Venom (band)

Venom
Venom at Hellfest Summer Open Air in 2008
Background information
Origin	Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Genres	Thrash metal, Black metal, speed metal, heavy metal
Years active	1979–1993, 1995–present
Labels	Neat, Filmtrax, Under One Flag, SPV, Sanctuary/Castle, Universal
Associated acts	Atomkraft, Cronos
Website	www.venomslegions.com
Members	Cronos La Rage Dante
Past members	See: List of Venom band members

Venom are an English heavy metal band that formed in 1979 in Newcastle upon Tyne.^[1] Coming to prominence towards the end of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Venom's first two albums—Welcome to Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982)—are considered a major influence on thrash metal and extreme metal in general.^[1] Venom's second album proved influential enough that its title was used as the name of an extreme metal subgenre: black metal.

Band history

Early years (1978–1981)

Venom's original personnel came from three different bands: Guillotine, Oberon and Dwarf Star. The original Guillotine featured Jeffrey Dunn and Dave Rutherford on guitars, Dean Hewitt on bass guitar, Dave Blackman on vocals and Chris Mercater on drums who replaced Paul Burke, the original drummer when the band was founded. Blackman and Mercater were later also replaced by drummer Anthony Bray (b. 17 September 1957 in Newcastle) and vocalist Clive Archer of Oberon after due to not living up to the expectations of Paul Burke on drums, and later on Dean Hewitt was replaced by Alan Winston on bass. Around this time the name Venom was created. In the late autumn of 1979 Conrad Lant, from the bands Dwarf Star and Album Graecum, replaced Dave Rutherford. Lant later switched to bass after the departure of Winston. The band members took on new stage names. Archer became "Jesus Christ", Lant "Mr. Cronos", Bray "Tony Abaddon", and Dunn "Jeff Mantas".

Prime influences of the formative band were Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motörhead^[2] and KISS.^[3] Other bands cited by Venom as an inspiration are Queen, The Who, Deep Purple, Sex Pistols, Van Halen, The Tubes and The Rolling Stones.^[3][4]

Since the beginning of their career, Venom have often used 'Satanic' lyrics and imagery. However, the band were not Satanists, and such references were mostly for shock value.^[5] Music critic Bradley Torreano declared that the band had "their tongues planted firmly in their cheeks".^[6]

In April 1980, the band recorded a three-song disc, featuring "Angel Dust", "Raise the Dead", and "Red Light Fever". Soon afterward, six more tracks were recorded for just £50, with Lant taking vocal duties on the song "Live Like an Angel". Archer soon left the band, and Venom's line-up became a trio.

Classic lineup (1981–1986)

Venom's recording debut was the 1981 single "In League with Satan"/"Live Like an Angel" which was released by Neat Records. Later that year they released their full-length debut, Welcome to Hell.

Though crudely recorded with sometimes dubious musicianship, Welcome to Hell was still a remarkable tour de force for the era. Venom's music was faster and harsher than most heavy metal contemporaries and while Satanism and other dark topics had been featured in metal before, the subject had rarely been more prominent. Lant was quoted as saying that this celebration of evil subjects was inspired by the perceived need to out-do musicians like Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath, who would "sing about evil things and dark figures, and then spoil it all by going: 'Oh, no, no, please, God, help me!'"^[7]

Their second album, 1982's Black Metal is cited as perhaps the most important influence in the development of black metal, thrash metal, death metal, and other related styles that are often grouped under the extreme metal umbrella.^[1] Many defining elements of these genres are first found in the lyrics and song titles created by Lant and his unique singing style as well as the guitar work and solos performed by Dunn. Though they would later be cited as important, neither of Venom's first two albums sold well upon their original release. And while many of their British metal peers had found measures of popular success or critical acclaim (or, like Def Leppard, were moving away from metal towards hard rock), Venom were still regarded by critics as "a trio of buffoons".^[8]

In an attempt to prove their status as serious musicians, Venom recorded At War with Satan in 1984. The epic 20-minute title track, with substantial progressive rock influences, took up the first side of the LP. The B-side was focused on the rapid-fire, three-minute "scorchers" Venom were known for. In 1985, Venom released their fourth album, Possessed, which was not as successful as previous albums. Dunn then left the band to pursue a solo career. Cronos however cites the Possessed album as underestiamted. "I don't think there's any songs that are kind of overlooked, I just think some songs maybe weren't recorded as well as we could have recorded them. Like say for example on the 'Possessed' album, I still think there are great songs^[9]".

