FRIDAY MANIA: Venom Inc. - Not a second-tier cover band, but the full-on Venom assault!
I know a lot of you may have been seeing the name Venom Inc. going around and wondering what it’s all about. I have seen some people write off this act as some second-tier Venom cover band or something of that calibre, before even really knowing who this band is or what they are about. I am here to clear this up for those of you who might not understand.
Venom stands tall on the pillar as one of the original black metal bands, forming in Newcastle, England in 1979. Whether or not you agree with that denomination, they certainly have made their mark as a pioneering band in NWOBHM and speed metal and have influenced many extreme metal bands of today. Venom began as a four-piece band made up of Jeffrey "Mantas" Dunn on guitar, Conrad "Cronos" Lant on bass, Anthony "Abaddon" Bray on drums, and Clive "Jesus Christ" Archer on vocals, but quickly became a power trio with Cronos taking over vocal duties in 1980. Though the band has gone through a few member changes, having upwards of five members on some albums, it is worth noting that Abaddon and Mantas were both original members. One of the member changes in their history was the addition of Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan on bass and vocals (Atomkraft), replacing Cronos for several years to release Prime Evil (1989), Temples of Ice (1991), and The Waste Lands (1992).
With this history in mind, where does Venom Inc. come into all of this? Well, the other musicians I had mentioned previously actually took a break from Venom, starting with Demolition Man in 1992, followed by Abaddon in 1999, and Mantas in 2002. By the time any of them had decided to return to playing with Venom it was already too late. As it has been seen with many other bands in the past, the rights to the name are held by the last remaining member of the band still playing under the band’s name. Even though Cronos had left the band for a while, he had already re-joined the band in 2005, before the other members had decided to revisit the idea of playing with Venom again. He had also registered the name making it impossible for the other members to use the Venom trademark. This is how she goes. Now we have Mantas, Abaddon, and Demolition Man joined together to bring you the full live Venom assault! Why Venom “Inc” particularly? Well, Demolition Man says “Because it incorporates all the Venom legacy as well as pushing into new frontiers of music with a punk fuck you attitude! When you wanna stick your middle finger up to the world!! Think VENOM INC - one rule - there are NO rules!!”
I will not discourage anyone from seeing Cronos’ version of Venom as it would be nice to see both versions. I do, however, highly encourage you to go and see Venom Inc. if you haven’t already. I saw them live in Toronto and I have to say the performance and the atmosphere was nothing short of what I would expect from some of the original members of Venom to bring to the stage! It was fierce and dirty and everything I would have wanted! IN LEAGUE WITH SATAN!
http://venom-inc.tripod.com/news.htm
