When it boils down to it, being in a band is essentially like being in a relationship…it’s people coming together, giving it a go, trying to find that spark, that chemistry and, sometimes it works right off the bat. There are still, believe it or not a select few bands that have been together, unchanged since day one; bands like GARBAGE who formed in the early nineties, or more impressively, U2 who have had a consistent line-up since 1978! (Seriously guys you could get less time for murder…) but as we know, a lot of relationships don’t last, people come and go, get dumped, get replaced, and it’s the same for bands…shuffle the ranks, new vocalist etc…and it’s not always amicable. Let’s take VENOM for example…originally formed in 1979, they went on to release one of the most important metal album’s in history; “Black Metal”…it practically kick-started an entire new genre, fusing together elements of thrash and heavy metal with satanic lyricism…but, it wasn’t enough to keep them all together and subsequently they had more line-up changes than the Power Rangers…however, despite vocalist Cronos now doing his own thing, three former members (Vocalist Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan, guitarist Jeffery “Mantas” Dunn and drummer Anthony “Abaddon” Bray) have returned under the moniker of VENOM INC. and they have recently dropped their come-back album “Avé”…let’s ave’ a look shall we?
We open up very boldly on the 8-minute epic “Avé Satanas” and initially we’re greeted with the sweet, angelic tones of the Hail Mary…but the tranquility is soon shattered by the deep, demonic growl of the devil himself as he invites you to instead Hail Satan…it’s all incredibly gimmicky and a touch pantomime but there’s always been a level of theater to metal, thematically returning to their dark roots here. Musically it’s quite lethargic for the most part; it chugs along and feels every bit as long as it’s 8-minute run time which is sadly not a good thing…luckily, follow up tracks “Forged In Hell” and “Metal We Bleed” pick the pace right up as far more livelier offerings! The former utilising an up-tempo, thrash-inspired approach to classic metal, coupled with more of the rough, guttural vocals, and it has to be said the solo here is really quite captivating, this is much better, while the latter continues the onslaught with more pacey speed-metal…I can’t however get the image of GWAR and LORDI out of my head because of the vocals…
Lead single “Dein Fleisch” uses a deep, bass-heavy riff to give-off a sense of darkness, sinister intentions, while in the back ground you can hear an almost sensual suffering courtesy of female moaning…it’s a very sultry track, focusing on suppressed urges and giving into your desires; the pleasures of the flesh, mental and physical corruption and musically it fits very well, before musically we pick up the pace again with “Time To Die”…very frenetic, it channels the likes of SLAYER in it’s unrelenting delivery, the gang vocals adding an intensity, before “War” kicks in and HOLY SHIT BRAUN STROWMAN! I jest…it opens up with a battle cry and continues to pummel the listener, another fine solo to boot, it’s very stylish this, until we then finish up on “Black N Roll”…very possibly a tongue in cheek reference to black metal and a bit of a dig but regardless, it ends the album on a strong note. They might not have the same impact now as they did in the early 80’s, but there is a respect and admiration for these veterans as has been proven on the live stage in recent years…it’s hardly ground-breaking stuff this but it’s nice to have them back, they are venom incorporated, but we are part of that too…let’s black n roll bitch! [6]
We open up very boldly on the 8-minute epic “Avé Satanas” and initially we’re greeted with the sweet, angelic tones of the Hail Mary…but the tranquility is soon shattered by the deep, demonic growl of the devil himself as he invites you to instead Hail Satan…it’s all incredibly gimmicky and a touch pantomime but there’s always been a level of theater to metal, thematically returning to their dark roots here. Musically it’s quite lethargic for the most part; it chugs along and feels every bit as long as it’s 8-minute run time which is sadly not a good thing…luckily, follow up tracks “Forged In Hell” and “Metal We Bleed” pick the pace right up as far more livelier offerings! The former utilising an up-tempo, thrash-inspired approach to classic metal, coupled with more of the rough, guttural vocals, and it has to be said the solo here is really quite captivating, this is much better, while the latter continues the onslaught with more pacey speed-metal…I can’t however get the image of GWAR and LORDI out of my head because of the vocals…
Lead single “Dein Fleisch” uses a deep, bass-heavy riff to give-off a sense of darkness, sinister intentions, while in the back ground you can hear an almost sensual suffering courtesy of female moaning…it’s a very sultry track, focusing on suppressed urges and giving into your desires; the pleasures of the flesh, mental and physical corruption and musically it fits very well, before musically we pick up the pace again with “Time To Die”…very frenetic, it channels the likes of SLAYER in it’s unrelenting delivery, the gang vocals adding an intensity, before “War” kicks in and HOLY SHIT BRAUN STROWMAN! I jest…it opens up with a battle cry and continues to pummel the listener, another fine solo to boot, it’s very stylish this, until we then finish up on “Black N Roll”…very possibly a tongue in cheek reference to black metal and a bit of a dig but regardless, it ends the album on a strong note. They might not have the same impact now as they did in the early 80’s, but there is a respect and admiration for these veterans as has been proven on the live stage in recent years…it’s hardly ground-breaking stuff this but it’s nice to have them back, they are venom incorporated, but we are part of that too…let’s black n roll bitch! [6]
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