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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Black Metal

Venom

1982

Buy At Rough Trade
Black Metal
Album Summary

Black Metal is the second album by English heavy metal band Venom. It was released in November 1982, during the great flourishing of metal music in the UK that was the new wave of British heavy metal, through Neat Records. Vocalist and bassist Conrad Lant and guitarist Jeffrey Dunn wrote the album's material, with most of the songs being written in the early 1980s and two songs being written prior to the band's formation in 1979. With strong sales and positive reviews of the band's debut album, Welcome to Hell, which was recorded in just three days, Lant requested more time from Neat in the studio to record their follow-up. Recording sessions for the album took place at Impulse Studios in 1982 over a seven-day period. Lant, who shouldered most of the responsibility in the studio due to his experience as an assistant engineer and tape operator for Impulse, alongside studio engineer and producer Keith Nichol, worked from dawn to dusk on recording while Lant completed the final mixes on his own on the last day. Musically, the album sees Venom build upon their extreme sound, which they established on their debut album, with their signature "three-minute bashers”, while also experimenting with more ambitious and adventurous pieces exploring the bands theatrical and cinematic side. Black Metal is often described as speed metal, thrash metal, extreme metal, and black metal, lending its name to the latter subgenre of heavy metal. As with its predecessor, the music, as well as the lyrics and imagery continue to forge some of the essential features of the black metal genre and were a major influence on the early Norwegian black metal scene. The cover art, designed by Lant, features Satanic imagery including a demon face with an inverted pentacle star on its forehead, and an inverted cross and 666 inscription on its left and right horn respectively. Black Metal was released to massive critical acclaim from both the metal underground as well as the mainstream music press, with its music being described as "proto-thrashing classics", "surprisingly complex", and "absolute classics", and would go on to be considered one of the most influential metal albums of all time. It is considered a major influence on the thrash metal, death metal and black metal scenes that emerged in the 1980s and early 1990s. The album has also been retrospectively placed on several publications' best albums lists including Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die and Kerrang! magazines "100 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". The album was re-released by Sanctuary Records in 2002.

Wikipedia

Rating

2.45

Votes

9860
Genres
Metal

Reviews

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Thu May 20 2021
2

In the early ’80’s, I was riding with the Hell’s Angels and selling PCP in Bakersfield. I listened to this record ALL. THE. TIME. Nowadays, I need a pint of virgin blood and a nap halfway thru to make it through the album once. There’s lots of noise here on this album and the devil lyrics are on high. As a matter of fact, the lyrics are where this Black Metal shines. Who can dismiss “do you believe in God, he’s chained up like a dog and every hour he screams 'SATAN RULES SUPREME!" ?? [whoa!] And, though there's nothing fancy about the drumming, the guitar is show-y, fast and intricate at times. As a matter of fact, this band makes me think a lot of TSO. Yep, TSO - The Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I’m quite certain these Venom guys could’ve been real competition to the TSO if the devil-worshiping thing ever caught on. There are plenty of similarities between the two. Both are rock’n’roll crusaders for a higher power and tolerable in small doses, played ONLY during special occasions. For example, TSO, is often heard during Christmas season, while Venom's Black Metal, I'm assuming, gets a lot of play during sacrificing your first-born or throwing a surprise birthday party for Lucifer. Two stars.

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Thu May 20 2021
2

There is lots of decent or even good metal out there. Why is this on the list? (So that was my first reaction. Then I read up on it, and apparently they were really pioneers of several sub-genres of metal in the late 70s-early 80s. And so like with the Brian Eno stuff, part of why they merit inclusion on this list is the influence they had on what came after? In that case, do I boost their rating based on the impact they had? Do I rate the music in a vacuum, based totally on what I hear? Or do I rate it based on its historical context?)

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Fri May 28 2021
1

"'twas i who fucked the dragon "

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Wed Feb 09 2022
1

Is this a Tenacious D album?

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Thu Nov 25 2021
3

It’s a little bit silly (ok it’s very silly) and objectively the songs are not very good and the whole thing sounds like it was recorded in their bathroom. But as massive fan of 80s thrash metal I cannot ignore the influence this album had on that genre. And it’s fun too.

