Reviews (page 6 of 8)
It's like Judas Priest, but without most of the good stuff, and mixed to sound like it was recorded in any empty underground garage with a single mic a couple of levels away. Wikipedia says it's an extremely influential album for various sub-genres of metal. Good to know (so I can avoid those sub-genres). Honestly, much like the sound mix, each song sorta blended together into a muddy pit. I actually completely missed the transition from "Black Metal" into "To Hell and Back" and yet didn't realize I was listening to a different song. What's up with the last song on the album being called "At War With Satan (Preview)"? And it fades out mid-song? Is it like an after the end-credits scene at the end of a Marvel movie that sets up the next one? I did find the song Teacher's Pet interesting and I'm glad Van Halen "payed homage" to it and made a much, much better version. (if you tell me they hadn't heard this song, I call BS) . For whoever this hits in the right place, I'm glad it exists, but it's not for me.
N O P E …
So as a rock fan, and a heavy metal guy (i.e. think Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Dio, Pantera, Tool, Ghost, etc.) – I was interested to see how this one would play out… I’m guessing for 1982, it was probably pretty popular with a very select group of fans… You’ll note with most of the bands that I mentioned, you have fairly complex musical compositions – which are incredibly performed by amazing musicians… You could argue that Judas Priest is the most basic of that group, but I found Venom to be fairly average in terms of the quality of the compositions, as well as the playing… Also – creative lyrics about some of those dark topics can be appealing, but there’s not a ton of imagination here… Here’s a sample from “Raise The Dead” – which overall, was one of the better tracks on the album IMO, but lyrically – bit much to wrote home about… “…Rising from my deadly tomb I've got maddened eyes with fright fingers bleeding fast heart beating the moons my only light Ashes to ashes, dust to dust If God won't have me, then the Devil must…” But hey, if some extreme sub-genre takes it’s name from your album – then that’s gotta be worth something, so a solid 2 creating a little slice of goodness for a few people…
I tried two songs. It's just not my thing.
The mastering certainly leaves something to be desired, but otherwise the guitar work is satisfactory and the lyricism is substantial. It’s a good mix of punk and metal, a particular pallet is needed to immerse, but not necessary to at least enjoy.
One of the better metal albums I’ve heard but still didn’t enjoy it. 2.5/5
Not for me.
Really good album. Awesome drum lines. Very 80s metal sound.
Pretty cliché metal album. Great band name, though.
You can definitely hear the influence for 100 bands here. On its own, it's good but not spectacular
Well, for once I didn’t totally hated the cliche metal album, it was fast and short so it was ok. I won’t be listening again but it actually helped me though the last part of bike training lol
I think Countess Bathory saves this from an otherwise easy 1
Considering it's the namesake of one of the most extreme musical genres out there, and that its cover is literally just Satan's face, this is a surprisingly sludgy and unexciting album. The singer's deadpan grunt drags the tone down more often than not, and the guitar solos are pretty good but they're few and far between. All that said, I would have liked this less if it was actual black metal, so there weren't many ways to win me over here. Best song: Buried Alive
Once I finish this I will never ever listen to this again. It's crap. Why is the production so so bad?
Venom seems to be inspired a lot by Motörhead, Deep Purple, and other heavy metal bands rather than strictly metal bands. But they also managed to pave the way for thrash metal, death metal, and of course black metal for which they lent the name. Generally I think I prefer the more melodic metal of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, or the even heavier thrash of Metallica. But the black metal of Venom did help certain specific Scandinavian metal genres develop which lead to bands like Opeth, Emperor, and others. I think Venom are unfortunately outclassed by Slayer who were doing similar things in the 80s.
Scary
This album did not help during the Satanic Panic, that’s for sure. Still pretty good, sounded like Metallica in a lot of ways.
Foundational to much more meaner music that would come, but in 2024 it made a nice listen on a vacation day morning while drinking coffee and lazing around. That's the march of time, I suppose. The album sounded great.
There's a couple standouts here, but this album is kind of a prototype for the stuff that would end up being formative for me
This is not for me! I really don't enjoy the style of whatever was going on there, but I'm sure this is a band my dad loves.
didn't realize tom hardy had it in him! 2.5
It was really entertaining to happen to get this the day after Metallica's black album. The opening song did not fill me with a lot of hope, but I wound up enjoying it overall.
