Venom

Venom is an early black metal band, formed in late 1979, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Influenced by various rock, punk and heavy

Venom is an early black metal band, formed in late 1979, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Influenced by various rock, punk and heavy metal acts such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, The Sex Pistols, KISS and Motörhead, Venom created a sound as well as an image that would be a big influence to early death, black, and thrash metal bands at the time. Mayhem, Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Death, Testament, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Exodus, Eudoxis and Morbid Angel cite Venom as a major influence[citation needed]. Though musically they are more closely related to speed metal, it was their lyrical topics and harsher vocals which separated them from other bands at the time (usually dealing with Satan and Hell and other "black" topics). Their first two records, Welcome to Hell in 1981 and Black Metal in 1982, set the bar for black metal to follow. The original members went by the pseudonyms Cronos, Mantas, and Abaddon.

Venom was formed when the band Guillotine merged with the band Oberon and the band DwarfStar, they then renamed themselves Venom in 1979. Originally, Guillotine featured Jeffrey Dunn on guitar, Dave Blackman on vocals, Dave Rutherford on second guitar, Dean Hewitt on bass guitar, and Chris Mercaters on drums. Later that year, Blackman and Mercater were replaced by drummer Anthony Bray and vocalist Clive Archer of 'Oberon'. Soon after, Alan Winston replaced Dean Hewitt on bass. In around the summer of 1979, Conrad Lant from the bands DwarfStar and Album Graecum met Jeffrey Dunn and joined the band replacing Rutherford on guitar.