Lineup changes and departure of Lant (1987–1996)

Two guitarists, Mike Hickey and Jim Clare, were hired to replace Dunn. Their fifth album, 1987's Calm Before the Storm, moved away from Satanic themes in favor of Tolkien-esque "sword and sorcery" material.^[10] This was even less successful than Possessed, and Lant, Clare and Hickey all left Venom after subsequent touring to form Lant's eponymous solo band Cronos.

Bray was left as the only group member, but he was able to convince Music for Nations for a deal to release a new Venom album on the Under One Flag label, using Deadline demo tracks which were recorded with previous line-ups but never released. In 1988, Bray offered a vocals/bass role to Tony Dolan from Atomkraft. Bray and Dolan wrote new material prior to Dunn's rejoining the band along with rhythm guitarist Al Barnes. Together they recorded Prime Evil (1989), Tear Your Soul Apart (1990) and Temples of Ice (1991). Barnes then left the band, and Steve White from Atomkraft was hired as his replacement. They released The Waste Lands in 1992, also without success. Music for Nations refused to release any more Venom albums, so Dolan and Dunn quit, effectively disbanding Venom. Bray continued to release compilation and live albums up to 1995.

Reunion of classic lineup (1995–1999)

In 1995, Lant, Dunn and Bray reunited the "classic" line-up, beginning by headlining the Waldrock Festival on 24 June 1995. They recorded and self-released the Venom '96 EP with four re-recorded and one new song, resulting in a record deal with the SPV label. An album, Cast in Stone, was next released in 1997, split between new material and re-recordings of popular early-'80s songs.

Cronos declared in an interview with Ramon van H. of Dutch webzine Lords of Metal<ref name=Cronos interviewed by Ramon van H. of webzine Lordsofmetal.nl^[9]".

You are now the one to use the name Venom (although you have been the last one to join and the first one to step out in the eighties). I agree that Venom without you is hardly legitimate. Did you feel the same about it? "That's the way we always said to each other: whoever wants to continue with the name Venom, and so long as it is Venom, then great!. That's why when in the end of the eighties and I decided to leave and do other things, I said the band that I've put together and the songs that we're writing, it's not Venom. So I decided to change the name of the band and we're gonna be called Cronos. They were trying to keep on putting Venom things together and I just said good luck to you guys".

So there are no hard feelings whatsoever? "No, no, not a problem. When Mantas left, me and Abaddon kept going with two other guys. I left, Mantas came back, Abaddon left and I continued with Mantas whoever really wants to make Venom work. Nobody has any jealousy, we all still love Venom".

However, Mantas shared his side by saying:

You and Anthony started the band at the time, are you fine with the fact that Conrad now continues the band's name? He himself told me he thinks the concept of Venom is bigger than Cronos or any other members and he just wants to contribute to its legacy. "I am the founder of Venom, and that is just basic historical fact and again something of which I am very proud of... I verbally agreed to let him continue with the Venom name, but also said that the only legitimate line up I would personally ever recognize as original, would be one that included Mantas and Cronos. That was the last time we spoke at length and the conversation was left with the words 'never say never'. He is out there with two other guys as Venom, playing Venom songs and I have M:Pire (of Evil) and we also play some Venom songs. So it's all good. But honestly to me, and this is purely a personal opinion as someone VERY close to the situation, it is there in name only^[9]".

