Everything about Venom Band totally explained
Venom are an
English heavy metal band, formed in late 1979 in
Newcastle upon Tyne.
Considered a seminal influence for
thrash and
black metal and coming to prominence towards the end of the '
New Wave of British Heavy Metal', Venom have found little mainstream success or critical acclaim, but are widely regarded as highly influential, particularly for their first two albums,
Welcome to Hell (1981) and
Black Metal (1982).
The title of Venom's second album would become influential and definitive enough to describe an entire subgenre called
black metal, a category under which the band is most commonly referred. The nature of Venom's high-pitch guitars, harsh vocals, use of
pseudonyms, and unrelenting emphasis on Satanic lyrics and imagery is considered the template for the subgenre's later successes, and arguably for the broader
extreme metal movement in general.
Band history
Early years
Venom's original personnel came from three different bands:
Guillotine,
Oberon and
DwarfStar. The original Guillotine featured Jeffrey Dunn and Dave Rutherford on guitars, Dean Hewitt on bass guitar, Dave Blackman on vocals and Chris Mercaters on drums. Blackman and Mercater were replaced by drummer Anthony Bray and vocalist Clive Archer of 'Oberon' and soon after, Dean Hewitt was replaced by Alan Winston on bass. Around the summer of 1979,
Conrad Lant from the bands
DwarfStar and
Album Graecum replaced Rutherford on guitar.
Prime influences of the band are
Black Sabbath,
Judas Priest,
Motörhead and
Kiss. Other bands cited by Venom as an inspiration are
The Who,
Deep Purple,
Sex Pistols,
Van Halen,
The Tubes and
Rolling Stones.
Black Metal
Their second album,
Black Metal (1982) 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. Many defining elements of these genres are first found in the lyrics and song titles created by Cronos and his unique singing style as well as the guitar work and solos performed by Mantas.
Critic Ed Rivadavia described
Black Metal as the product of 'a trio of
visionary village idiots grappling with forces beyond their control (for example, creative developments so groundbreaking they themselves had little control over its final destination, nor the technical ability to match their vision).' Despite its shortcomings, the album is nonetheless hugely influential.
At War with Satan
Though they'd 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 widely regarded by critics as “a trio of
buffoons,” according to critic Ed Rivadavia
In an attempt to prove their status as serious musicians, Venom recorded
At War with Satan in 1983. The epic 20-minute title track, with substantial
progressive rock influences, took up the first side of the LP. Critic Rivadavia
In late 2005, Venom released a career defining 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.
In March 2006, Venom released their latest album,
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.
Venom announced the title and release date of their new album on February 14, 2008. The album is entitled "HELL" and will be released in May of 2008.
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, their exact genre has been a topic of debate. Venom has been labeled various genres by members of the press. Most prominent genres are black metal, speed metal, thrash metal and extreme metal.
Influence
Critic Ed Rivadavia writes that
Welcome To Hell influenced "literally thousands" of bands. Venom's music helped shape the development of many
thrash metal bands, specifically the 'big four' of thrash:
Anthrax,
Metallica,
Slayer and
Megadeth (Metallica opened for Venom on an early 1980s tour 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.
Rivadavia argues that, somewhat like punk rockers
The Ramones, Venom’s mediocre instrumental skills were actually their "secret weapon", inspiring countless metal fan teenagers to imitate the band.
Venom often used Satanic and other 'evil' themes in their lyrics, but critic Bradley Torreano declared that the band had "their
tongues planted firmly in their cheeks", with a sense of humor and irony that was sometimes lost on their fans and other musicians. Torreano adds 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."
When asked about the criminal actions or violent behaviour of some later black metal bands (notably, there were a string of
arsons and a few
murders in the Norwegian
black metal community in the 1990s), Venom's members reportedly expressed disapproval, stating the point of Venom is to make controversial music, and "How can you make albums and tour if you're in jail?".
Criticism
While many fans and musicians see Venom as an important band, their music has nonetheless been the subject of debate and criticism. Critic Ed Rivadavia writes that though
Welcome To Hell influenced "literally thousands" of bands, Venom were "critically reviled" and comprised of "incompetent musicians." However, critic James Christopher Monger declares that Venom 'grew as musicians' as their career progressed.
Ethnographer Keith Kahn-Harris argues that Venom's limited technical skills, particularly early in their career, were 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 a music that was inspired by earlier metal, yet simultaneously blazed new trails.
Venom were apparently well aware of how 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're the fucking mistake!"
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." 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'd overlooked Venom's sense of humor, until he realized Venom was actually saying “Black
Fucking Metal.” Venom reportedly laughed off Rollins’ 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 why he writes books now. He even got the date of the show wrong. Go write some more books and we'll keep making music."
On the DVD extra material of the documentary, bassist/singer
Lemmy of
Motörhead jokingly opines that Venom "fake it" on their instruments, implying that they're not skilled musicians, though later amending the statement somewhat by stating that Venom were "alright". When interviewer
Sam Dunn 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're twelve." Cronos has always spoken highly of other musicians such as Lemmy,
Ozzy Osbourne,
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".
Members
Former members
Guitar
Jeffrey "Mantas" Dunn - guitar (1979–1985, 1989–2002)
Mike "Mykvs" Hickey - guitar (1987-1988, 2005–2007)
James Clare - guitar (1987-1988)
Alastair "Big Al" Barnes - guitar (1989–1991)
Steve "War Maniac" White - guitar (1992)
Drums
Anthony "Abaddon" Bray - drums (1979–1999)
Vocals
Clive "Jesus Christ" Archer - vocals (1979-1980)
Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan - vocals, bass guitar (1989–1992)
Discography
Studio albums and EPs
Welcome To Hell (1981)
Black Metal (1982)
At War with Satan (1983) (Chart Position #64 UK)
Possessed (1985) (Chart Position #99 UK)
Calm Before The Storm (1987)
Prime Evil (1989)
Tear Your Soul Apart (EP) (1990)
Temples of Ice (1991)
The Waste Lands (1992)
Venom ' 96 (EP) (1996)
Cast In Stone (1998)
Resurrection (2000)
Metal Black (2006)
Cast In Stone (expanded edition) (2006)
Hell (2008)
Live albums
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (1986)
Compilation albums
The Singles 1980-1986 (1986)
The Book of Armageddon (Best of) (1992)
Skeletons In The Closet (1993)
Kissing the Beast (1993)
In League with Satan (2002)
MMV (Box set) (2005)Further Information
Get more info on 'Venom Band'.
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