Top 10 Venom Songs

Photo: Jonas Rogowski [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Venom is considered the creator of extreme metal, formed in 1979 in Newcastle upon Tyne. Emerging from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, their first two albums, 1981’s Welcome To Hell and 1982’s Black Metal, have been major influences on the genres of Thrash, Death, and, of course, Black Metal.

All of the Big 4 of thrash metal, i.e., Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax, have acknowledged Venom as a key influence, with the former two serving as support bands in the infancy of their careers. The early Black Metal bands such as Hellhammer/Celtic Frost and Bathory were also massively influential, which in turn led to the birth of the international Death and Black Metal scenes.

The bands also had a crossover appeal with the punk scene. Influenced by the first wave of bands, such as The Sex Pistols, they had much in common musically with the second-wave bands, such as Discharge.

# 10 – Clarisse

The Waste Lands is the band’s eighth album and the last with singer Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan, who replaced original vocalist Cronos in 1988. It’s fair to say it wasn’t the best era, but it wasn’t completely terrible. It’s an era often seen as the point when the band was churning out largely forgettable material. It’s definitely true that they weren’t producing anything groundbreaking at this point. With that said, The Waste Lands is a fairly solid album with some creative ideas. “Clarisse” is a particular highlight. Based on the film The Silence of the Lambs, which was released at the time, it focuses on Hannibal Lecter’s perspective on the protagonist Clarisse.

It is a slow, atmospheric number in which Dolan sings in an almost crooning style throughout, before lashing out angrily at the very end. It actually does a very good job of understanding Hannibal’s character, taking a very psychological approach to his mind and to how he is viewed by the world. A little cheesy perhaps, but interesting nevertheless. In a genre where there’s often a lot over the top lyrics, it’s quite refreshing to hear.

# 9 – The Evil One

The opening track of the reunion album by the classic line-up of Cronos, Mantas, and Abaddon, 1997’s Cast in Stone, this track served to introduce the relevance of Venom in the mid-90’s, with the genre they helped create still very much underground at that point. As it turned out, it was a solid effort, with the trio quite clearly having their chemistry back. They had gone back to their early thrashing speed-metal style with Satanic lyrics. Recorded at Lartington Hall Studios near Barnard Castle in Durham, the band were on their hometown soil and clearly in their element again. You can definitely hear that, which is helped by the fact that they had improved as musicians by this point; their lack of technical ability was a drawback in their early days. That said, it still has a raw sound, which is necessary for Venom.

“The Evil One” is basically a classic Venom banger. The title pretty much speaks for itself, being about their favourite subject: Satan! To some, it might have seemed silly and outdated to be singing about such a subject matter in 1997, but if you’re a Venom fan, you probably don’t really care. As the Dolan era was very much the band’s wilderness years, many fans were pleased to see them revitalised and doing something exciting again. However, the glorious reunion was not to last, as the line-up quickly fell apart again. By the time of the next album, 2000’s Resurrection, Abaddon was gone again. It’s a long story. Moving on…

# 8 – Metal Punk

Venom, from day one, was influenced by punk, particularly by its attitude and the fact that, like Venom, most bands in the genre were not great at playing their instruments. So when they arrived, it was no surprise that a lot of the punks liked them, which is not something many metal bands could say at the time. Unlike most other heavy metal bands, Venom looked down on punk bands for their lack of technicality, probably because they didn’t have much to look down on! Like their hero Motorhead, they embraced much of Motorhead’s rawness, which helped them create their extreme sound. “Metal Punk” is simply a tribute to their spiky-haired comrades.

Off 1987’s Calm Before The Storm album, it’s not one of their most celebrated tracks, as the flame was starting to fade. However, this track stands out as the album’s highlight, drawing inspiration from the music it pays tribute to. Somewhat resembling bands such as The Exploited, it is a classic example of what is now seen as “crossover thrash,” when bands used elements of both styles to create a whole new one. It uses a distorted guitar style and blasting drums to live up to its title.

