Tag Archives: abaddon

Venom Announces “In Nomine De Sathanas” 40th Anniversary Vinyl Boxset

In addition to a score of tours to see this year there are also some incredible album celebrations being done. This one by Venom just arrived early in the wee hours and I am sharing it with you now.

venom logo

The Press Release:
Venom formed in 1979 in Newcastle upon Tyne. Coming to prominence towards the end of the new wave of British heavy metal, Venom’s first two albums—’Welcome to Hell’ (1981) and ‘Black Metal’ (1982)—are considered a major influence on thrash metal and extreme metal in general. Venom’s second album proved influential enough that its title was used as the name of the extreme metal subgenre of black metal. The band classic line-up trio of Cronos, Mantas and Abaddon recorded two further studio albums ‘At War With Satan’ (1984) and ‘Possessed’ (1985) and live album ‘Eine Kleine Nachtmusik’ (1986). Often cited by bands such as Metallica, Behemoth, Celtic Frost and Mayhem as major influences, they are one of the most revered bands of their generation. Venom are still fronted by original singer/bassist Cronos and headline festivals all over the globe and continue to release new music.

album covers, venom

This coming May 31st sees the release of ‘In Nomine Satanas’ via BMG – a deluxe vinyl box set that celebrates Venom’s 40th anniversary and features the original Neat Records recordings from their 1981 debut ‘Welcome To Hell’ to ‘Eine Kleine Nachtmusik‘, the live recording of their mythical appearance at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1985. All of the albums are remastered from the original tapes with embossed covers, posters and inserts like their original first editions. They’re all now on colour configured vinyl too. The set also includes a 12“ book detailing the history of the band featuring new interviews with all three members, written by respected journalist Dom Lawson.
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Metal Legends VENOM INC Sign with Nuclear Blast Records and Breaking Bands LLC

Just a quick bit of label signing stuff coming at you all. This news broke the other day but I had a plethora of posts in line to do so this had to wait until now. I hope that you don’t mind and here now the latest news from the camp of the Venom Inc. Dig in to the full press that I was sent.

The Press Release:
Metal Legends VENOM INC Sign with Nuclear Blast Records and Breaking Bands LLC VENOM INC is Jeff “Mantas” Dunn, Anthony “Abaddon” Bray and Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan. Performing Select Festivals in 2017 – Hammerfest, Inferno Fest & More

In mid-2015, former Venom member Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan, together with original members Jeff “Mantas” Dunn and Tony “Abaddon” Bray, formed a second incarnation of Britain’s seminal black metal band. After coming together under the flag VENOM INC, history began to write itself once again. Now, after proving their lasting prowess on the road and at festivals internationally throughout the past year, the band is pleased to announce their signing with premier international heavy metal label Nuclear Blast Records. The band is scheduled to release a new album this year – more details coming soon!

Nuclear Blast A&R Manager Jaap Wagemaker states, “Nuclear Blast is very stoked to welcome Mantas, Abaddon and the Demolition Man as new members of the Nuclear Family! We grew up with the first three albums that Mantas and Abaddon recorded and made them legendary, and that led the foundations to black metal! I’ve also been a big fan of Atomkraft with the Demolition Man as well! I’ve already had the pleasure of working with Mantas and Abaddon early 90’s when there was a tribute released, In The Name Of Satan, and when they did the reunion show at Dynamo Open Air! A couple of years ago I saw them perform with VENOM INC – their first ever concert at Keep it True and ever since then the band have proven to be road warriors and have played around the globe answering to the calls of their legions! This year I received the first demos and they proved that they are still built of iron and steel and that they have returned at full force! The band is ready to write another chapter to their legendary status! It is with great pride that we welcome VENOM INC to Nuclear Blast!”
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Venom Inc. Announce 2nd Leg Of North American Tour

When I was getting myself into the Heavy Metal sound more and more I have to admit that I didn’t really follow the music of Venom at all. It took quite a few years for me as a listener to the sonic sounds that wreck our eardrums to better appreciate their influence. A few months ago I caught the band Venom Inc. which is essentially Venom without Cronos and it was great. Now the band is heading back with a second leg for their tour and the poster, press release and dates are below for your consumption.

