Venom 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 (NWOBHM) era, Venom's first two albums, Welcome to Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982), are considered influences on black metal, thrash metal and extreme metal in general.Kahn-Harris, Keith. Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge. Oxford: Berg, 2007. . Their second album's title inspired the name of the black metal genre. Venom were part of the first wave of the genre, along with Mercyful Fate and Bathory.
Throughout a -year career, Venom have continued recording and performing live, with the exception of several hiatuses and line-up changes. Original guitarist Jeffrey "Mantas" Dunn left Venom in 1986. Vocalist/bassist Conrad "Cronos" Lant left two years later to start a solo career, leaving the band with no remaining original members. Drummer Anthony "Abaddon" Bray (who joined in 1979) continued the band with Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan as vocalist and bassist until their hiatus in 1992. The "classic" line-up of Mantas, Cronos, and Abaddon reunited in 1995, recording one album before dismissing the latter in 1999. Abaddon was replaced by Cronos' brother Anthony "Antton" Lant. After the release of their tenth studio album, Resurrection (2000), Venom entered a two-year hiatus. Cronos reformed the band without Mantas in 2004, and remained the only constant member until his death in 2026. Former band members have formed their own versions of Venom at different times, notably Venom Inc., which reunited Mantas, Abaddon, and Dolan.
History Early years (1978–1981) Venom were formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1978. The original lineup came from the bands Guillotine, Oberon, and Dwarfstar. The original Guillotine featured Jeff "Mantas" Dunn and Dave Rutherford on guitars,bassist Dean Hewitt, singer Dave Blackman, and Chris Mercater, who replaced original drummer Paul Burke. Blackman and Mercater were replaced with drummer Anthony Bray and vocalist Clive Archer. Hewitt was replaced with bassist Alan Winston. In late 1978, Conrad Lant from Dwarfstar (also featuring Kevin "Ropa" Robson - bass, Graeme "Shamus" Newton - drums and vocalist Keith "Bod" Ballard) joined Guillotine, replacing Dave Rutherford. Between Dwarfstar and Guillotine, Lant was in short-lived, "futuristic metal cyberpunk" band Album Graecum.
Lant switched to bass after Winston left. The band members assumed stage names. Archer became "Jesus Christ", Lant "Cronos", Bray "Abaddon", and Dunn "Mantas". The band name their changed in 1979, when a roadie suggested "Venom".
At the beginning of their career, Venom played covers of Motörhead and Judas Priest. After Cronos joined, he introduced the subjects of the dark arts, and used "Satanic" lyrics and imagery, mostly for shock value.Bradley Torreano: [ "In League with Satan - Venom"]. AllMusic. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
In late 1979, Lant introduced the band to his original artwork designs for the Venom logo and Satanic images. He later created the artwork and designs for the Venom record sleeves. He introduced original song ideas, since he did not want to play the same cover songs. He and Dunn began writing new songs. Lant had composed "Sons of Satan", "Bloodlust" and "Welcome to Hell", while Dunn had begun to compose "Angel Dust", "Red Light Fever", "Buried Alive", "Raise the Dead" and "Live Like an Angel, Die Like a Devil", with Dunn playing guitar and Cronos writing lyrics. Dunn and Lant redefined these songs together, and, after a few weeks, Lant recorded a rehearsal on a cassette recorder, which he played for the label he worked for, Neat Records, although as the band rehearsed in an old church hall, the sound was not good. In April 1980, Lant persuaded the label to give him free studio time, and the band recorded a three-song demo. Soon after, six more tracks were recorded for £50, with Lant singing on "Live Like an Angel". Archer left the band, and Venom became a trio.
Classic line-up (1981–1986) Venom's professional recording debut was the 1981 single "In League with Satan / Live Like an Angel", which was released by Neat Records. Later that year they released their full-length debut album, Welcome to Hell.
Welcome to Hell was a big influence on future thrash bands. Venom's music was faster and harsher than most heavy metal contemporaries and while Satanism and other dark topics had been featured in metal before, the subject had rarely been more prominent. Lant was quoted as saying that this celebration of evil subjects was inspired by the perceived need to outdo musicians like Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath, who would "sing about evil things and dark figures, and then spoil it all by going: 'Oh, no, no, please, God, help me!'"[ "MMV: Review by James Christopher Monger"]. AllMusic. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
Their second album, 1982's Black Metal, is cited as perhaps the most important influence in the development of black metal, thrash metal, death metal, and other related styles that are often grouped under the extreme metal umbrella. Many defining elements of these genres are first found in the lyrics and song titles created by Lant, his unique singing style and larger than life presence. Venom's first two albums inspired cult followings to this day. While many of their new wave of British heavy metal peers (like Iron Maiden) had found measures of popular success or critical acclaim, or (like Def Leppard) were moving away from heavy metal towards hard rock, Venom were still regarded by critics as "a trio of buffoons".
