A to Z 2K17: V is for Venom

Band:  Venom
Song:  Rip Ride
Album:  At War With Satan
Genre:  Thrash Metal

Here we've got some of the granddadies of the good strain of Black Metal.  These dudes formed in 79, right about when the New Wave British Heavy Metal thing was at it's peak, but they wanted a more extreme flavor of music that what was available.  There was Metal around at the time, I mean Sabbath dropped their first 2 albums in 1970, but there wasn't fast Metal really.  Then you got some of the Power Metal-y bands like Iron Maiden, but they were clean, not harsh.  AC/DC was putting out harsher sounding stuff since 73, but once again, not quite what Venom was after.  Closest thing was actually Motörhead.

So yeah, they picked up their Satan aesthetic, some fast distorted bass stolen from Motörhead, and slammed into the scene right as the 80s rolled around.

I wouldn't say that these guys sparked the Thrash scene, but they definitely didn't hurt it.  They did help that Black Metal scene take foot, so they can't be that bad, right?

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GUEST POST: Venom - Sons Of Satan

Today's post is written by Jeff, because spices are the spice of life, and there are a wide variety of spices, and variety is important. But enough of that, let's talk about today's band: Venom

Venom formed in 1979 in Newcastle, England. They released their first album, titled "Welcome To Hell" in '81, and their second in '82, these two albums were very influential in 1980s thrash metal, and death metal as well.

The second album, "Black Metal", became the namesake of an entire subgenre of metal, the sound of which was innovated largely by bands such as Venom and Bathory.

This particular song, Sons of Satan, is my favorite track from "Welcome To Hell".