Venom - Black Metal

What is that racket!? By the time Venom released their second album, Black Metal, the Metal world was undergoing fierce changes. The NWOBHM was already waning, Punk was leering, Motorhead was snarling, KISS and Alice Cooper had lost face, Black Sabbath re-energized with Dio and both Iron Maiden and Ozzy were headed for the stratosphere. Venom had already unleashed the dangerous and devilish Welcome to Hell.  Extreme Metal and Thrash did not yet exist.  Venom was possessed by Satan and bent on colliding NWOBHM with Punk.

According to bassist/vocalist Cronos, the skin-crawling shrill of the opening moments is actually a chainsaw chewing through a metal bolt.  And with that Black Metal rips wide open into a frenetic pace and buzzing blur. Still potent to this day, “Black Metal” is perhaps the song Venom will always be known for and one of the best blistering album openers/title tracks since Motorhead’s “Overkill.” Exhausting, influential and simply awesome, it’s no surprise bands like Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Hypocrisy and Vader would cover the song.

But the album didn’t run out of steam there.  The pounding pulse of “To Hell and Back” is a refreshing, yet wicked breath of air following the title track.  Then there is the eerie “Buried Alive.” Actually shoveling dirt upon a microphone, the band created a haunting tale of interment. Guitarist Mantas would belt out a howling solo while Cronos bass oozed out a tremendous atmosphere.  The song quickly breaks into “Raise the Dead” which gets back to the Punkish pace and taboo satanic lyrics.

The oddball of the album comes from the salacious, naughty and downright filthy “Teacher’s Pet.” All about making it with a sleazy school marm, Cronos barks out lyrics that could have been ripped from pornographic yarn. In the middle of the dirty ditty comes a rather spectacular blues jam.  Venom would never be this unique, wild or oversexed again. 

The band gets back to the blasphemy with “Leave Me in Hell.” Built on grooves and an odd time structure, Cronos belts out yet another tale of being in league with the devil.  “Sacrifice” proves a bit too sloppy for its own good.  Sounding almost identical to the previous track, it doesn’t have the punch of the previous songs. “Heaven’s on Fire” also is also a bit clunky even with its hurried pace and is really only worth checking out for Mantas’ shredding style that Kerry King would later adopt.

Things get back on track with the awesome “Countess Bathory.” Cronos howls out the evil blood fiend’s name over some of the slickest riffs Mantas would ever create.  The groovy “Don’t Burn the Witch” is the true closer of the disc as “At War With Satan (Preview)” is just Cronos rambling on about spooky stuff over a collection of haunted house sound effects.

The 2002 re-release tacks on bunch of rarities along with the amped up sound.  First comes “Bursting Out (60+ Min Version).” It’s a quick burner that has a lot in common with the album’s title track. Next comes four songs performed live on the BBC’s Radio 1. “Black Metal” is somehow faster and heavier while the future hit “Nightmare” shows up rough around the edges. An early version of “Too Loud for the Crowd” screams of aggression while “Bloodlust” would probably terrify anyone tuning in.  Next comes the single-only “Die Hard” and “Acid Queen,” both which are extremely raw and ornery but better than the middle portion of the original album. A proper recording of “Bloodlust” appears and then closes with a wall of sound called “Hounds of Hell.” An outtake from the recording of Black Metal, the track is a messy affair that still retains that weird, warty Venom charm.

History shows that Black Metal would later name the genre. Not long after the album’s release, bands like Hellhammer, Bathory and Mercyful Fate would expand on Venom’s musical and lyrical exploits. But that doesn’t dismiss the power of Black Metal. The band was truly possessed in 1982. There was nothing like it then and there has been nothing like it since. 1983’s At War with Satan was simply too much.  No one was ready for a bloated 20-minute epic from band that was brilliant at bashing out 3-minute scorchers. By 1985, Venom had been eclipsed.  Their once supporting act Metallica was now heading the Thrash revolution that Venom helped create. Plus Celtic Frost was heavier, Mercyful Fate was classier and Slayer was simply doing what Venom did, but much better. Their album Possessed tried to recapture Black Metal’s brilliance but an exceptionally weak production buried the material. The band would languish on with various members before calling it a day in 1992. They would later reunite in 1997 and even re-record material from Welcome to Hell and Black Metal for a bonus disc to Cast in Stone.

Now with Cronos the only remaining original member, Venom is perhaps more Thrash Metal than Black Metal, but they still know how to harness pure satanic mayhem. Either way, if there is one Venom album to hear, it’s Black Metal.  It’s their magnum opus and one of the best examples of unsophisticated music having so much raw energy that it would continue to inspire countless musicians and bands for nearly 30 years.

Release Date: November, 1982
Label: Neat Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Black Metal
2.  To Hell and Back
3.  Buried Alive
4.  Raise the Dead
5.  Teachers’ Pet
6.  Leave Me In Hell
7.  Sacrifice
8.  Heaven’s on Fire
9.  Countess Bathory
10.  Don’t Burn the Witch
11.  At War with Satan (Preview)

2002 Sanctuary Re-release:
12.  Bursting Out (60 Min+ Version)
13.  Black Metal (Radio 1 Session)
14.  Nightmare (Radio 1 Session)
15.  Too Loud For the Crowd (Radio 1 Session)
16.  Bloodlust (Radio 1 Session)
17.  Die Hard (12” Version)
18.  Acid Queen (12” Version)
19.  Bursting Out (12” Version)
20.  Hounds of Hell (Outtake)

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Classic Review

September 17, 2010

Reviewer: Rottenbucher