In 1984, Venom released their third album At War with Satan, featuring an epic 20-minute title track, with substantial influences of many different musical styles, which took up the first side of the album. The title track, written by Lant, was a deliberate way for him to rebuff the critics who said Venom could not play. The B-side was focused on the rapid-fire, three-minute "scorchers" Venom were known for, including "Stand Up and Be Counted". A live video, The 7th Date of Hell Venom Live at Hammersmith Odeon, was also released that year. In 1985, Venom released their fourth studio album, Possessed, which was recorded in a stately home, and saw a band enjoying their success with different chefs being flown in every day during the album's recording, lavish parties of sex, drugs and rock n' roll. By this time Venom had released several singles ("Warhead", "Die Hard" and "Manitou" among others) and live EPs (The Assault Series including Canadian Assault, American Assault and French Assault). That same year, Venom toured with Slayer and Exodus on the Ultimate Revenge Tour.
Cronos believed Possessed to be underestimated: "I don't think there's any songs that are kind of overlooked, I just think some songs maybe weren't recorded as well as we could have recorded them. Like say for example on the Possessed album, I still think there are great songs."
During March and April 1986, Venom were supposed to record their fifth album, Deadline, but internal relationships began to deteriorate. A live album, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and a second live video, Alive in '85, were released in 1986. Dunn then left the band to release a solo album.
Temporary break-up and Tony Dolan era (1987–1995)
Two guitarists, Mike Hickey and Jim Clare, were hired to replace Dunn. Their fifth album, 1987's Calm Before the Storm, moved away from Satanic themes in favour of "sword and sorcery" material.[ "Calm Before the Storm: Review by Steve Huey"]. AllMusic. Retrieved 24 January 2013. This was a new direction for Venom, although it did not last long, with only a short Japanese and Brazilian tour in 1986, so the band decided to split, and Lant, Clare and Hickey all left to form Lant's solo band, Cronos.
Bray was left as the only group member, but he was able to convince Music for Nations for a deal to release a new Venom album on the Under One Flag label, using Deadline demo tracks which were recorded with previous line-ups but never released. In 1988, Bray offered a vocals/bass role to Tony Dolan (The Demolition Man) from Atomkraft. Bray and Dolan wrote new material prior to Dunn's rejoining the band along with rhythm guitarist Al Barnes. Together they recorded Prime Evil (1989), the EP Tear Your Soul Apart (1990) and Temples of Ice (1991). Barnes then left the band, and Steve White from Atomkraft was hired as his replacement. They released The Waste Lands in 1992, also without success. Music for Nations refused to release any more Venom albums, so Dolan and Dunn quit, effectively disbanding Venom. Bray continued to release compilation and live albums up to 1995. Nonetheless, Dolan, Dunn and Bray continued performing as a trio.
Reunion and death of Cronos (1995–present)
In 1995, Lant, Dunn and Bray reunited the "classic" line-up, beginning by headlining the Waldrock Festival on 24 June 1995. They recorded and self-released the Venom '96 EP with four re-recorded old tracks and one new song, resulting in a record deal with the SPV label. Following this was a live CD/video box set, The Second Coming, composed entirely of songs from their classic era such as "Welcome to Hell", "Countess Bathory", "In Nomine Satanas" and "Black Metal". An album, Cast in Stone, was next released in 1997, split between two discs which was one of all new material and the other with re-recordings of popular early-1980s songs.
By 1999, internal conflicts in the band delayed production of the second album in their deal with SPV. Band manager Eric Cook and Abaddon decided not to work with Cronos again. Abaddon wrote a letter to Cronos, with the intent of firing him. In response, Cronos communicated the situation to SPV. The record company refused to work with Venom if Cronos was not part of the line-up. Cronos answered Abaddon telling him: "You can't kick the Devil out of hell, I'm firing you!" Despite this, the band tried to invite Abaddon to play with them again but Bray did not want to perform on the album and he was replaced by Conrad Lant's younger brother, Anton. This line-up released Resurrection in 2000 on SPV. However, in 2002 Dunn was next to leave the group and Lant replaced him with an American guitarist, Mike Hickey, who had already taken part in the 1987 release, Calm Before the Storm, and Cronos solo albums. In late 2005, Venom released a career-spanning four-disc box set, MMV, which includes an exclusive mini-poster of the band's seven-date tour of Europe with Metallica and a 60-page picture book, with interviews and pictures. The set includes all their best-known songs, along with rarities like live tracks, demos and outtakes. This line-up of the band released the Metal Black album in 2006.
In 2007, Mike Hickey left the band and guitarist Stuart "Rage" Dixon joined the band and this line-up released the record Hell the following year. In 2009, drummer Danny "Dante" Needham joined the band and Lant wrote that this would be known as "The Epic Line-Up of Venom", and they set off on a full South American tour. After headlining festivals around the world for the next couple of years gaining in popularity, they released the Fallen Angels album on 28 November 2011.
Venom released their fourteenth studio album, From the Very Depths, on 27 January 2015. The band also played one song, "Rise", they were working on in the studio, live for the audience at Rockfest 2014.
Venom released a three-track EP, 100 Miles to Hell, on 22 December 2017. Their fifteenth album, Storm the Gates, was released on 14 December 2018.
Venom's sixteenth studio album, and their first in eight years, Into Oblivion, was released on 1 May 2026. The album's lead single, "Lay Down Your Soul", was released on 5 March 2026.
On 1 October 2026, Cronos' bandmates Rage and Danté and his son Nathan announced on social media that he had died at the age of 63.
Venom Inc.