Venom : “Sons of Satan – Rare and Unreleased”CD & LP & Digital 28th August 2020 BMG.

Venom : “Sons of Satan – Rare and Unreleased”CD & LP & Digital 28th August 2020 BMG. UK Black Metal band.

The difficulty of reviewing an old band is always a challenge. First, you have your memories of the band, your likes and dislike and most the die-hard fans. This is for sure a surprise to see such a collectable out on label such as BMG , which mostly had Rock(Rolling stones..) and Hard Rock bands in the eighties such as Lita Ford to name a few. (I let you check the site as they have acquired lots of music).

Known for being the first band to kick the music business with a big slap, the band that brought the ‘satanic’ image and style that will become later Black Metal by the bands influenced and brought the style to life later on. Blasphemy, imagery, lyrically insane out of the box. They have accomplished what many wanted to do, putting a stone in this well-polished world. More than just having long hair, they decided to bring the love for Satan to the table.

Questioning and impressed, the medias jumped into the mystery band that was so unique and intriguing at the same time. Started in 1979, coming from Punk their unusual music being categorized as Heavy Metal, the only place they would be accepted were the Metal magazines and so the live Metal shows. While the music was in a kind of rebirth creating new styles. Venom inspired lots of bands from Thrash Metal and so on. 

It was normal to see them on the magazine covers with bands such as Metallica, Exodus and else..Cronos bassist singer, who’s stage attitude reminds Lemmy from Motorhead and will inspire lots of musicians such as the Sodom singer and more. Behind this image to shock people’s mind and get  apart from the majority of bands. They have simply evolved the sixties rock into something much more different that probably made them so popular.

The band composed of three members, Mantas and Abaddon recorded few albums and with evolving technics. Their sound became more acceptable by the masses. Brilliant solos reminding Twenty Years After‘s Alvin Lee, the fastest guitarist in the sixties, and much better sound and songs reminding some older pop bands in the Venom sauce. Their albums got an explosion in the Metal crowd. 

As a kid, the temptation to get addicted by such a band expressing something out of the religious type was helping to feel different and be part of another world. The band has been like a passage from the sixties evolution to the late seventies that changed music. Yet impossible to set in a box, Venom who inspired lots of styles such as Thrash Metal and many others that grew in the more extreme part of the scene. Can be named as the creator of those genres that Metal is known for. 

If the eighties saw them growing, the line up as the band’s life had some changes. It remains today as one of the essential band of all time. The band even renamed themselves as Venom Inc…

This collectable item has never been heard before, nor released with special mentions from 1979 to 1983. A must-have to every fan of the band.  For all who wants to hear what those years have brought to the music scene. The set includes new sleeve notes and interviews with Cronos, Mantas and Abaddon, plus rare and unseen photos from the band’s early years.

A good reminder for your young years 90/100.