Venom

1979年的英格兰正值动荡的春秋。重金属音乐在朋克们昙花一现的光芒过后继续散发着旺盛的活力。Venom，这支长久来被主流社会所忽视的乐队，Black Metal的鼻祖，出现在了纽卡斯尔的泰恩城，包括主唱/贝司手Conrad Lant/绰号Cronos（意思是怀有兽性恶意的疯狂掠夺者）、鼓手Tony Bray/绰号Abaddon（意为地狱之门的野蛮守卫）和吉他手Jeff Dunn/绰号Mantas（意为大独裁者）三个邪恶的怪胎。
事实上，Venom的前身是一个叫Oberon的五人乐队。当Oberon的鼓手Abaddon在一次Judas Priest的演唱会上与舞台工作人员Mantas碰面后，他们发现彼此间有很多共同之处，于是他们决定组建一个乐队。乐队的名字来自Mantas，当时他是Motorhead的一员，在那里，他的绰号就叫Venom。不久后，Cronos作为吉他手加入Venom。不过当MANTAS写了一首Live Like An Angel，Die Like A Devil后，他让Cronos试着唱了唱，结果大家都很喜欢。同时，Abaddon联系到一些俱乐部的演出活动，但乐队的贝司手却离开乐队结婚去了，于是Cronos就试着操起了贝司，结果发现这并不是个很难摆弄的东西。现在这样的阵容大家都很满意，于是就一直这样继续下去了。
1981年，他们发行了首张专辑《Welcome to hell》。这是一张可怕的专辑。首先是封面设计，一个大大的倒五角星中嵌着撒旦的山羊头。到那时为止，曾经提到过撒旦的乐队只有Black Sabbath，但Venom觉得Sabbath仍然不够黑，于是他们大胆采用了这样一个在当时可谓惊世骇俗的封面。音乐上，这张专辑更为可怕，Venom无疑是当时世界上最重的乐队。当其他乐队正在尝试借鉴朋克乐做出稍微粗野一点的金属音乐时，Venom在这张Welcome To Hell中已经把时代提前了将近10年。没有人能够相信听到这张1981年专辑时的感觉：重型和邪恶。
乐队本身很不寻常，证明这点的事实除了他们只花了三天遍录完正张专辑外，还有这支乐队从为参与过联合演出。实际上，他们成为传奇人物后，便拒绝与任何其他乐队合作。1984年6月1日，在哈莫史密斯奥登，Venom举行了他们在英国的首次演出，Dumpy's Rusty Nuts乐队为其暖场，那晚被人们称为“地狱里的第17天”。此次演出的门票被抢购一空，但更惊人的大概还得数混杂在听众中的那些朋克、吸毒者、纹身者以及摩托党等，所有的人都来看这一疯狂场面，从而使“Venom”成为少数几个能吸引大量观众的金属乐队之一，过去只有Hawkwind、Motorhead、Rose Tattoo乐队有过类似场景。正如你从这些“超乎寻常”的观众群中所预料到的，演唱会上到处充斥着失真的噪音和沸腾的歌声，仿佛舞台上接有火焰喷射器，假如你站在会场后面便可身临其境，到了高潮时，台上每件物品都被打得粉碎！
Venom对此好不在乎，在接下来的一年里，他们推出了真正的不朽之作，可能是有史以来最好的金属专辑之一：《Black metal》（当然也许在今天看来无论是技术还是思想性都很一搬但在当时作为开拓者的身份确实十分不易。专辑中包括许多具有“危险性”的经典名曲，如《Leave me in the hell》和《Raise the dead》。或者这可算是当时最“重”的重金属唱片了，它的封套上印着一行格言：家庭录音在扼杀音乐……毒液既是如此。很多歌都被日后数以万计的乐队翻唱过，这些歌把金属音乐足足推进了一大步。也就是从这张专辑开始，一个最为邪恶，最为极端的重金属分支正式宣告诞生，它的名字就是：Black Metal，黑色金属。黑色，地狱，邪恶，憎恨，反神....这一切都来自于Abaddon急速而激动的鼓声，Mantas暴戾而深沉的吉他，以及Cronos那沙哑恶毒的嗓音。这张出色的专辑使他们的地位在当时的地下乐队和真正的金属乐迷心目中提升到和Iron Maiden同等的高度。
A seminal influence on the evolution of thrash and black metal, Venom formed during the late '70s in Newcastle, England. Originally a five-piece group called Oberon, they eventually trimmed their lineup to a trio comprising singer/bassist Conrad "Cronos" Lant, guitarist Jeff "Mantas" Dunn, and drummer Tony "Abaddon" Bray. Influenced by the heavy intensity of Motörhead and the visual flash of Kiss, the newly rechristened Venom developed a dark, blistering sound which paved the way for the subsequent rise of thrash music; similarly, their macabre, proudly satanic image proved a major inspiration for the legions of black metal bands to appear in their wake, even lending the genre its name with the release of their 1982 sophomore LP, Black Metal. (Their debut, Welcome to Hell, preceded it by a year.)
Venom's third album, At War with Satan, followed in 1983, and two years later they released Possessed. Lineup changes plagued the group in the years to follow, with Mantas exiting in the wake of 1985's live Eine Kleine Nachtmusik; guitarists Matt Hickey and Jimmy Clare were tapped as his replacements, making their debut on 1987's Calm Before the Storm. Cronos then quit as well, however, mounting a solo career and taking both Hickey and Clare with him as he left; at that point Mantas rejoined Abaddon to form a new edition of Venom with onetime Atomkraft vocalist/bassist Tony "The Demolition Risk" Dolan and guitarist Al Barnes. The new lineup made its bow on 1989's Prime Evil; Tear Your Soul Apart appeared a year later.
After 1991's Temples of Ice, Barnes quit Venom; his absence was filled by guitarist Steve "War Maniac" White, who along with keyboardist V.X.S. was recruited in time for 1992's The Waste Lands before both quickly exited. The trio of Mantas, Abaddon, and Dolan continued touring throughout the middle years of the decade, although no more new studio recordings were forthcoming; finally, in 1996 Cronos returned to the Venom fold, making way for Dolan's departure. The original lineup's return to action was heralded by the release of the mini-album Venom '96, followed in 1997 by the full-length Made in Stone. After a world tour, Venom issued the two-disc New, Live & Rare in mid-1998. Buried Alive appeared a year later, and in the spring of 2000 the group returned with The Court of Death and Beauty and the Beast. In 2006 they celebrated their 25th anniversary with Metal Black.