Venom (band)

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Image:Venom Logo.png
Venom in 2005
Venom in 2005
Background information
Origin England
Genre(s) Speed metal[1]
Black metal[2]
NWoBHM[2]
Thrash metal[2]
Blackened thrash metal
Years active 1979 - present
Website venomslegions.com
Members
Antton
Cronos
Rage
Former members
Mantas
Abbadon
Mykvs

Venom are one of the big NWoBHM bands, whose second album coined the term black metal and was an influence on early black metal bands. Formed in late 1979, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Influenced by various rock, punk and heavy metal acts such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, The Sex Pistols, KISS and Motörhead, Venom created a sound as well as an image that would be a big influence to early death, black, and thrash metal bands at the time. Mayhem, Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Death, Testament, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Exodus, Eudoxis and Morbid Angel cite Venom as a major influence[citation needed]. Though musically they are more closely related to speed metal, it was their lyrical topics and harsher vocals which separated them from other bands at the time (usually dealing with Satan and Hell and other "black" topics). Their first two records, Welcome to Hell in 1981 and Black Metal in 1982, set the bar for black metal to follow. The original members went by the pseudonyms Cronos, Mantas, and Abaddon.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Venom was formed when the band Guillotine merged with the band Oberon and the band DwarfStar, they then renamed themselves Venom in 1979. Originally, Guillotine featured Jeffrey Dunn on guitar, Dave Blackman on vocals, Dave Rutherford on second guitar, Dean Hewitt on bass guitar, and Chris Mercaters on drums. Later that year, Blackman and Mercater were replaced by drummer Anthony Bray and vocalist Clive Archer of 'Oberon'. Soon after, Alan Winston replaced Dean Hewitt on bass. In around the summer of 1979, Conrad Lant from the bands DwarfStar and Album Graecum met Jeffrey Dunn and joined the band replacing Rutherford on guitar.

A few days before a show at a local Church Hall, Venom's bassist Alan Winston left the band, so Conrad Lant borrowed a bass guitar from a friend at the studio he worked at (Impulse Studios / Neat Studios) and played the show with the bass instead of his guitar, plugging it into his Marshall stack with effects pedals. An unholy racket emerged from the backline, and this is how the 'Bulldozer Bass' was born.

Venom use Satanic references, and the band members renamed themselves. Clive Archer became "Jesus Christ", Conrad Lant became "Mr Cronos", Anthony Bray became "Tony Abbadon", and Jeffrey Dunn became " Jeff Mantas". That April, the band recorded a three song demo of "Angel Dust", "Raise The Dead", and "Red Light Fever". Soon afterward, 6 more demo tracks were recorded for just £50, with Cronos taking vocal duties on the song "Live Like An Angel". Clive Archer soon left the band, and Venom's lineup was finally a 3 piece.

Venom debuted in 1981 with the single "In League with Satan" / "Live Like An Angel" which was released by Neat Records. Later that year they released Welcome To Hell, which was a remarkable tour de force at the time, when Satan was rarely mentioned by any other bands in the entire music industry. Venom influenced many thrash metal bands, specifically Anthrax, Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth. Venom pushed the boundaries of speed metal to an extreme, and the beginnings of thrash metal were starting to emerge.

Cover of "Black Metal"
Cover of "Black Metal"

Their second album, Black Metal (1982) is cited as the most important in the development of black metal, thrash metal, and death metal. Many elements of these genres are found in the lyrics and song titles created by Cronos and his unique lyrics and singing style, and the guitar work and solos performed by Mantas.

While many fans and musicians see Venom as an important band, others disagree. They veiw it as violent uneccesary noise. In his Black Flag tour diary, singer Henry Rollins wrote about a 1986 performance when Black Flag opened for Venom. He opines that Venom were hilarious. It was like seeing Spinal Tap ... I expected them to go into "Sex Farm" at any second." But Venom just laughed off the comments saying "Henry didn't have the balls to speak to us back then, he hid backstage, but now he mouths off behind our backs, his band were useless and that's now why he reads books, plus in his book he got the date of the show wrong, duh?, go write some more books and we'll keep making music." On the extra material of Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, Lemmy of Motörhead opines that Venom fake it on their instruments arguing that they are not skilled musicians (later saying that they were "alright"). When Sam Dunn, the interviewer, tells Lemmy that he himself was blown away by Venom back when he was twelve, Lemmy responds "Anything will blow you away when you're twelve. A day at the beach will blow you away when you are twelve." Cronos has always spoken highly of other musicians such as Lemmy, Ozzy, Rob Halford and a host of other British bands, in one interview he said, "'head have always had a great response in Newcastle, Geordies really relate to them, Lemmy is a smart bloke and a wicked axeman, true rock n' rollers".

As Godfathers of black metal, when asked about the actions of the later black metal bands and their church burnings as well as the often out of hand stage shows, Venom have spoken out against those acts, stating that these artists are taking their personal problems more seriously than their music. The point of Venom is to make controversial music; "How can you make albums and tour if you are in jail?".

Towards the end of 2005, Venom released a career defining 4-disc box set MMV which includes an exclusive mini-poster of the band's 7 dates tour of Europe with Metallica and a 60 Page Picture book, with interviews and pictures. The 4 Disc set includes all their hits as well as live tracks, demos and outtakes.

In March 2006, Venom released their latest album, named "Metal Black", featuring original frontman Cronos along with his brother Antton on drums, and guitarist Mike Hickey aka Mykvs. The album is a return to Venom's sound in "Black Metal", as signified by the name "Metal Black".

As of early 2007, guitarist Mykvs has left the band due to an inability to completely focus on Venom during tours. A new guitarist by the name of Rage has been named as his replacement.

[edit] Members

[edit] Former Members

  • Jeffrey "Mantas" Dunn - Guitar
  • Anthony "Abaddon" Bray - Drums
  • James Clare - Guitar
  • Steve "War Maniac" White - Guitar
  • Alisdair Barnes - Guitar
  • Clive "Jesus Christ" Archer - Vocals
  • Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan - Vocals, Bass
  • Alan Winston - Bass
  • Mike "Mykvs" Hickey - Guitar

[edit] Discography

[edit] Sources

  • Henry Rollins, Get In The Van, 2.13.61, 1994

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Rockdetector.com: Venom: Rockdetector Biography

  1. ^ Encyclopaedia Metallum entry. Metal-Archives.com. Retrieved on December 30, 2006.
  2. ^ a b c Jason Ankeny. All Music Guide Bio. Allmusic.com. Retrieved on November 13, 2006.
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