The British metal band Venom from New Castle, perhaps, refers to the type of teams that have gained worldwide popularity only in a very narrow circle of fans of heavy music. It is not surprising, because what the group plays is simply far from understanding and perception for some listeners. Nevertheless, it was the Venom group that had the greatest influence on the further development of the entire difficult scene, and, in particular, was the creator of the black-metal style. So their work is worth considering in more detail.
Venom Group
So, what does such an incomprehensible team like Venom represent to many at first glance, and why is it so wildly popular with a large audience of fans?
First, they pioneered the emergence of speed and thrash metal styles. Secondly, they had a very strong influence even on such world-famous groups as Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth, Testament, Exodus, Sepultura, Mayhem, Celtic Frost, Morbid Angel, Hellhammer, etc. Thirdly, it was Venom who was one of the first to switch to the use of satanic trends in their texts, although, according to the musicians themselves, they themselves are not fans of Satanism. Apparently, this is just a well-organized commercial move, which, incidentally, was later adopted by members of the Slayer group and some others.
How did it all start?
And it all began in the late 70s, when the heavy metal style was only gaining momentum. According to many researchers of the team’s work, the hard-and-heavy grandees, Motorhead, led by their permanent leader and frontman named Lemmy Killmister, had a direct influence on the group. But in the textual part, there is even a semblance of early Black Sabbath with their pronounced tendency to occultism.
Indeed, the notes of high-speed hard rock can be traced very clearly in early Venom works. And proof of this was the debut album called Welcome To Hell, released in 1981 (before that the group was called Oberon). The first line-up included bassist and vocalist Kronos (Conrad Lant), guitarist Mantas (Jeff Dan) and drummer Abbadon (Tony Bray). The pseudonyms of the team members became an integral attribute, and soon the group changed its name to the Venom known today (from English - “animal poison”).
Main genre
The first work, according to many critics, turned out to be quite crude - there wasn’t yet the highlight that the group would become famous in the future, although almost all the texts were saturated with Satanic themes, but the group didn’t have to be shocking.
Now a few words about that period of Venom. The group, whose discography has more than a dozen studio albums, concert recordings, compilations and singles, has always tried to experiment. This became apparent after the release of the second album, titled Black Metal, which became a classic of the genre and, in fact, gave the name to the newfound style. Since then, it is believed that it was Venom that stood at its origins.
Discography and creative history
Further, the Venom group releases the album At War With Satan, and also is engaged in a lot of concert activities and tours.
Unfortunately, the several studio work that followed was a failure, and in 1985 Mantas left the band. Session musicians were invited to perform, but Kronos soon left. However, Abaddon was not alone for long. Mantas joined him again and brought along a guitar player named Al Barnes and bass player Tony Dolan.
After such a reunion, the album Prime Evil was recorded, according to many, highly professional work. However, after the release of Temple Of Ice in 1991, the composition changed again: Barnes left, and his place was taken by guitarist Steve White and keyboard player with the pseudonym VXS, who stayed on the team until 1992, when The Waste Lands longplay was released.
In 1996, a momentous event occurred - Kronos returned to the group. The album Venom'96 was recorded with him, and a year later Cast In Stone came out, and the group went on tour again. This was followed by such works as Resurrection (2000), Metal Black (2006), Hell (2008) and Fallen Angels (2011). Yes, they were quite professional creations, but they did not dare to repeat the success of classical albums.
However, in 2015, the Venom group again settled in the studio, after which the light saw their new work called From The Very Depth. But this album was received by critics and fans of the team more than favorably. In addition, constant participation in world shows and numerous tours attracted a huge army of new fans to the team. So it's still too early to write off Venom, even though their career has exceeded 25 years. The “oldies” are still in such a form that many young musicians can envy.
And, without any doubt, over the past two and a half decades, the team has become, as they say, a legend in life, leading an army of black metal fans. And this, you see, is a lot.
Instead of an afterword
It remains to add that in the work of the group there were ups and downs. The same was true of numerous changes in the composition. Nevertheless, today it is safe to say that the team is supported by both old and new fans, not to mention the fact that it is thanks to Venom that a lot of bands have appeared in the world playing in the style of black metal and many of its varieties. But it was Venom from all the forefathers of heavy metal who were the first to discover the path of black metal to the world. Yes, and they got a lot of imitators, but so far no one has succeeded in flying above Venom.