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.
Sons Of Satan
Venom Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And brought blood, lust, hatred and scorn,
Your sorry now you trusted me,
Now I command that you get down on your knees
For
Hell the deceiver,
Satan's child,
And we're going wild.
Put away all your virtues,
Stop your climbing the walls,
Just sign your name on the paper,
We'll have ourselves a ball.
Was it the battle of envy,
You were so mighty and brave,
But your foolish compulsions,
Sent you to the grave.
Hell has deceived you,
You were so blind,
Just like all mortals,
You'll loose your mind.
Hell has deceived you,
You were so blind,
Join venoms legions,
'Cause we're going wild.
The lyrics of Venom's song Sons of Satan touch upon themes of blood, lust, hatred, and scorn that are prevalent throughout the heavy metal genre. The song begins with the idea that the listeners were born in a different time, a time that was darker, filled with chaos and malevolent power. The allusion to being born in another time seems to reference the concept of being born naturally evil or having predestined evil tendencies. Venom then employs Satan as the symbol of the darkest impulses that reside within us, painting him as a powerful force that commands allegiance from humanity.
The lyrics then take a turn, asking the listener to renounce their virtues and sign a contract with Satan, surrendering their souls to join the legion of Venom. The chorus echoes the rallying call of Satan's child, urging the listener to give in to their most primal and taboo desires, to abandon reason and morality in favor of reveling in the chaos and excess.
The song also makes reference to the futile battle of envy, wherein the listeners were once mighty and brave but fell to foolish compulsions, leading to their own destruction. The lyrics emphasize that Hell has already deceived them, leading them down a path of torment and loss, though the song ends on a triumphant note, calling on listeners to join Venom and celebrate in the debauchery of Satan's legions.
Line by Line Meaning
Somewhere in time we were born,
We came into existence at some point in the past
And brought blood, lust, hatred and scorn,
Our very being embodies these dark and destructive traits
Your sorry now you trusted me,
You regret putting faith in me
Now I command that you get down on your knees
I demand complete submission and subservience from you
Hell the deceiver,
The underworld is a place of lies and deceit
Satan's child,
I am a follower and offspring of the devil
Your a believer,
You have given in to our wicked ways
And we're going wild.
We revel in chaos and mayhem
Put away all your virtues,
Forget all your moral principles
Stop your climbing the walls,
Don't try to escape or resist our control
Just sign your name on the paper,
Submit to our authority by signing this contract
We'll have ourselves a ball.
We'll have a great time causing destruction and tormenting others
Was it the battle of envy,
Was your downfall caused by jealousy and envy?
You were so mighty and brave,
You were once strong and fearless
But your foolish compulsions,
Your own foolish desires and urges
Sent you to the grave.
Led to your demise
Hell has deceived you,
The underworld has tricked you and led you astray
You were so blind,
You were ignorant and unaware
Just like all mortals,
Like all humans
You'll loose your mind.
You'll go insane
Join venoms legions,
Become part of our army
'Cause we're going wild.
Because we delight in causing chaos and destruction
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: ANTHONY C. BRAY, CONRAD THOMAS LANT, JEFFREY DUNN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Guillaume Joan Pépin Viano
Thrash was more dry .
Earlier roots of Black metal , or Extreme metal in general , as certain 70's Priest stuff , and Sister stuff ( Wasp inception of 70's , even by the look BM ) , Angel witch demos of 1978 , Holocaust riffs , and Venom , Mercyful fate , Celtic frost , Bathory , Necrodeath , or Destruction even ..even AOD by Morbid angel you had more atmosphere beside the thrashy stuff , that more dark , macabre , with Breathing between instruments . I guess most of that stuff was from europe anyway .
Thrash is quickly repetitive and close minded in 80's .
Its too much the same straight playing , prod etc...the right hand division chugg , around 1986 it tends to be quite boring to me .
There s no mystique , psychedelic , experimental and discover value to it , and mood and No fucking swing man . Thrash is too literal .
Its metronomic mechanics stuff .
That doesnt mean you can't be a great musician but first death or assimilated , death & black metal band took on extreme stuff and in my opinion more value of the 70's , abstract spirit .
A lot of experimentation , if you listen discography of Bathory , Celtic frost , even Venom did different things, even technical ( Dolan era ) , 'Necrodeath , Nocturnus , Beherit ..
Its not a Skan beat and tight " Trrr tt trrrr " picking in each damn song .
Górmain (Band Channel)
This sounds unbelievably amazing. It's slowed, but the instruments in those demos sound much clearer. What a gem.
jkwttrs
Love this recording! Been listening to Venom since 84 and is still is my corner stone of everything I listen to.
johnny toxrox
Love this rare early recording. You can definitely hear the Motorhead influence on this one. Clive Archer or Cronos?
VENOM
this is NOT Cronos
Jordyn N
Clive
Antonio Vivaldi’s Ghost
Clive, thats what makes it ‘rare’
Guillaume Joan Pépin Viano
Cronos was there but on bass only
Hell Bent For Metal
I don't like Clive's voice as much as Cronos, but this is a good piece of Venom history.
John Cawood
Cool album 🤘🤘🎸🎸
Todd Springfield
This is FUCKING BRUTAL !! DIRTY, RAW, STRAIGHTFORWARD SPEED PUNK METAL !!!!!