Lay down your soul to the gods of Rock N Roll! Those are the words EVERY single person remembers when hearing the title track to Venoms sophomore release Black Metal. Those words have always been kind of true in terms of Venom because of them coining the now infamous term, Black Metal. But, when you talk about Venom you cannot help but get into the whole discussion of who started Black Metal whether it was Bathory, Pentagram, or even Black Sabbath (Ive heard people use the Black Sabbath argument).
But after so many Black Metal bands such as Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor, Mayhem, Darkthrone, Burzum, and so on and so on, Venom as a band kind of faded away leaving the term, the image, and the attitude for the newer bands to take and make their own. Slowly, but surely, Venom had tried to stay revelant to the metal world, not the Black Metal world, with albums such as Cast in Stone, Metal Black, and now Hell. While Venom no longer really consists of the original members, Cronos being the sole leader and foundation, they have still have not let up or changed much of the ideologies that they began with.
Hell is very much a heavy album with very moody overtones, which at times, taps into a more Doom Metal emotion. At times, the album reminds me of Slayers Diabolus In Musica with the slow, droning riffs, heavy and prominent bass, and double bass drumming. The lyrics still hold true to their Ideology of doom, Armageddon, death, and anti-Christianity. In reality, very little has changed in the bands style, maybe a modernizing of playing, but this album actually fits pretty well within todays Metal world.
