Venom

Venom is a British metal band from Newcastle upon Tyne, active since 1979. It forms in the late 1970s and becomes one of the best-known acts to emerge around the end of the new wave of British heavy metal.

Style and influence

The band is associated with black metal, death metal, heavy metal, metal, NWOBHM and speed metal. Its early releases, especially Welcome to Hell and Black Metal, are widely treated as important influences on thrash metal and extreme metal. The title of Black Metal also gives its name to the black metal subgenre.

Although Venom becomes a key influence on black metal, its later work is described as remaining closer to speed and thrash metal, rather than consistently using black metal elements in its own music.

Origins and early line-up

The group’s original personnel comes from three other bands: Guillotine, Oberon and Dwarfstar. Early versions of the band include Jeffrey Dunn and Dave Rutherford on guitars, Dean Hewitt on bass, Dave Blackman on vocals, and Chris Mercater on drums, with Paul Burke originally holding the drum role before Mercater. Blackman and Mercater are later replaced by Anthony Bray and Clive Archer, and Alan Winston later replaces Hewitt on bass.

Further personnel changes follow, including the formation of a band by Clive Archer, Eric Cook, Tony Bray and Ian Kell while working at Reyrolles. Ian Kell is then replaced in mid-1978. In late 1979, Conrad Lant replaces Dave Rutherford, and later moves from guitar to bass after Winston leaves.

Stage names and members

The band members adopt stage names: Clive Archer becomes “Jesus Christ”, Conrad Lant becomes “Cronos”, Tony Bray becomes “Abbadon”, and Jeff Dunn becomes “Mantas”. Known members include Abaddon, Mantas, Cronos, Mykvs, Al Barnes, Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan, Antton, Stuart “La Rage” Dixon, Danny “Dante” Needham, Dave Young, Mike Hickey and Steve White.

Influence and legacy

Venom’s music helps shape the development of many later thrash metal bands, including Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth. The band also has major importance in the black metal scene and in the early death metal scene, with other acts copying its style, themes and imagery. Among the bands noted in this context is Hellhammer, later known as Celtic Frost.

Music critic Bradley Torreano describes the band as attracting both metal fans and punks, with the former emulating it and the latter treating it as a camp icon. Henry Rollins also compares the band to Spinal Tap.

Venom’s prime influences include Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motörhead and Kiss, and other influences named include Deep Purple, Sex Pistols, The Who, The Tubes, Van Halen, the Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley.

Recordings and labels

The band’s label is Spinefarm Records. Its first two albums, Welcome to Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982), remain its best-known recordings and the ones most often linked to its long-term impact on heavy metal.