“, remembers Suominen. It did not took long until vocalist/guitarist Oliver Rytkönen joined. „I have known Oliver since we were kids, so we have known each other for a long time. He actually wanted to play Punk, but me and Jesper convinced him during a night at the bar. He has a lot of enegry and his uniqe and agressive vocals enhance that.“ The line-up was completed only few weeks later with bassist Viktor Lundberg, who they met at a local show, played him some demos afterwards, that convinced him to join. „First time we rehearsed all together, everything felt good, like all the pieces have been connected and we all had a good time. We were around 20-24 years old, when we got together.“

All the songs develop naturally during their rehearsals, usually starting with a riff from Oliver. Everyone adds their ideas and luckily they keep their raw energy. „We are heavily inspired by many German Thrash bands, especially the early stuff, so for us it's no suprise to hear people say our sound is similar to that. But we are of course also inspired by other bands, such as early Slayer, Whiplash a.o. But the German bands tend to reign supreme especially in quality. It's the music we listen to and enjoy, so it's natural that we draw alot of inspiration from it“, ads the drummer.

In 2022, their first single was released, called „The Face Of Death“. Not the very first track they wrote, „but we felt that this song was the right one to start with and release.“ In 2023, the ass-kickin‘ „Fasttrack“ followed and in 2025, SAVAGE MANIA self-released „Demonic Assault“, including the previously mentioned singles. The studio-time was an interessting experience. Viktor remembers: „We recorded our album in a skateboard hall, along with our friends from Aftersound who brought a truck with recording equipment. We only had two days to record the entire album, it was quite a hussle, but we made it and it sounds awesome.“

Since then, SAVAGE MANIA played some shows and festivals around their hometown in Bollnäs, but also in Gothenburg, where they performed at The-Abyss-Festival and were announced with: „Pure thrash, pure chaos - this is SAVAGE MANIA“. Nothing to add!

Although Bolnäs only has around 14.000 inhabitants, the town has always had an excellent metal scene. Leading the way in the 90s are TAD MOROSE, later on BLOODBOUND, and, of course, MORGANA LEFAY. Charles Rytkönen was their outstanding singer, Fredrik Lundberg played the bass. Like father, like son – and the fathers are obviously proud. „Yeah, they are. We sometimes ask for some advice, for stuff we are unsure about, just to see thier thoughts about things around the music buisness. We want to do things our own way, but we are happy for their support“, adds Lundberg.