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Sat Jan 15 2022
3

Heavy metal is awesome but Venom has never done it for me. They got lucky in that they were one of the (if not THE) first bands to get really gritty. None of it is particularly good - it just plods along, a mix of noisy and boring. About the best I can say is that it influenced a lot of the more extreme end of metal, which I love. Within a year or two of this, Venom had been completely outclassed and made obsolete. Why the hell would you listen to this when 2 years later you can have ride the lightning? 2 points but I gotta grudgingly bump it up to 3 because it was so influential. 3/5.

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Fri Sep 16 2022
4

I can't recall if I've ever listened to this one before, but my expectations were low and the album exceeded them on almost every level. It's fascinating to me that the sub-genre this album spawned has so little in common with the actual music on the record. It's like a bunch of Norwegian teenagers just saw the artwork and decided to take what they thought Venom probably sounded and looked like and made up their own bands based around that. I can't quite explain how else they got from this album to corpsepaint screeching blast-beat insanity that sounds like it was recorded on an electric can opener. Not to dismiss the whole genre, because there are moments that really work for me. I just don't understand the evolution here. Which is too bad, as well, because I really dig what this album actually is. In essence, it's just a grimier Satanic infused version of Motorhead. That's a winning recipe in my kitchen and I'd have no problem with other bands stealing and modifying that recipe. (see: High on Fire and/or Kvelertak!) Also, how the hell does a church-burning bandmate murdering Norwegian black metal diehard brush off the inarguably terrible song "Teacher's Pet"? (Naturally, it's the longest song on the album.) Worse than the half-baked blues riff bullshit, did you see the lyrics to that one? Good god. I'll give them credit for beating Van Halen to the party, but that song's an X-rated joke that damn near derails the whole album. Keep it in your pants, fellas. Even so, I'll stand up for this one. You know what I love? Songs where they literally spell out words. "Sacrifice" is a banger. "Countess Bathory" rules. "Buried Alive" is tortured and creepy. I wish I had found this at age 12.

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Thu Oct 29 2020
3

Intelligible metal is good metal. I feel like this album could have benefited from a producer saying, "Hey, this would be much more listenable if you dialed it back by 5 or 10 percent." Then again, what kind of metal band listens to that kind of advice? Best track: Don't Burn the Witch

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Thu Dec 09 2021
1

Nearly 70 albums in and I've managed to get by without any metal... until now. It was never going to be a big hit with me, and I can generally appreciate the influence these albums have had, but it didn't make this one any easier to get through. Everything about Venom's "Black Metal" is sloppy, from the hackneyed lyrics to the performance and production. There's absolutely no range to it, it's sludgy riffs caked in distortion, thrashy drums and endlessly bellowed vocals. It's hard to tell if this is Venom's intention, or they're taking their satanism and musicianship very seriously and just not landing it. It might feel spontaneous and on the fly, but so does a plane crash. The lyrics are unbelievably trite, "let's be edgy because we're a metal band" sort of material that ends up feeling eye-rollingly try-hard. Satan worshipping? Virgins bleeding? Ooh, you're hard. And then, in the middle of devil worshipping and the re-animated undead, comes "Teacher's Pet": a juvenile, graphic sexual fantasy that feels out of place even here. I cringed throughout the whole thing. "Bathory" and "Raise the Dead" were the only ones I could tolerate, and they're the best of a bad bunch. The last track, "At War with Satan", is a two minute preview of what would become a side-long epic on their next album, a bit like a post-credits tease. It's either a tantalising marketing move or just a lazy way to fill up space. Either way, it feels odd and closes things on a duff note with an abrupt fade-out. I'm not into metal in general, but I'm still glad I heard this effort from a band who were on the edge of the NWOBHM (an acronym I didn't know meant New Wave of British Heavy Metal until today- that's how little experience I have with the genre). This might have made it to 2* if it hadn't come up on a day I'm feeling lousy and hungover, as possibly the worst album I could have drawn. While I can appreciate its significance, it's almost certain I'll never seek out "Black Metal" again.

