All hail Venom! The godfathers of Black Metal, this NWOBHM band
formed in 1979, releasing three classic albums before they'd given
a single live performance. By the time the veiled-in-mystery band
toured, the buzz about them was enormous. Cronos' dread-inspiring
vocals seemed delivered not from the voice box, but from an inner
Pandora's box. Drummer Abaddon and guitarist Mantas kicked up maelstroms
of their own. No power trio before them had created such a fray
of propulsive beats and godly riffage. Venom distilled all of Metal's
cliches -- the obsessions with war, sex, fantasy, the occult --
and took them to extremes bordering on parody. Chanting along to
the wicked camp of "In League with Satan" and "Live
Like an Angel (Die Like a Devil)" are guilty pleasures. Amoral?
Perhaps, but no less so than indulging in the rank sexism of "Red
Light Fever" and "Teacher's Pet." Some followers
(e.g., the Scandinavian Black Metal scene) took their satanic posturing
literally, but for Venom the "metal" in heavy metal was
always pure irony.
