Venom (band)

Venom (band) are an English heavy metal band formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1978. Coming to prominence towards the end of the new wave of British heavy metal, Venom's first two albums, Welcome to Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982), are considered major influences on black metal, thrash metal and extreme metal in general. Their second album proved influential enough that its title was used as the name of the black metal genre; as a result, Venom were part of the early wave of the genre, along with Mercyful Fate and Bathory.

Quotes about Venom

• We had no idea what we were doing was going to become such a big thing. So many bands were in the studio at the same time as us. How the hell could I have presumed that it would be my band who would be the lasting name? We weren’t trying to be the next Iron Maiden or the next this or that. We just wanted to do what we enjoyed. You had a band like [fellow Geordie NWOBHM outfit] Tygers Of Pan Tang always dropping Purple references; you know, ‘We want to be the next Deep Purple.’ Well, Venom never did that. We never said that. We said, ‘We are now, we are new, we are Venom.
  • Conrad Lant of Venom [1]

• When Geordie trio Venom coined the term black metal for the title of their 1982 second album, it was a way of marking themselves out as one louder than the rest of the rising wave of metal bands going faster, harder and noisier. With more volume than Motörhead, more speed than Priest, and more diabolic imagery than Black Sabbath visiting a Hammer Horror set, they’d already set up business to the horned one with their 1981 debut Welcome To Hell.
  • Nick Ruskell of Kerrang! [2]

• Very few metal bands can claim to be as influential as the power trio Venom. Taking the rumble and speed of Motorhead and warping into something more sinister altogether, the band’s Satanic themes and wild image were uninhibited savagery. ‘Welcome to Hell’ changed the metal landscape forever in 1981, followed by ‘Black Metal’ and ‘At War With Satan.’ Giving rise to what became the first wave of black metal, Venom’s impact helped usher in extreme metal, proving attitude could supersede technical abilities if done properly.
  • [3]