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Thu Oct 07 2021
5

1982. Venom's second album. The first proto-black metal album! This one inspired a lot of trash and death bands in early 90-s. Black Metal song has been covered dozen of times (more than 100)!

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Fri Nov 04 2022
5

This album might be difficult to appreciated if you're not into metal, but I swear this one is very important in the history of the genre. Its title even became the name of an evergrowing style of metal, the black metal. This album is so explosive, energetic, fast and grimy, it was a revelation back in 1982. The lyrics and imagery also had a major influence on the shape of metal to come. To me, it sounds like an influencial classic, so... 5 stars!

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Thu Jan 07 2021
4

Very consistent (thrash? black? power?) metal album, consists of great songs such as "Black Metal", "Sacrifice", "Teacher's Pet" and "Countless Bathory"

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Fri Jul 16 2021
3

This feels like something I would listen to if I was riding motorcycles and selling PCP. But I respect the album, I can for sure feel the influence of this album. It's got some pretty rad guitars and the lyrics are pretty metal. Full on Satan. I don't mind it at all.

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Tue Dec 28 2021
2

There is good metal out there, and this didn't sound like it. Genuinely a slog to get through, from the bad production to the lead's vocals. The music itself was uninspired and bland at times, but ultimately the best part of the album. The music + the influence keeps me from giving this a 1. Like, I *get* why this is on the list, but really? Y'all couldn't pick a better representation? Also I turned on the lyrics because I was having a difficult time understanding and tbh I wish I hadn't done that.

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Sun Aug 06 2023
2

Well this is an absolute assault. Unfortunately, what it's assaulting me with is tedium. Yes, yes, you bleed an unexpected amount. Yes yes, you worship the devil. I expect you've got a teatowel with a picture of Baphomet on his throne on it. Your mum bought it for you, because while she doesn't exactly approve, well, it's harmless isn't it and the least she can do is encourage you to get out of yourself a bit. I get that this inspired a genre, but I honestly think that 2/3rds of this album could easily have been left out and we'd all still get the point. I wish my mum had bought me a teatowel with a picture of Baphomet on his throne on it.

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Wed Aug 04 2021
1

This was like a technically gifted school child was given a task to write a 'metal' album. A complete load of unimaginative rubbish.

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Fri Apr 28 2023
1

Sounds like me doing bad screamy karaoke. Awful. I understand it is a genre, but nothing here for me.

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Fri May 21 2021
4

Thrash metal. Screaming and loud - very big. Would be great to lift to. Solid melody. Fast drums. Solid guitar. It must be boring to write all your songs about exactly the same thing. A clear setup for Metallica.

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Thu Jan 20 2022
4

A genuine rush. You could feel Venom know they're onto something new, fresh and exciting. This gallops gleefully along, giving no gucks and taking no prisoners. Great stuff.

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Fri Nov 04 2022
4

For an album that spawned one of the most vicious music ever created under its name, Black Metal is a lot of fun. Maybe it's because we have a lot of hindsight on it, but it's kind of surprising how seriously this album was taken by the generation that would create the second wave of black metal. To me it's just a fun metal album with great riffs and some clumsy execution. But since BM is my favorite metal subgenre, I can only be thankful that Venom (and Bathory) helped creating some of the best music out there.

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Wed Apr 12 2023
4

not what i expected! good early thrash. will likely listen to again

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Thu May 25 2023
3

make metallica cornier and talk about satan more

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Wed Dec 29 2021
2

Terrible music but was quite funny and made me laugh. How many different ways can you say Satan is the boss on proto thrash sounds? One apparently, just keep repeating it!

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Wed Nov 16 2022
2

My only previous exposure to Venom was the “Live at City Gardens” 7-inch, put out by Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore on his Ecstatic Peace! label. You should check it out, it’s on YouTube. So any chance of an unbiased review went out the window the moment I heard that. In fact, I can’t separate them. There’s almost no difference between this record and that hilarious 7” in my mind, only that this is like a super-sized version of that 7”. Sorry Venom fans, blame Thurston.

