Venom's original personnel came from three different bands: Guillotine, Oberon and Dwarfstar. The original Guillotine featured Jeffrey Dunn and Dave Rutherford on guitars, Dean Hewitt on bass guitar, Dave Blackman on vocals, and Chris Mercater on drums who replaced Paul Burke, the original drummer when the band was founded. Blackman and Mercater were later also replaced by drummer Anthony Bray and vocalist Clive Archer. Later, Dean Hewitt was replaced by Alan Winston on bass. Around that time a number of personnel changes occurred. Clive Archer, Eric Cook, Tony Bray and Ian Kell formed a band while working at Reyrolles. Ian Kell was replaced in mid-1978. In late 1979, Conrad Lant replaced Dave Rutherford. Lant later switched to bass after the departure of Winston. The band members took on new stage names. Archer became "Jesus Christ", Lant "Cronos", Tony Bray "Abbadon", and Jeff Dunn "Mantas".
Prime influences of the formative band were Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motörhead, and Kiss. Other musicians that have influenced Venom are Deep Purple, Sex Pistols, the Who, the Tubes, Van Halen, the Rolling Stones, and Elvis Presley.
'Welcome to Hell' influenced several later bands. Venom's music helped shape the development of many thrash metal bands, specifically the "Big Four of Thrash" (who in turn were highly influential): Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth (Metallica opened for Venom on an early 1980s tour, and Venom opened for Metallica and Slayer on the Ride the Lightning tour, and Slayer played with them and Exodus on the Combat Tour in 1985). Venom would also be of extreme importance to the black metal scene and even the early death metal scene, with numerous bands copying styles, themes, and imagery from the band, such as the Swiss band Hellhammer (later to become Celtic Frost), whom also helped pioneer the genres. Music critic Bradley Torreano wrote that Venom "caught the attention of both metalheads and punks, the band was emulated by the former and turned into camp icons by the latter." Henry Rollins once compared the band to Spinal Tap.
Possessed
Venom Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Fire is burning inside of me
Fire it burns
Fire it burns
Look at the children
Look at my eyes
Born of evil thus defiled
Brought to life through Satanic birth
Raised in Hell to live on Earth
Come look at me and I'll show you
Things that will open your eyes
Come listen to me and I'll tell you
Things that will sicken your mind
We drink the vomit of the priests
Make love with the dying whore
We suck the blood of the beast
And hold the key to deaths door
Through many a tormented night prevail
Thy excorsions can but fail
Though crucifix doth durn my flesh
I shall not yield to you unless I die!
I am possessed by all that is evil
The death of your God I demand!
I spit at the virgin you worship
And sit at my lord Satan's left hand
I care not for the priests who are crying
I answer to Baphomet's call
A cry for help from the dying
Means nothing to me at all
I am decreed by lord Satan's fine evil
To destroy what all mortals love most
Satan is my master incarnate
Hail praise to my unholy host
Look at my eyes!
The lyrics to Venom's song "Possessed" are a graphic portrayal of Satanic worship and the corruption of innocence. The opening lines, "Look at my eyes and you will see, Fire is burning inside of me" suggest that the singer is possessed by evil. The repetition of "Fire it burns" emphasizes the intensity of this inner torment. The reference to "Look at the children, Look at my eyes" implies that the singer seeks to corrupt the innocent.
The following lines, "Look at me Satan's child, Born of evil thus defiled, Brought to life through Satanic birth, Raised in Hell to live on Earth" suggest that the singer is a product of Satanic forces, raised in an environment of evil. The lines that follow, "Come look at me and I'll show you, Things that will open your eyes, Come listen to me and I'll tell you, Things that will sicken your mind" suggest that the singer has knowledge and experiences that the listener may find disturbing.
The lyrics go on to describe various acts of depravity, such as consuming the vomit of priests, making love with dying whores, and drinking the blood of beasts. The repeated refrain, "I am possessed by all that is evil, The death of your God I demand! I spit at the virgin you worship, And sit at my lord Satan's left hand" reinforces the singer's allegiance to Satan and his desire to destroy all that is good and holy.
Line by Line Meaning
Look at my eyes and you will see
If you gaze into my eyes, you will see that I am possessed by a demonic, malevolent force.
Fire is burning inside of me
I am filled with an intense and destructive inferno that threatens to consume everything around me.
Fire it burns
The flames within me are intense and unrelenting, burning everything in their path.
Fire it burns
My inner fire is so powerful that it continues to burn bright with no end in sight.
Look at the children
Even the innocents around me are not spared from my malevolent gaze.
Look at my eyes
My eyes are a testament to the dark, demonic force that possesses me.
Look at me Satans child
I am the spawn of Satan himself, created to spread evil and chaos wherever I go.
Born of evil thus defiled
I was born into a world of evil and depravity, forever tainted by the wickedness that surrounds me.
Brought to life through Satanic birth
My very existence is the result of a twisted, Satanic ritual that gave rise to my demonic form.
Raised in Hell to live on Earth
I was brought up in the depths of Hell, and now walk among the living to spread evil and destruction wherever I go.
Come look at me and I'll show you
If you dare to gaze upon me, I will reveal the dark secrets and horrors of the Satanic world that I inhabit.
