Venom

I know these guys have pretty juvenile lyrics, but in my humble opinion this band really was one of the pioneering forces in thrash metal. Sodom's Tom Angelripper has even been quoted as saying that Venom was his main inspiration in starting Sodom.

Anyway - I find that Venom is quite mocked and little appreciated today in metal circles. Any time I mention them - I usually hear people talk about how bad their production was, or how bad their lyrics are ... whatever.

I actually like that raw production they had on their early albums.

Any other fans?

I love Venom. They are very underrated, yeah their lyrics might be a bit "goofy satanic" to some, but there music has a certain do-it-yourself garage attitude reminiscent of bands like the MC5 and The Stooges. IMO

Don't have any of their material to really have an opinion even though I have heard a few of their songs.

spiritoradio wrote:

I love Venom. They are very underrated, yeah their lyrics might be a bit "goofy satanic" to some, but there music has a certain do-it-yourself garage attitude reminiscent of bands like the MC5 and The Stooges. IMO

YUP! That's what I'm talking about. Such a raw energy in their songs. My personal favorite is their debut, "Welcome to Hell". I don't have all their albums, though I plan on getting their full catalogue soon.

I've not heard their newer stuff. I've heard it's not that good.

I am a HUGE Venom fan! Seen em in 97 in Millwaukee and was blown away! Sure, they weren't great musicians, but they were awesome at what they did.

the first 3 venom albums are mandatory for any metal head. after that it is hit or miss, but that isn't much different than any other metal band. their last album, Metal Black, was a decent return to form. i hope for something similar on their next outing!

here is an interesting poll conducted sometime back.. the results were a pleasant surprise for me.

https://heartofmetal.niceboard.com/Heart-Of-Metal-f1/Venom-t481.htm?highlight=venom

I love Venom! THey rock! I mean why people don't like 'em?

Venom's cool. I don't have a lot of their material but what I do have, I get a kick out of. Dumb as a box of rocks but sooooo much fun!

I recently got the "Expanded Edition" of their CAST IN STONE reunion album from '97 and it includes a bonus disc of re-recorded Venom oldies ... good stuff.

I actually find venom overrated. Now, my background is in the punk scene, so my perspective is totally different than many on here. Listening to a lot of old punks talk about this band, and you'd get the impression that they single handedly invented black metal, and were the be all end all metal band of the 80's. These same people seem to dismiss the influence Bathory, Celtic Frost, hellhammer, and even onslaughts "power from hell" lp had on the early extreme metal scene. Anyway, I do agree that the first three venom lps are classics, and definately a mandatory part of any decent metal collection, but I seriously don't understand why they are totally worshipped by many among those in the punk/hardcore scene. But, then again, many people in the metal scene don't understand the discharge worship that is seemingly mandatory if you are a punk fan. I'd take hellhammer/celtic frost over venom any day. And discharge trumps all.

I think it really depends on what circle you run in. I hear about how great Venom is constantly, how influential they are, ect ect. I think that a month ago there was a thread here about how Venom was more important than Black Sabbath.

I like Venom, but I think the idea of what they did, far outweights the actual music.

Quote :

I have a compilation album of theirs which I listen to from time to time, but it's never inspired me to seek out any of their other material. I think they were pioneers in the black metal realm and decent at what they do, but not really my thing.

I stand by my original post on the subject.

I am huge venom fan also, they took the goofiest concept in metal, Satan, and ran with it for 28 years. Their badly produced early albums are classic, almost DIY punk attitude. " Black Metal" "Welcome to Hell" are probably in Satan's personal IPOD playlist.
Cronos paved the way for all future cookie monster vocals, Venom's entire discography is filled with images of hell, fire, satan, and ...hell, once in awhile they would throw in a song about seducing some school teacher.
Venom may have sang songs about the delights of worshipping Satan, but they did it with a sense of humor, I always had the impression that never took themselves seriously, and found them to be a great deal of fun.

I like you more and more everyday, manny. I love Venom as well.

Love or hate 'em, they were definitely influential on MANY bands. Welcome To Hell came out 2 years prior to Kill 'Em All and Show No Mercy.

Welcome To Hell, Black Metal and At War With Satan are definitive underground metal classics. They are also about as serious as your average episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, which adds much fun to the proceedings. As MC666 mentioned earlier the remainder of their catalog is spotty at best but there are some gems amid much fodder.

Despite the fact they could barely play their instruments (Abaddon is the worst drummer of all time), they managed to write incredibly catchy, memorable tunes. I'm a huge fan.

P.S. - I think the tune Cronos sings on the Probot album is the best on the entire record.

If you've ever seen footage of the band back in the 80's, those guys are funny as hell!! I like the band just fine-TJ

i downloaded a torrent of Hell. it's a great album. better than the last one. it's another on the buy list (i'll never catch up to that damn list).

Venom are cool. Got to respect a band that's been around as long as they have.