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Wed Aug 04 2021
1

Took me 3 attempts to finish this. like wtf - srsly the best. Irritating af. Not sure I needed to listen to this before I died. I'm annoyed

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Thu Aug 19 2021
1

I suppose that if you were 14 years old and missed the first wave of metal and punk was more your older brother's type of music, you could call this your own. But I have serious reservations about any non-teenagers still listening to, or admitting to listening to, this. I see that, of the 1001 albums it's got the #994 spot all locked up.

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Wed Dec 29 2021
5

On paper I should have hated this but (never thought I'd say this) thought it was amazing. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it in an ironic (School of Rock/Spinal Tap) way. But it made me smile, it made me bop, it kept me entertained) and it plain rocks. Teacher's Pet especially made me laugh. In a good way

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Mon May 02 2022
5

FUCK. YES. Teenage Satan metal at its most delightfully neanderthal and teenage. The over the top, hydrogen bomb subtlety of the thing would, of course, have kind of grim repercussions a decade later, when a bunch of kids in Norway approached it without any irony and started setting things on fire... but for all that there's a certain magnificence in its recorded-in-a-week grottiness. I get far more joy from this than a lot of other "better", more reputable records.

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Wed Jun 22 2022
5

This is great. Really fun, Satan worshipping thrash metal. The directness in they way they approach their subject matter is hilarious and the songs are narratively complex, the imagery within each evoking a clear story. The little interludes and extra sound effects really give off the impression they were having a great time making it. Teacher's Pet has dethroned Hot for Teacher as the definitive song about inappropriate student-teacher relations. I did find that the mixing on a few of the tracks made the instruments sound a bit hollow, but they get a pass for being one of the first thrash albums. Despite it's age, it holds up incredibly well, and to me this is the gold standard of great metal. Fav Tracks: Buried Alive, Raise The Dead, Teacher's Pet, Leave Me In Hell

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Sun Jun 26 2022
5

There are better bands than Venom for sure, but this is still solid stuff. Their influence outweighs their enjoyability but without Venom it's hard to imagine Slayer existing. Without Venom who knows how the world of extreme metal might have been influenced? In the end I gotta throw this a 5. Especially because the people that can't handle a little metal have the average on this album waaaay too low.

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Fri Nov 04 2022
5

Not a fan of metal usually, but I got to chnage my mind for this one ! fire !

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Fri Nov 04 2022
5

Truly a groundbreaking album in the world of metal!

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Wed Mar 29 2023
5

I was 13 when this came out. I was balls deep into zeppelin and never heard of this until I’m an old guy. Thanks 1001 thing. Thanks weed. Wonderful.

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Fri Apr 14 2023
5

It's hard to think of a metal album that is so influential as this is, that is also equally unknown to the general public. But without the seeds planted here, we might not have thrash, death, or black metal. Not to mention the whole thing slaps front to back.

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Thu Jun 15 2023
5

Objectively, this is a terrible album. From Amy other perspective, it's a work of raw genius. Hilarious and deadly serious in equal measure, not much else comes close to capturing the excitement and anger of being a teenage metalhead - not to mention it inspired an entire genre.

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Fri Sep 01 2023
5

Vaak over gehoord, nooit geluisterd. Dit is top. Lekker ruig. Mooie brug tussen Black Sabbath en Metallica.

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Fri Sep 22 2023
5

LOVE this!!!! Opener is FIRE! / Buried Alive is giving goth/metal anthem! Raise The Dead is fun. Album so far is a 5. Maybe a very strong 4, just because there are other metal albums I would consider a 5, that I find more iconic (for me), that deserve some distinction. So perhaps just to acknowledge the others, I will give this 4, but objectively a perfect album that deserves a 5. Maybe I’ll give it a 5. Let’s wait and see… Fuck it. It’s a 5. So fun.

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Wed Nov 01 2023
5

One thing for sure… this cover of this album pretty much had me expecting exactly what was delivered. The real surprise is how listenable this is. The music is catchy! The lyrics made me laugh quite often. Back in 1982 this would seem like a sure sign my soul was in peril. A terrified 14 year old me would have been clutching my pearls and plagued with nightmares. Today an amused 55 year old me hears a quaint parody of evil. Simpler times… *sigh* Maybe if it were any other day I’d give this a lower score… but Black Metal is a perfect romp on a Halloween afternoon!