Tour - Venom Inc - 2016 Round 2

The Press Release:
UK-based metallers, VENOM INC., will kick off the second leg of their North American tour next month. The latest march will run from May 31st in Brooklyn, New York through July 2nd in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Support will again be provided by long-running American death metal behemoths Necrophagia. The trek follows the band’s recent and successful stomp through North America this past January.

VENOM INC. features original Venom members guitarist Jeff “Mantas” Dunn and drummer Anthony “Abaddon” Bray with former Venom bassist/vocalist Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan. The band made their live debut as VENOM INC. in April 2015 at the Keep It True Festival in Lauda-Königshofen, Germany, performing a full set of Venom classics and played to over 30,000 people at Heavy Montreal last August. Dolan and Dunn have spent the last few years collaborating in M:Pire Of Evil, who released their latest full-length, Crucified, in May 2013. VENOM INC. took to the streets early last Fall on the lengthy Iron And Steel European Tour before closing the year with a Latin American live infiltration. The band returned to the streets of North America last January to the frenzied praise and fans and critics alike.
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Venom Inc. Shall Raise A Little Hell With Necrophagia On 2016 Tour

Now that Christmas is over its time to get back to Heavy Metal tacks and start penciling in how we are going to start our music scene support in 2016 which is right around the corner as I write this. There are already quite a few interesting events for the first week of the New Year and this notice serves to inform the masses about the month long tour by Venom Inc. and Necrophagia. Check out the poster, the press release and the dates below. I’ll return to briefly share my thoughts.

Tour - Venom Inc - US 2016

The Press Release:
UK-based metallers, VENOM INC., will kick off their long-anticipated North American tour next month. Initially scheduled to take place this past Fall but postponed, the rescheduled demolition will pillage its way through nearly two dozen cities from January 5th through January 28th.

VENOM INC. features original Venom members guitarist Jeff “Mantas” Dunn and drummer Anthony “Abaddon” Bray with former Venom bassist/vocalist Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan. The band made their live debut as VENOM INC. in April 2015 at the Keep It True Festival in Lauda-Königshofen, Germany, performing a full set of Venom classics and played to over 30,000 people at Heavy Montreal last August. Dolan and Dunn have spent the last few years collaborating in M:Pire Of Evil, who released their latest full-length, Crucified, in May 2013. VENOM INC. took to the streets early this past Fall on the lengthy Iron And Steel European Tour before closing the year with a Latin American live takeover. This January, North America will finally get its venomous baptism with the band again performing a full set of Venom’s most revered tunes.
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“Cast In Stone” (remaster) by Venom

Artist: Venom
Title: “Cast In Stone” (remaster)
Label: Sanctuary Records
Release Date: 7/18/2006
Genre: Heavy Metal
Rating: 3.5/5

Venom has long been considered one of the key forces behind the beginnings of Black Metal but no matter how many times I hear their music I really don’t understand how this is the case. The band in the early days did use Satanic themes and imagery but sonically were more Punk and early Thrash than anything else. The original release of “Cast In Stone” hit the streets in 1997, and this album was also instrumental in reuniting the original three members of the group. There had been a number of membership rotations over the years and the band was fading more and more from the public eye. Leader/singer/bassist Cronos was on tour with his self-named band and decided to once more give it a try with his Venom colleagues. “Cast In Stone” is a surprisingly strong album and while none of the tracks hold the anthemic nature of the bands “Black Metal” track, there is a solid amount of crunching Metal to absorb on it. “Raised In Hell” and “All Devil’s Eve” thunder by you at fast pace while songs like “Destroyed And Damned” trudge along like something Metallica could have featured on their Black album. Sanctuary Records did a great job on remastering this album as the clean and upfront production made it very easy for me to enjoy the release, and this is from someone who never followed the group. “Flight Of The Hydra” is perhaps my favorite track from the initial release while the quasi-Industrial “Domus Mundi” is my least favorite along with “Judgement Day” since it seemed so cliché. Overall there is a lot of quality playing and some widely varied styles approached on this release which was not often found on the bands earlier material.
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