The band I'm writing about today has popped up in my metal research so often and has been quoted as highly influential by so many artists, there is no way around it. One can't write a metal blog and not mention Venom and their debut album Welcome to Hell from 1981.
Venom formed in 1978 in Newcastle during the NWOBHM era. By 1981 Venom was a trio with Conrad Lant aka Cronos on bass and as vocalist, Jeffrey Dunn aka Mantas on guitar and Anthony Bray aka Abaddon on drums. This line-up came to be known as the classic line-up which lasted till 1985. Afterwards the band suffered various line-up changes and no member stayed in the band for the whole time. Even frontman Cronos was absent from 1989 - 1995.
What makes Venom so special in the history of heavy metal? Venom were growing up with bands like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motörhead and KISS but decided that this kind of heavy metal was not extreme enough for them. They wanted to take it one step further. When Venom formed in 1978 they were not only listening to heavy metal but also to a lot of punk music and they were heavily influenced by the punk mentality. Playing punk is not necessarily about being a great musician but about being extreme, about bringing across a message, about being a fantastic band. All three band members were aware that they were not technically brilliant. And they did not care. They played louder, they played faster, they played grittier and heavier than all the other bands that were around back then. In that aspect I was reminded of The Stooges who did something similar back in 1968. Experimenting with music, pushing boundaries.
The music heard on Welcome to Hell had not been heard before. For some it was just noise. For others it was kicking down a door to a more extreme forms of metal.
Sodom's frontman Tom Angelripper stated that Sodom would not exist without Welcome to Hell. James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich from Metallica, Dave Mustaine from Megadeath, Kerry King and Tom Araya from Slayer, Mille Petrozza from Kreator and numerous other thrash muscians from the early 80s era have stated that their bands started because of the sound they heard on Welcome to Hell.
Witching Hour is the most critically acclaimed song on the album. It's speed and musical style was a direct influence on thrash metal.
Venom's use of satanic lyrics had direct impact on the establishment of other black metal bands like Bathory, Hellhammer or Mayhem. Satanism has been the prevalent theme of all Venom releases in regards to lyrics (together with blasphemy, sex and drugs) and also album covers and band artwork. The band insists though that their use of satanism has always been for entertainment purposes and to get a reaction from the audience. When looking at the Welcome to Hell album cover or the cover of its successor Black Metal today , it doesn't seem that extreme. But it was in 1981/1982. People were seriously frightened and especially parents reacted to it.
At the start of In League with Satan you can hear a reversed recording of Cronos saying "Satan, raised in hell, I'm gonna burn your soul, crush your bones, I'm gonna make you bleed, you gonna bleed for me". Again, this isn't raising any eyebrows today but it was a real concern for people back in 1981. Cronos' voice is sounding seriously evil in each song. He is snarling and hissing and growling and together with his looks he was an authentic reincarnation of an evil servant.
Venom are said to be one of the most important influences for the development of thrash metal, black metal and death metal and labelling them has been difficult to this day. They came up during the NWOBHM but their music was too muddy for this genre. They have been labelled speed metal, thrash metal and black metal. Key elements of all those styles are present in Venom's first albums and the genres would later be refined and perfected by other bands.
There are parallels between Motörhead and Venom. Both were trios, both had a bass-playing frontman and both played some kind of metal/punk fusion with clear Rock'n'Roll vibes. Like Lemmy, Cronos had a unique way of playing bass. Not as refined as Lemmy, but pretty distinctive. Abaddon's drumming was fast an relentless, never stopping, creating a bulldozer sound. Mantas' riffs were very simple but also very catchy, inviting you to hum or even clap along.
The original release of Welcome to Hell featured 11 songs and lasted only 40 minutes. The production of the album was very raw and this sound became groundbreaking for the Norwegian black metal bands that were to follow, the unpolished, brutal and unmastered sound being a key feature in black metal. The individual songs on Welcome to Hell are all around 3 minutes long and have definite punk vibes, short and to the point without lengthy solos. In it's entirety the album is probably best labelled as speed metal.
It is hard to pick a favourite, but I guess Welcome to Hell and Schizoid are on top of my list.
Venom are still active today, their last album was released in 2018. Despite many line-up changes and solo projects of the band members, the band managed to survive. Especially Venom's first two albums Welcome to Hell and Black Metal have many loyal fans and Venom is considered a true metal icon.
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