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Sun Nov 26 2023
5

This album has a long history for me. When I was 14, I started listening to black metal, and the first bands I listened to were Ulver, Burzum, Darkthrone, and Venom. I used to listen to this album every night, and I still feel melancholic when I hear those bands mentioned earlier. I rarely listen to black metal now, but when I came across this album again, I was very happy. It makes me want to go back to being a 14-year-old kid.

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Sun Dec 17 2023
5

So many albums and bands inspired by this record. Some good riffs on here even if the production is ropey at best. Well deserves its place on the list.

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Mon Jan 01 2024
5

This is exactly the kind of trash I love. I saw the other reviews and kept wondering when it would fall off, but this did everything right for me. It’s high energy, ignorant, and fun. Perfect for lifting heavy at the gym or driving fast.

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Fri Feb 23 2024
5

Honestly this album reminds me so much of when i first moved to san francisco. Listneing to High on Fire, Witchcraft, pentagram, electric wizard. For some reason living in the mission made me hellbent on being a motorcycle riding skateboarding metalhead that lived on 24th st. Great memmys.

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Wed Jun 23 2021
4

The album that started an entire genre. First listen, and actually quite liked it. Countess Bathory was great.

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Thu May 20 2021
4

great, always nice to listen to some old metal

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Thu May 20 2021
4

Meh - ok but not something I would likely choose to listen to.

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Fri Sep 17 2021
4

Um álbum tenebroso, com algum peso e relativamente calmo. Não é mau. Nota: 7/10

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Wed Nov 24 2021
4

I think this an example of influenced better than influencer. With that being said this album is still pretty fire.

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Wed Dec 01 2021
4

Tongue firmly in cheek, but the music is dead solid

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Wed Dec 29 2021
4

reminds me of early metallica. don't like the lyrics much, but sound is okay.

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Wed Dec 29 2021
4

Very enjoyable. The lyrics were delightful: black, simple iconography of heavy metal stuff. You could hear what he was on about My favourite but if the Wikipedia page was that Countess Bathory was inspired by The Magic Roundabout theme music, and that Smells Like Teen Spirit was inspired by Countess Bathory. So now every time I hear that Nirvana song, I'll start humming The Magic Roundabout music. Lovely!

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Wed Mar 09 2022
4

Listened Before? N Well, I got an education this morning! This record, and band, are a major part of the sound of the early 80s NWOBHM that influenced the big thrash artists in the US. Pros: This record sounds like primitive Motorhead! The lyrics are brutally unapologetic. The thrash sound is awesome! Cons: They kind of sound like edgy teens at times, but hey, it was the 80s and people weren't nearly as jaded then. The album sounds like it was recorded in someone's garage! Also, what's with the weird fade-in on track 1? Added to Library? Y Songs added to Playlist: To Hell and Back, Raise the Dead

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Fri Mar 25 2022
4

Brilliant. Loved this. Without looking it up, I'll assume they were massively influential on Metallica. Easy 4 stars

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Wed Mar 30 2022
4

Enjoyed this. Starts a bit slow but picks up. Great choons, vocals less so good. Can hear their influence in modern metal

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Wed May 11 2022
4

This is very much not my thing. This overt satanism was the stuff of nightmares in the fundamentalist church I grew up in in the 90s. Of course the satanism is an aesthetic choice and one that works well for them. This album is akin to hearing thrash metal being born in all of its galloping glory out of the British metal new wave. Apparently the genre black metal was named after this album. I enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting and honestly, the satanism still feels dangerous to my ex fundamentalist mind. It’s exciting.

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Thu May 12 2022
4

Débile, bourrin, mais fun Prefs: Black Metal, Buried Alive, Raise the Dead, Leave Me in Hell, Heaven's on Fire, Countess Bathory, Don't Burn the Witch Moins pref: Teacher's Pet

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Wed Jun 22 2022
4

This was a fun listen. A metal band who doesn't take themselves seriously, and they are very upfront about that. Super thrashy, and super early to the game (shocked this is a 1982 release). High octane metal straight to your veins. Hail Satan. Fave tracks: Black Metal, Raise the Dead, Don't Burn the Witch

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Fri Jul 15 2022
4

You can hear the origins of where punk and rock merged to form the early sub-genres of metal music. Whilst lyrically this album explores the classic metal tropes of satanism and 'dark' things, musically I would consider this as early thrash with massive punk influences.

