Review by Brian McLean
When England’s Venom released their full-length debut album Welcome to Hell in 1980 on Neat Records, the trio was touching on subject matter way beyond taboo.
The album cover contained a full-blown golden illustration of Baphomet’s head inserted in a pentagram on a black background. For the time when New Wave was the flavor of the day, it was a very disturbing album cover; one that sent chills through the body and made a person step back.
Venom continued to push the envelope with their next three full-length albums, Black Metal, the epic At War with Satan and Possessed, all being released on Neat Records.
Band members were utilizing pentagrams way before pentagrams became cool. They were writing lyrics about Satan and the darker side of things before Satan became a commercialized entity in today’s music. Even the stage names were pulled from the Satanic Bible.
Musicians they weren’t, but originators they were. Venom was creating and laying the foundation for what would be considered extreme metal, hence the title of the second album and the genre known today as Black Metal.
Venom stayed a trio for those first four albums and very early on in the band’s career, momentum mounted quickly as word of this extreme band spread throughout the underground from Europe to America.
The release of Live in London through Magada Distribution captures Venom in their prime on October 5, 1985 while the trio was touring for the Possessed album. It’s the same footage that was released by K-Tel several years earlier but has been repackaged with a different cover. The K-Tel version is now out of print.
Even though the show is from the Hammer Smith Odeon in London, it is not the concert Venom released in the VHS format titled The 7th Date of Hell that was filmed the previous year at the same venue while Venom was touring for At War with Satan.
The stage for the Possessed tour was much more toned down compared to The 7th Dates of Hell release. There were no ramps with 666 on each side of the stage or a highly elevated drum kit but the pyrotechnics are plentiful.
Venom only pulls two songs from Possessed, “Too Loud for the Crowd” which is the set opener and then “Satanachrist” towards the end. The trio relies heavily on Welcome to Hell and Black Metal for the majority of material as well as “Nightmare,” “Bloodlust,” and “In Nomine Santanas” from the six song French Assault EP that was released prior to Possessed.
Venom classics like “Black Metal,” “Countess Bathory,” “Welcome to Hell,” “Warhead (guitar solo),” and “Witching Hour” are part of the hour long, 15 song set.
The content appears to be primitive when compared to today’s standard but for the time, the intensity level was high from the crowd to each band member. Fans appear to be in a crazed trance and for good reason, Venom was on stage.
Late in the set, blood begins to seep out from underneath the studded leather collar Cronus had around his neck. It’s the real deal, not strawberry puree. His skin was was rubbed raw.
It's highly unlikely the Venom line up of Cronus, Mantas and Abaddon will ever set foot on stage again together. As over the top as it seems now, back then, Venom was serious stuff and the band played up their image. The righteousness didn't take their image lightly.
The pro shot DVD serves a great reminder what Venom did for the fans of extreme music. For those curious what this British band that Metallica once supported on a European tour did for extreme music, Live in London would be a good place to start.