The roots of modern extreme metal can be decisively traced back to the early 80’s, with the advent of bands like Venom, Mercyful Fate, Bathory; and a little later Slayer, Celtic Frost, Possessed; all laid down the foundations for all extreme metal to follow. Venom is a band among these, whose importance and influence is extremely vast. Venom, a band formed around 1980 in Newcastle, England, are still alive and strong after 20 years and continue to influence newer bands entering the realm of extreme metal. This album, Black Metal, is considered one of the important albums in the history of metal, and rightfully so. May this be called “original” black metal or plain ol’ rock n’ roll – it simply rocks. This album, released in 1982, features the classic Venom line-up – Cronos (screaming, shouting and howling his lungs out, along with plummeting his bass), Mantas (utterly raw guitar attack), and Abaddon (banging away on the drums). Though these three monsters have had a history of animosity between each other, when all is done and they get down to the music, they work together like magic. The greatest thing about Venom is they were RAW and didn’t give a fuck what went on around them. “Melissa”-era Mercyful Fate was also very raw, as is the case with early Bathory, but these two moved on and lost most of the rawness. But Venom always remained true to their all-out raw attack, and it worked well for them, just like it did for a band like Motorhead. In my re-issue version of this classic, the sleeve of the CD reads that this album was more important that Maiden’s “The Number Of The Beast”, which released at the same time… I don’t know how far that is true, but surely this album is a reference guide to later black metal, death metal, thrash, doom… you name it! Being raw as Hell, this album still possesses melodic touches. Just the title track opener, shows us that Venom mean serious business. Raw, powerful, and fast – this track simply crushes. We are introduced to Cronos’ semi-shout/howl; vocals which are quite unique. Abaddon plummets the drums, as Mantas plays fast riffs on his guitar. This first track itself went on to be a reason why later extreme bands were formed. It also shows the huge influence of early punk music on Venom. The next one – “To Hell And Back” is another rocker, with an excellent groove, and  addictive shout-along verses. The next two tracks, “Buried Alive” and “Raise The Dead” are like a double medley, as one leads to the other. The former being a slow, almost doomy song, which has a surprisingly melodic lead in the middle. The song starts off with a priest (probably Cronos fooling around) reciting burial rites in a deep, but comical voice, as if something was stuck up his ass. This, and many other instances later in the album show that Venom are in this to have some fun, as well. “Buried Alive” leads to “Raise The Dead” which changes the mood completely – this song demands complete attention, and is lightning fast; VERY headbangable!! Songs such as “Teacher’s Pet”, “Don’t Burn The Witch” and “Countess Bathory” (check out the bass on this number!), all show Venom’s ability to produce extremely raw songs, which touches of melody, that one can all-out headbang to or feel evil and shout out the #ahem# “Satanic” lyrics along with Cronos. The song “Sacrifice” has an exteremly thrashy riff, and is sited as a large influence to thrash metal. Ask Slayer if you don’t believe moi. Most of the album has precise drumming, excellent riffs, and a heavy bass sound, proving that Venom are very good musicians. Due to the sometimes muddy production, somethings are left unheard and requires careful listening. But hey, when was extreme metal about great production?? Actually, the only weak moment on this album is “Leave Me In Hell”, where the bad production really messes up a song with great potential. Then again, the production, as it is, adds to the rawness of Venom’s sound. The lyrics on this album, simply put, are very simple. J You won’t find very “intellectual” lines, and nor will you find lines that try to preach something major to you. They’re comically evil, owing to the fact that Venom isn’t actually serious about what they write; they just want to have fun. Which is perfectly fine. The lyrics are easy to remember and great to follow with the music. Venom lyrics are supposed to be like this, and they complete the rawness of their sound. The lyrics are an immense influence to early Slayer and Sodom. Not many bands remain true to their sound, but Venom has stood the test of time. All in all, this album is a classic. Okay, so they’re not AWESOME musicians… So, their music is not so carefully wrought-out… So, the production isn’t PERFECT… SO WHAT?! These guys still rock like motherfuckers. Many-a-times, technical proficiency is not the only thing important in making music; it’s also about having fun and simply rockin’ out! This album showcases a pile of great riffs, vocals, bass and dumming, which all great bands to follow couldn’t help but absorb and incorporate into their own music. This is rawness that cannot be matched. This is Pure Venom. Expect no mercy…. !!!! The best thing for you to do would be to let down your hair, put on this record LOUD, and just rock out. "Lay down your soul to the gods rock `n’ roll metal ten fold through the deadly black hole riding hell’s stallions bareback and free faking our chances with raw energy!!” – Black Metal