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Fri Sep 02 2022
4

This is fantastic, like witnessing the birth of black metal/death metal. There's a ton of tongue in cheek fun stuff going on. Countess Bathory is the best song on the album by a mile.

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Thu Oct 13 2022
4

Heavy, Loud, Noisy, Distorted, Metal, Fast, Raw

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Wed Oct 19 2022
4

Don't listen to anyone who doesn't consider this black metal. Anyways this album is amazing. Consistent as all hell, quite an impactful and influential album.

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Tue Nov 08 2022
4

Stepping stone for thrash metal

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Sun Jan 01 2023
4

Like early unpolished Metallica.

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Fri Jan 13 2023
4

The root of modern metal and it shows. Lots of the tropes found in metal can be found right here.

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Fri Jan 13 2023
4

Reminds me a lot of early Metallica. Lots about gothic themes and Satan. Pretty good if you’re in the right mood

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Wed Mar 01 2023
4

This is my kind of metal. Dark, heavy, loud, fast & with a healthy amount of Satan worship. Fucking classic. Reminds me a bit of Motorhead. After another listen, I'm sure I'll bump this up to 5 stars.

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Mon Mar 13 2023
4

Nice album in his genre. Need a better listen, so this rating is just for now. But its a crucial album in the history of Metal.

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Wed Mar 22 2023
4

Buen disco, claramente la influencia a mil discos venideros. Malísima producción musical pero tampoco es relevante

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Thu Apr 06 2023
4

I don't think I ever listened to Venom, didn't think they'd be so silly! 3.666 / 5

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Fri Apr 14 2023
4

Honestly shocked this was so low globally. The only downside of it is the production dampens everything too much in my opinion, but otherwise, good album.

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Sun Apr 30 2023
4

The birth of a genre. The image, the attitude and the sound have long since become outdated, so it may be difficult to understand today the mixture of respect, mystery and fear that a 13 or 14-year-old teenager experienced in the early 80s while browsing through the record store to find this record, or listen to its songs. A real milestone from the early years of metal

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Sat Jun 03 2023
4

This hit the absolute sweet spot of metal for me. Harsh and gutteral without being unlistenable. Somewhere halfway between like Black Sabbath (love it but that’s just rock and roll) and Korn (no thanks!) I also love how on the joke of their own act they were. Metal is supposed to be over the top and goofy with the satanic witch shit. Not up its own ass. Really enjoyed it!

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Sun Jun 11 2023
4

I appreciate the influence but it’s far from my favourite metal album

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Sun Jun 11 2023
4

Ce groupe m’a régalée comme de classiques histoires de peur. J’aime comment ils ont exploité à 100% les thèmes « horrifiques et maléfiques » pour planter les bases du genre

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Fri Jun 30 2023
4

It's actually pretty decent. Didn't think i would like it, but i caught myself multiple times tapping my foot, to some songs. The tracks got a lot of energy in them. The quality of the mix is definitely not the clearest, but i actually think it fits the mood the album was going for.

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Mon Jul 03 2023
4

A popular thought on Venom is that they weren't technically proficient enough to make a mark melodically, so they went for speed. Long considered the progenitors of Speed, Thrash, and Black metal styles. This may seem a little dated these days, but man, were they really poking the pearl clutchers.

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Wed Jul 19 2023
4

Day 108 Who likes some compressor effect? Venom does!  Black Metal by Venom has nothing to do with the black metal scene, although it might be an inspiration. This is all tongue-in-cheek rock and roll, more related to Motörhead (although definitely lo-fi) than say Burzum. It's cartoonish, and I like cartoonish. 

