Venom

Venom, the band credited as the original inventors and founders of Black Metal, the larger than life Singer and Bassist, [Cronos] is widely credited as the creator of Thrash, Speed, Death and Power Metal, creating the deadliest force ever to hit the music scene, the original sinner playing the Devil’s music at its highest intensity, in the ultimate Rock n’ Roll metal punk band in the universe, Venom.

It all started way back in the 1970’s in the north of England, a young Heavy Metal / Punk Rocker called Conrad Lant [aka: Cronos] started working in a recording studio [Impulse Studios] as the assistant engineer after leaving school, he had been interested in music from an early age, growing up in London in the early 1960’s and living close to bands such as The Who and The Rolling Stones, who he remembers seeing while walking back and forth to school with his mother, and again on the tv during their early performances. Moving up to the North East of England in the early 70’s, he learned to play guitar at school due to a music teacher seeing his interest, and giving him extra tuition during lunch breaks, and giving him full access to the school’s instruments. He played in a few different bands throughout his school days, with the idea of creating a band that was heavier and more over the top than anything anyone had ever seen or heard before, more Satanic than Black Sabbath, louder than Motörhead, with a pyrotechnic show to rival Kiss, and with even more leather and studs than Judas Priest, the ultimate ingredients for the Ultimate Metal Band.

Venom detonated the whole black metal explosion with one stroke by releasing an album with that title in 1982. The story of Venom’s leader and singer / bassist: ‘Cronos’, is one of the most amazing in the history of music, seemingly rising from impossible conditions, he moulded and steered the band to become one of the main cornerstones of the modern metal sound. Think about it, how many bands have actually inspired and named a whole area of music, almost single-handedly?
How many bands are there that can truly say they have no rivals? No competition? There has never been or ever will be such a unique band as Venom. Cronos totally rewrote the rule book and laid waste to the disbelievers who said it could never be done, but Venom take no prisoners, and Cronos rode his mighty ship of Black Metal sailing through the thunderstorms and turbulent high seas of the music industry, with the Legions of followers at the oars, an unstoppable force for decades to come.

Venom aren’t a band prepared to compromise. Cronos holds firm the principles of never surrender, even if at times this might have cost them significant rewards. For instance, they always boasted that their stage show was so massive they’d never play a UK date until they could be satisfied on being booked into a venue that could house every last pyro and effect. That’s why they made their debut at the legendary Hammersmith Odeon in London on June 1, 1984. Go on, name one other UK band whose first ever live performance was at such a prestigious venue. Easy, isn’t it? No, There is no other.