Things that will open your eyes
I will show you things that will shake you to your very core and make you question everything you've ever believed in.
Come listen to me and I'll tell you
I will whisper dark and depraved thoughts in your ear, tempting you with the promise of forbidden knowledge and power.
Things that will sicken your mind
What I have to show you is so dark and twisted that it will corrupt your soul and leave you feeling sickened and depraved.
We drink the vomit of the priests
We partake in disgusting and depraved rituals, mocking and desecrating the very symbols and traditions of the Church.
Make love with the dying whore
We engage in sexual acts with those who are diseased and dying, reveling in the depravity and sickness of the act.
We suck the blood of the beast
We indulge in blood rituals and sacrifice, reveling in the darkness and evil that such acts represent.
And hold the key to deaths door
We hold the power of death and destruction in our hands, able to unleash it upon the world at will.
Through many a tormented night prevail
Despite the suffering and torment I have been through, I refuse to give in to the forces of Good and will continue to spread destruction.
Thy excorsions can but fail
No attempts at exorcism or banishing will work against the dark and malevolent force that possesses me.
Though crucifix doth durn my flesh
Even the symbols of Christianity burn me with their holy power, but I will not be swayed by such weakness.
I shall not yield to you unless I die!
I refuse to submit to the forces of Good, even if it means my own death.
I am possessed by all that is evil
I am completely consumed by the forces of darkness and malevolence, with no hope of redemption or salvation.
The death of your God I demand!
I seek the total destruction of all that is Holy and Good, driven by my own twisted desires and hunger for power.
I spit at the virgin you worship
I hold nothing sacred or pure, and I am happy to defile the very symbols of Christianity that you hold dear.
And sit at my lord Satan's left hand
I am a loyal servant of Satan, and will stop at nothing to spread his dark influence throughout the world.
I care not for the priests who are crying
The pleas and cries of those who worship a different God mean nothing to me, as I am consumed by my own desire for power and destruction.
I answer to Baphomet's call
I am bound by my loyalty to Baphomet, and will follow his commands without question or hesitation.
A cry for help from the dying
Even the cries of the dying will not sway me from my path of evil, as I am consumed by a lust for power and destruction.
Means nothing to me at all
The cries of the helpless and dying mean nothing to me, as I am already fully consumed by a dark and malevolent force.
I am decreed by lord Satan's fine evil
I am bound by my dedication to Satan and his evil ways, and will stop at nothing to serve his twisted desires and needs.
To destroy what all mortals love most
My mission is to destroy all that is good and pure in the world, and to revel in the destruction and chaos that ensues.
Satan is my master incarnate
I am a faithful servant of Satan himself, fully consumed by his dark and malevolent influence.
Hail praise to my unholy host
I am proud to serve as a faithful servant of Satan, and will stop at nothing to spread his dark influence throughout the world.
Look at my eyes!
My eyes bear witness to the dark and malevolent force that possesses me, and the evil that I will continue to spread throughout the world.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: ANTHONY C. BRAY, CONRAD THOMAS LANT, JEFFREY DUNN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
jody howell
I don't understand why this album gets so many bad reviews! When it first came out, me and my best friend would ride our bikes around our town blasting the fuck out of this cassette! I still love it as much today as I did back then. Powerdrive! Flytrap! Possessed! Fucking Amazing!
Gil Saraiva
+jody howell yeah , it´s ugly , disgusting and chaotic like all Great Black fucking metal should be ... what the hell was / is wrong with it? I think it was Metallica´s poseurs reviewing the record at the time
John Parkin
Some great and very heavy songs, the problem with it is the way it was produced- no matter how loud you play it it seems to sound like you are listening from a long way away. If it would have had the "shiny" production of At war with satan i think it would have got better reviews.
James Mcdonough
THIS IS THEIR BEST ALBUM AND THE ONES REVIEWING WERE CHRISITAN MOTHERS AND TIPPER GORE.DAMM ALL OT HELL \M/
Benzino Napoloni
@James Mcdonough
Shriek as loud as you want, you are still in the wrong.
133 mHz
Love to hear this. This is still my favorite Venom record! Would have killed to hear this before I was 16 and had friends to run around with.
E Medel
One of Venom's best! Great composing, catchy riffs and hooks, crystal clear production, brutal drums, piston pounding bass, soaring guitar solos, memorable sing-along-songs!...the best!
angst
I don't get all the hate this album got. It's amazing!
Dr. Juerdo Titsgo
Metalheads that don't get Venom's music is actually hardcore punk.
gerardo valdez
Simplemente a 37 años de su lanzamiento es un disco magnifico de principio a fin, abarca todos los géneros musicales habidos y por haber a su época, yo lo escucho una y otra vez y encuentro una perfecta armonía en todos los instrumentos, en las voces, canción tras canción, habrá quien diga que no eran virtuosos en la ejecución de sus instrumentos, pero de ser así, nadie se hubiera influenciado a como muchos lo hicieron y lo seguirán haciendo, ni tampoco la música hubiera evolucionado a lo que es hoy en día. Simplemente Venom hizo época, hizo música, sigue haciendo música, hizo historia, continua haciendo historia...un legado insuperable.