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Wed Jul 26 2023
4

I listened to this a couple of years ago and it left me completely cold, but listening again in the context of this project, and reading up a bit on it, I have a much more favorable reaction. I was never much into plain black metal, but I like some of its offshoots, like blackgaze and atmospheric/post black metal. And, to be fair, this was a big influence on thrash, too, and thrash was one of my first loves... "Teacher's Pet" is pretty cringe, but an age of consent violating party tune seems to have been mandatory at this point in history. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Fave tracks - "Black Metal" is a fun declaration of intent, and "Heaven's On Fire" and "Don't Burn the Witch" felt the most thrashy! 🤘😈🤘

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Thu Jul 27 2023
4

Je suis pas fan de Black Metal (le genre) et je ne connaissais pas Venom, mais come on, comment on peut donner 2 à cela et aussi Eno... Voyons donc. C'est clairement un album de metal, si on connait pas le style on peut juger par rapport à nos goûts mais bon... 1982... Il faut avoir écouté ca dans ca vie cest certain personne faisait ca avant et ca tient la route encore aujourd'hui.

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Sun Jul 30 2023
4

The singer sounds like he’s on the verge of laughing at the silliness of it all. Pirate aaarghs!, amateur dramatic society Olden Times accents, a chorus of ‘Get your tits out for the lads!’. It’s such a daft album, lots of fun.

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Fri Sep 08 2023
4

Loved the mood and instrumentals, lyrics were meh

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Tue Oct 24 2023
4

Utterly ludicrous and absurd, I loved it.

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Wed Nov 01 2023
4

Perfect record for Halloween.

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Wed Nov 01 2023
4

No lo acabé de escuchar, a ver si mañana.

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Wed Nov 01 2023
4

One of my spouse's criteria for evaluating an album is being able to understand the lyrics. I definitely appreciated this clearly enunciated metal. It also rocked hard and fit the Halloween mood today with so many songs about death, hell, and burials, just perfectly. Is there a heavy metal song with a better title than "Countess Bathory?" "Her skin doth crack and peel!"

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Thu Nov 02 2023
4

Impressive for '82. Certainly ahead of the game in many ways. So many subgenres emanated from here. I actually think the lo-fi recording quality gives it a nice textured atmosphere, and separates it from most other 80s metal recordings, which tended to be much too clean and polished. This is right between a 3 and a 4 for me, but I'll round it up to 4 because it's such a pivotal piece of metal history and I'm glad I'm now familiar it.

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Thu Nov 09 2023
4

Brani Preferiti: - "Black Metal" - "Countess Bathory" - "Don't Burn The Witch" Note: Come per molti casi in questo genere musicale le canzoni di questo album non presentano testo complessi, ma se ascolti il genere non sei qui per questo. È la musica cruda e bruta che cattura e trasmette l'essenza di questo genere. È una musica che rompe le regole, proprio come il black metal dovrebbe fare. Questo disco è un classico del genere, un album che ha forgiato le basi del black metal estremo.

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Fri Nov 24 2023
4

Banger metal album! It’s clear from where Metallica got influence for their debut album.

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Fri Dec 22 2023
4

Believe it or not this is not the first black metal album (because it's technicially not black metal), but to deny it's influence on black metal would be foolish. Right out of the gate, Venom introduces unrelenting guitar riffs, blasting drums, and a raw production style that provides the blueprints for true black metal. kvlt. The truth is that they're like a more evil Iron Maiden. And I like Iron Maiden, so I also like Venom.

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Fri Feb 16 2024
4

I used to be in a band with a guy that was quite into black metal as a genre (hi Mike). It never really appealed to me, but I did learn about some things via osmosis, such as the wild story of Varg Vikernes. I think he was a YouTuber at one point, which is absolutely crazy to me. Anyway, I believe that today’s album was the genesis (lol) of black metal. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Teacher’s Pet, Buried Alive I was expecting something a lot more noisy and growly than this. I’ve heard bands like Burzum, 1349 and others who I think are considered black metal, but this one by Venom is much more listenable. I’d say it lies, at least to my ears, somewhere between speed metal and hardcore punk. Definitely not what I expected. I surprised myself by how I genuinely really enjoyed this. I was expecting a grim listen today, but I’ll take this as a win.

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