11. Venom Black Metal 1982 (Neat)
Heavy Metal
Another low-fidelity intoxication of gruesome metal.
Album
If the band’s insidious debut
Welcome to Hell would end up as being one of the most influential metal albums of all time, then their second album
Black Metal would actually end up going one better and give birth to a completely new metal sub-genre in a few years time, that of course being the nefarious Norwegien black metal scene. All Music describes these early Venom albums as a true Frankenstein monster, but as they weren’t actually created by a gifted if insane Doctor Frankenstein type composer, these early Venom albums can be seen as being created by the monster itself, despite this view Venom were still an extremely creative and visionary force, and were well and truly ahead of their time. The problem was though, was that Venom just didn’t have the ability to truly execute their prophetic vision in the style it truly deserved. Both
Welcome to Hell and
Black Metal had the Frankenstein monster zipping around in the most insidious manner possible and discovering the delights of Satanism in the process! Venom were always going to be doomed commercially with their non-palatable basement production approach, so the Newcastle trio focused on giving the monster that they had created on the previous album, its first steps around their gloomy mansion and the ultimate trip outside would have to wait until their next album! As for the songs on
Black Metal, the title track “Black Metal” with its grisly chainsaw opening, quickly blasts into a quintessential proto-thrash metal track and that’s what this album is in most aspects, a potent and gloomy proto-thrash piece, but it does also serve as a proto-black metal template as well. The constant similarities with Motorhead (as mentioned on their previous review) can be heard on a number of tracks like “To Hell and Back” and “Sacrifice” but instead of singing about tales of the road, Venom simply prefer to sing about their mate Lucifer! Venom also made great use of sound effects on the album and apart from the chainsaw opening on the title track, they made excellent use of a shovel briefly on “Buried Alive” one of the best tracks on the album and the song resonates some real classic era-Alice Cooper vibes to boot as well. Dave Mustaine must’ve got the musical and vocal template for Megadeth with “Leave Me in Hell” which plays more complex than most Venom songs to date and sounds like the sort of thing that Megadeth could’ve easily done as an original as well. These thrash similarities continue with “Countess Bathory” the best song on the album along with “Don’t Burn the Witch/At War with Satan (preview)” and with “Countess Bathory” Metallica surely got the basis for “Battery” several years later and if more of the songs were as potent as these two songs, the album would’ve figured in with the cream at the top of this year’s listings. Some of the songs like the goofy “Teacher’s Pet” with its yobo style chants and its totally unexpected bluesy middle section, neither hang one way or another and I guess are an acquired taste. With the thrash metal breakthrough just around the corner,
Black Metal with its dark malice would further add fuel to that fire, earning the album and the band the definitive proto-thrash label. On the one hand
Black Metal like
Welcome to Hell are original metal classics, but on the second are weakened by the band’s subpar production and their limited ability as musicians.
Cronos- Bass/Vocals
Mantas- Guitar
Abaddon- Drums
Production- Keith Nichol