A notable thing about this album is that it marked the band’s first lineup change since their early days, as Mantas left and was replaced by two guitarists: Jim Claire and Mike Hickey. This marked it as the first album not to be recorded by the original trio. Interestingly, Hickey would rejoin the band nearly twenty years later, ironically replacing Mantas. It was also the last album of Cronos’s original run, with the two guitarists also leaving to join him in his solo career. That’s when Dolan came in, and the two guitarists were replaced by a familiar figure in the form of Mantas, as well as another guitarist called Al Barnes.

# 7 – Prime Evil

Another Dolan track, this time the title track from his debut, Prime Evil. Dolan had big boots to fill after Cronos left, and to be fair, he didn’t do a terrible job, as this rather rocking track proves. The song is a little more mainstream in the hard rock area than the band’s generally extreme style. Dolan has a similar-sounding voice to Cronos, but it has a bit more of a swagger about it than Cronos’s raspy shout. Overall, an underrated song from an underrated album. Dolan later performed with Mantas and Abaddon as Venom Inc.

# 6 – Temples of Ice

The title and closing track off Dolan’s second effort with the band, 1991’s Temples of Ice, show a more experimental side to Venom. At over 6 minutes long, it varies between slow, mid-paced, and fast parts and gives the band a chance to show what they can do as musicians. Mantas and Barnes do a pretty good job as a dual-guitar unit, with the song featuring some impressive-sounding solos. Then something completely unexpected happens: the thrashing stops at the end, and a melodic trippy section ensues, which is a nice little way to end the song.

# 5 – Welcome To Hell

The title track off Venom’s first album is pretty self-explanatory as an introduction to the world of Venom. There was truly nothing like it at the time, even though the production is bad; that is essentially what gives it its sound.

The criticisms are easy to make, particularly the rather puerile and dated sounding Satanic lyrics. Also, the band’s amateurish musicianship at this time, not helped by the unpolished production, makes it sound incredibly noisy. However, it is these negative aspects that ultimately create something incredibly unique. It should be noted that Venom were generally despised by both critics and other bands at the time. However, history has proven those critics very wrong indeed.

# 4 – At War with Satan

Now was the time to progress. After pioneering extreme metal with Black Metal, Venom decided that for their third album, 1984’s At War with Satan, they would explore grander concepts. Inspired by Rush’s 2112 album, At War is a concept album about a war between heaven and hell. It was supposed to be Venom’s attempt to go more mainstream, but it didn’t happen.

This was not helped by the fact that the album was pulled from stores due to its anti-Christian content. It showed maturity in the band’s songwriting and musical capabilities and was much more well-received by critics than the previous two albums. This title track, in particular, shows them slowing down from thrash to create a much more progressive-sounding track. At nearly twenty minutes long (not something Venom has ever done before or since), it takes up the entire first side of the album. To some, it may sound bloated and a little too adventurous, but it is nonetheless a notable entry in Venom’s discography.

# 3 – Metal Black

A stupid title, maybe, but one that signifies the full circle that Venom had come to in the 21st century. Featuring the lineup of Cronos joined by new members Mykvs and Antton, this title track from the 2006 album is a classic modern-day Venom number that manages to inject new life into the old style. Once again, the lyrical content of Venom as dark lords pulls no punches and is a very heavy track, helped by modern production. It never slows down, and the energy is definitely there.

# 2 – Punks Not Dead

Another tribute to the punks, this time off 2011’s Fallen Angels. Lyrically, it deals with the idea that you should never let age get you down. And with that concept, the band delivers on it with a rocking number that makes it clear that Venom is still here and will be for the foreseeable future.

Featuring yet another different line-up, this time Cronos being joined by guitarist Rage and drummer Dante, Venom are easily now better musicians than they have ever been before, and this track proves it. Although they no longer have the super-raw edge that made their initial sound, it doesn’t matter; these days, they can simply make solid metal albums that still sound fresh and exciting.

# 1 – Black Metal

The title track from the band’s most legendary album, this track essentially encapsulates the birth of a new kind of metal that continues to evolve and exists to this day. Raw sounding, bleak, and with lyrics dealing with Venom as the dark gods of rock n roll, what you have here is a genuine musical millstone, which is what guarantees its place at number 1 on this list.

Even aside from its importance as a historical document, it is a genuinely great speed metal number and one of the greatest metal songs of all time.