Customer Reviews
This is..
Quite the alBum. I'm quite the fan, and the guitarist iS good (This is the "DuckmaN" of Metal Bands. . Best T. V. Show, Best Metal Band respectively. . )lookiNg. . "Black Metal. " It is said I heard, that the Genre was named after this albuM. . Hellish awful lyrics I'm sure. . But Mastorbatory fodDer (Good looking guitarist. . Good image. . it's happening. . OO. . NOw. . )in the extreme.
Lay down your soul to the gods rock 'n' roll!
Venom are the kings. . enough said. This and "Welcome To Hell" gave birth to a new genre of metal, obviously, black metal. Nobody who came forth in the past and people who come forth in the future will ever be able to match Venom. Just think of how many black metal bands there are out there. There would be none of them if it wasn't for these guys. So, while they were creating a new sub-genre of heavy metal, bassist and growler Cronos, drummer Abaddon and guitarist Mantas released one killer album to boot. Combining the influences of Black Sabbath with their riffs and the sheer speed of Motorhead, Venom were able to mash these together and create something unheard of. Venom was panned their entire career, but they inspired tons of kids to get up and say "I can do that, too!" to play music. And as much as the posers think that the Cradle Of Filth cover of the title track is better than this "trash" (sarcasm), I say go to Hell and don't come back.
Production is raw, but nothing is as bad as their debut LP, "Welcome To Hell", which also is a great album. If you are looking for crystal-clear production, then hint at this. This is a heavy metal album from the early 80's from England. The lyrics are just an act, but they are cool anyway. Crono's vocals are very unique (not too good, per se, but you could recognize them easily) and he makes the choruses very catchy sounding, preferably "Raise The Dead", "Black Metal" and "Countess Bathory", among others. In other words, he makes the songs sound ten times better. Abaddon was not the best drummer ever, but he was fun nonetheless. Guitar playing was improved, but Mantas isn't Steve Vai. Regardless of technicality, the guitar playing is simple, but catchy as all hell. These songs will be stuck in your head forever, and that's a good thing! There is not a bad song here. . . in fact. . . every song is a 100,000,000,000/5 for me. I'm serious. This album is in my Top 5 of greatest ever.
The first track, "Black Metal", is in a tie for best song here. With a killer riff, killer chorus and great lyrics, I have to say one thing. . . "Lay down your soul to the gods rock 'n' roll!!!" The next track, "To Hell And Back" is one of the best riffs on the album and a great chorus (yet again). Very, very catchy and overall fun song. "Buried Alive" has a very long and strange intro, and is slower, but killer. The solo starting at 2:40 is classic Venom. "Raise The Dead" is too catchy to exist. The chorus "WE! Will raise the dead!" is classic. "Teacher's Pet", almost hitting five minutes, is a classic Venom track. Great riff. "Leave Me In Hell" and "Sacrifice" are also killer songs with great riffs and choruses. "Heaven's On Fire" has a riff that is still stuck in my head from the first time I heard it, and I love it! It's just too good. "Countess Bathory" is about Bathory, the chick who bathed in blood of virgins. Great chorus and incredible riff. This is tied for best song on the album. You have to hear this song. "Don't Burn The Witch" ends the best black metal album ceasing to exist.
The reissue is worth it, even if you owned the original vinyl. What you get are nine bonus tracks, which are a bunch of assortments of b-sides, demos, outtakes and such. After the 2:22 preview of the epic "At War With Satan", the bonus tracks begin. First, some demos of "Bursting Out" and "Black Metal". Then, three "Radio-1 Session" tracks, which include "Too Loud For The Crowd", "Nightmare" and "Bloodlust". There are 12" version tracks, which are "Die Hard", "Acid Queen", and "Bursting Out". The expanded album closes off with an outtake of "Hounds Of Hell". The reissue is worth it, because it has been re-mastered and the bonus tracks. So, anyway, this and "Welcome To Hell" are the albums that every black, death and thrash band have re-written thousands and thousands of times. Venom's first three albums are the originals. Besides Sabbath, nobody has proved to be more influential.
Venomous
After listening to this album several times, you can really tell they influenced bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and death metal and black metal and thrash and just about a lot of metal acts out there. Venom's Black Metal is a milestone for the extreme metal genre and the start of Black Metal. Venom remains to be one of the most important bands in heavy metal history. This is what metal was and is - music of aggression, and raw power!
Teacher's Pet is an awsome yet random song off this album - listen to it and compare it to the others, yeah it's funny and random to hear guys like Venom singing about that! haha.
. You can see a complete list of all Venom discography, or go back to the Venom tabs
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