Welcome to Hell — Venom as Black Metal Pioneers

What significance does Venom have to Heavy Metal?

Venom formed around 1979 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. They were among the first (ahem…if not THE first) to blatantly associate themselves with Satan. There was no on-the-fence flirtation with his dark overlord, as with bands like Black Sabbath. In fact, there was no subtext whatsoever.

Venom embraced the idea of Satanic metal. They thrived on everything dark, black and utterly evil. In many respects, Venom was more like a fanclub for Satan than it was actually a band. Granted, this was mostly a publicity tactic — I’d be surprised to learn that any of the members actually knew who Anton Levay was.

In the early 80s, Venom earned a lot of notoriety within the metal community because they were doing something that had never been done. Satanic themes ran deep and the music was recorded very sloppily, low-fi and gritty. Their dress and dark personality highlighted the facade they created.

Venom influenced an entire subgenre, and gave it a name with the release of their second album in 1982, Black Metal. This sparked the black metal craze of the early 1990s, paving the way for bands like Emperor, Mayhem, Immortal and Marduk.