Recent work (1999–present)

Bray left Venom in 1999 and was replaced by Lant's brother Antony "Antton" Lant. This lineup released Resurrection in 2000 on SPV. However, in 2002 Dunn again left the group and was replaced by a returning Hickey. In late 2005, Venom released a career-spanning 4-disc box set MMV, which includes an exclusive mini-poster of the band's seven-date tour of Europe with Metallica and a 60 page picture book, with interviews and pictures. The set includes all their best-known songs, along with rarities like live tracks, demos and outtakes. This lineup of the band released the Metal Black album.

Hickey was replaced by guitarist La Rage in 2007. This lineup released the record Hell the following year. Antton Lant left the group thereafter concentrate on his band DEF-CON-ONE and was replaced by drummer Danny "Dante" Needham. They released the Fallen Angels album on 28 November 2011.

Venom are expected to release a new album in early 2014.^[11]

Genre

As Venom were one of the first incarnations of extreme metal, influencing many thrash metal, black metal, death metal and other extreme metal bands,^[12] their exact genre has been a topic of debate. Venom have been labeled various genres by members of the press. Most prominent genres are black metal, thrash metal, and speed metal.^[13]

Cronos insists on calling it black metal, without passing judgment on the genre that later on flourished in Norway: ...It's one of the things when I first saw when I saw the Norwegian scene beginning in the early nineties. I thought: ok, I know they said Venom are an influence, etcetera, etcetera; let's see where these guys are coming from. And then when I started to read the lyrics, read the interviews and see they were kind of saying the same thing, but about their country, they had their religion, with all the Norse gods like Wodan and Thor. And then all of the sudden the Christians came in and they tried to destroy their religion. It's great that they stayed within in their country's beliefs for their lyrics as well. So, they're not the exactly the same things as Venom, they invented something of their own, which I think is fucking great...^[9]".

Legacy and influence

Welcome to Hell influenced several later bands.^[12] Venom's music helped shape the development of many thrash metal bands, specifically the "Big Four of Thrash" (who in turn were highly influential): Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth (Metallica opened for Venom on an early 1980s tour^[7] and Slayer played with them on the Combat Tour in 1985). Venom would also be of extreme importance to the black metal and even the early death metal scene, with numerous bands copying styles, themes and imagery from the band, such as the Swiss band Hellhammer which also helped pioneer the genres. Music critic Bradley Torreano wrote that Venom "[caught] the attention of both metalheads and punks, the band was emulated by the former and turned into camp icons by the latter."^[6]

Although they didn't make it to MTV's top 10 heavy metal bands list, they were given an "honorable mention".^[14]

Criticism

While many fans and musicians see Venom as an important band, their music has nonetheless been the subject of debate and criticism. Critic Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic writes that though Welcome to Hell influenced "literally thousands" of bands, Venom were "critically reviled".^[12] However, critic James Christopher Monger declares that the members of Venom 'grew as musicians' as their careers progressed.^[15] Ethnographer Keith Kahn-Harris argues that Venom's limited technical skill, particularly early in their career, was a profound, though inadvertent factor in Venom's influence: being unable to mimic more technically proficient metal of their predecessors or peers, Venom instead opted to focus on sheer speed, creating music that was inspired by earlier metal, yet simultaneously blazed new trails.

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, with mediocre playing and a stage performance focused on appearances rather than music; Rollins asserted that the musicians used portable fans to keep their hair flowing while on stage. Rollins wrote, "It was like seeing Spinal Tap ... I expected them to go into 'Sex Farm' at any second."^[16] Rollins writes that he and some tourmates drew magic marker pentagrams on their hands to flash at Venom and offer "Hail Satan" salutes. For their final number, Venom asked the audience to chant what Rollins thought was "Black Funky Metal", which briefly made Rollins suspect that he had overlooked Venom's sense of humor, until he realized Venom were actually saying "Black Fucking Metal".

Venom's members were apparently well aware that their musical skills were questioned, especially by other bands. During a concert at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1984, guitarist Mantas was doing a between-song rant when he remarked rather loudly: "A lot of bands are out there tonight, waiting for Venom to make a mistake. Well, we are the fucking mistake!"^[17]

Members

Discography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Venom (band).

• Venom Legions official website