Biography

Venom, formed in 1979 in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, basically kickstarted the extreme metal movement, although in retrospect their raw satanic speed metal sound was not too dissimilar from a few of their nwobhm comrades. At their prime Venom seemed the heaviest and most menacing band out there, and were a big influence to virtually all early extreme metal bands.

Their seminal album Black Metal lent its name to the up and coming subgenre of the same name. Indeed Black Metal is frequently regarded as the main creative force within the metal scene, (although it is not black metal as we perceive it nowadays) with other related subgenres seeing relative stasis since the late 1990s and early 2000s.

During the mid 80’s, black metal bands such as Bathory and Hellhammer took Venom’s sonic intensity and occult imagery towards new heights, helping further establish the subgenre the way it is known today.

Alongside the black metal subgenre, both thrash metal and death metal acts frequently cite Venom as a significant influence, both to their sound and lyrical content, if not their tendency towards leather and spiked clothing! Examples include Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Testament, as well Death, Morbid Angel, Entombed, Deicide and Obituary…