Welcome To Hell

This is where black metal began, even though the term didn't come into use until Venom's second album, "Black Metal" came out. Still, this is where it all started. There's not much to say about this that hasn't been said already, so I'll just say that this is essential if you like REAL HEAVY METAL! Sure, "Black Metal" was more raw & really scary, but this one has the attitude. Sure, Venom's musical skills were limited in the beginning, but after all, it's the feeling of the music that mattered. And this was one rowdy, blasphemous piece of vinyl (or CD, in 2004). After hearing the opening track, "Sons of Satan", you kind of knew what you were getting yourself into. Nearly every song on here is classic Venom, like, oh let's see, "Welcome to Hell"; the early thrash masterpiece "Witching Hour", with its churchbell-like bass intro, complete with thunderstorm & various scary sounds; "In League with Satan", with backwards Satanic intro and tribal drum beats. It even has a cool little guitar interlude called "Mayhem with Mercy", which, amazingly, isn't Satanic at all, but still sounds good. Another cool thing on here is the band quote which said, 'If this lp is warped or defaced in any way, please throw it away and buy a new one'. How many bands would say that? Most black metal bands all seem to sound the same. Screaming obscenities, playing 1000 m.p.h. on every song, never doing anything different, but Venom did things differently. Almost all their songs sounded unique, with interesting lyrics. You could actually remember the way the songs went after you heard them. Anyway, that's my opinion. Buy this CD and if you don't like it, T.S.!

Venom's terrifying 1st release, the original death metal prototype, absolutely seared speakers and left listeners slack-jawed in the early 80's. Rarely had a band come along and played with such blatant disregard for amplification and melody. While not the greatest of musicians, as evidenced by Abbadon's barely passable drumming, this album set a new standard in brutality and mayhem. Mixing Satanic imagery and lyrics with bulldozer rhythms and bargain basement production, the album sounds primitive by today's standards, but listening to such innovative trax such as "Sons of Satan", "Live Like An Angel, Die Like A Devil", and the still soul-feezing "Welcome To Hell", with it's Lord's Prayer chant that can STILL send shivers up your spine, you knew Venom had caught onto something. They introduced a new wave of metal practitioners, and a new term for the metal masses; Black Metal. Soon afterwards, bands such as Bathory, Celtic Frost and Possessed took the initiative that Venom started and soon made Black Metal a viable exponent of metal. Their influence was worldwide. After awhile, Venom's antics and attitude got a bit much, and their music suffered, never fully recovering after releasing the mediocre "Possessed" album. Their legacy is the the brutal "Black Metal" and this, their debut classic. In your hands, you hold a history lesson followed and preached by many a new generation of metal loyalists and bands, including Metallica, who opened for Venom on the infamous and now legendary 7 Dates Of Hell tour. An absolute must have if you even think about getting into death/black metal.

When you are a boy in high school- bored, frustrated, in need of attention- sometimes the more offensive and awful a band is the better. Behold Venom! These guys are about offensive as it gets. 75% of their lyrics (at least) are Satanic and they make Motorhead sound like the Beach Boys. But they are great at what they do. They actually have some catchy riffs. They have taken a lot of heat for their questionable musicianship and low budget production but you could say the same about musicianship for a lot of bands including The Sex Pistols and The Clash. I think if you had Bob Rock behind the glass I think these guys would sound tight. But this in it's rawness is ferocious metal and ended up influencing everyone. To hear what I am talking about listen to In League With Satan and In Nomine Satanas... but then go to confession.