i don’t have the enough angst to enjoy this. I’m also not 18 and living in a house with parents I hate in suburbia where no one gets me
"Black Metal" is the second album by English heavy metal band Venom. It was released in 1982 during the new wave of British heavy metal but unlike the music of those particular bands, this is firmly planted in the thrash, speed, death and black metal scenes. There's actually disagreements as to which one but who cares; I heard elements and songs in all of them. They cover all the basic metal themes: Satanism, witchcraft, nightmares, horror mythology and teenage sexual fantasy. The album received critical acclaim and is considered one of the most influential albums released, especially in the Norwegian black metal scene. The first side "Black" opens with a chainsaw on steel plates in the self-titled "Black Metal." And why wouldn't you open like that. It goes right into a thrash metal style and sounds like it was recorded underwate. But, it works. Lead singing Conrad "Cronos "Lant repeating "black metal." Impressive drumming by Anthony "Abaddon" Brey. Sand and a cardboard box were used to create the sound of dirt being shovelled on a coffin in "Buried Alive." A priest delivers a prayer as a gong strikes. Eerie guitar notes lead into a heavy sludgy/grungy bass and drums. "Summon the dead!" A ripping guitar opens "Sacrifice." A thunderous rhythm section. This is melodic speed metal. Yes, I said that. "The moon is black and the witches dance, heaven is denied. Sacrifice!" A guitar riff based on the children show "The Magic Roundabout" opens "Countess Bathory." Dave Grohl said that the open to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is actually based on that riff. Yes, I hear it. The song just kicks into a heavy groove. Pretty standard heavy metal but just rocks. I also hear Randy Rhoads' "Over the Mountain" in the guitar riff. Great song. This album is fantastic. I needed this today. The band does change their style throughout from speed to thrash to more heavy and sludgy. I heard a lot of future metal in their songs especially Metallica's "Kill 'Em All." What they lack in technical ability they make up in attitude and delivery. At times, the production did sound muddled but it didn't bother me too much. This album is an essential must listen to if you're a metal or even hardcore punk fan.
So these guys are to blame?
These guys do not sound good
Black Metal
"first" but not best, still... to hell and back raise the dead leave me in hell countess bathory at war with satan
Nii eihän tää ollutkaan black metallia, vaan trashia. Ja aika hyväntuulista sellaista. Hyvää energiaa. Parhaat: Black Metal, To Hell And Back
I did not hear any music, just satanic noise. Not my cup of tea, but others may enjoy.
This one goes to 11. An absolute delight beginning to end. Like Satan's house band. Has that weird, garagey muffled-yet-echo-y sound of all the best underground music. Really great metal album. Thinking Van Halen probably secretly listened to this, especially Teacher's Pet. Which is a weirdly horny tune amidst all of threst of the hellscape. Good job!
I much prefer their previous album to Black Metal, but this album solidifies Venom’s influence in what would become the extreme metal subgenres.
Not completely terrible, but I did not enjoy it and I will never listen to it again. It was hard to tell if it was cliched, or the precursor to those cliches, but I've certainly heard a lot better metal.
Not my jam, not my genre But at least the screaming seems almost like signing, not just screaming. The guitar and drums are not always just loud noise, but actual music (that is pretty good at time). They are actually signing about something and not just whining about how horrible life is. These guys are making legit satanic music and are proud of it. They also might be angry and are at least doing it in a way that is musical. Not my thing...but at least it has elements of music in it.
I'm not a big fan of the echo effect on the vocals for every song. I thought it makes it sound like a cheap-not scary haunted house. Then this Buried Alive song comes on so yeah I guess we are in some kind of haunted house of rock. I like that many of the songs are mixed so that you can actually hear the bass & vocals and everything is not drowned out by the guitars. Teacher's Pet reminds me an awful lot of Hot for Teacher. I'm wondering if this was Van Halen's inspiration. I thought Heaven's On Fire would be a Kiss cover. It wasn't. This is probably really great metal. I dunno. I'm at about a 2.5 with this. I didn't dislike it to the point that it annoyed me. I just quickly got bored of it but I'll give it bonus points for not just growling and thrashing the whole time.
Maybe my expectations were just way low, but this wasn’t as bad as I was anticipating. Definitely not my genre, but they rock out pretty hard in some of these songs, and it wasn’t as over the top as some of the metal albums I have a hard time even getting through. Lots of serious guitar shredding!
surprisingly good background music!
Not a big fan of Metal but this album is ok
This sounds pretty dated, but it was alright. Couldn’t really pick out a highlight. I could see how fans of Metallica or Megadeth would find this to be an interesting foundational step towards their favorite bands, but there’s not much else here of value. The production is pretty clunky and the songs aren’t very memorable.
Oooo I can just picture the Cheeto-eating, fedora wearing, ponytail having, katana wielding basement dweller who thinks this is the best album of all time.
Meh
What a Nightmare. Maybe a little too Die Hard for me.
Sorry, not sorry
You ever look at an album cover and say I don't need to listen to that? I just did.
This is the foundation of my youth. A lot of the bands I listened to growing up were directlyor indirectly influenced by Venom. While I hadn't been turned on to them until later, I love them for existing!
Great Metal classic. I enjoyed it a lot and listened to it twice.
first listen sounds like someone sold their soul to the devil and didn't even get the ability to record a good album out of the deal
Hail Satan! Once you get past the 80’s metal cheese, it does have a few high points. I really prefer sludgy metal, but you can tell these guys were having fun and didn’t take themselves all that seriously. Definitely had a big influence on the next couple decades
Why?
i'm not really a big metal guy at all, but i appreciate this era of metal a lot more than the more modern sound. i love the rawness of it. particularly the energy of the guitars and the drums. this album does this well, but i don't really care for the overdramatic spin on this one (edgy? not really, maybe for the time). also none of the songs stood out to me in any way. so, ultimately, like the sound, don't really care about the music that's here. not bad, not awful, not great.
No
Will never understand what makes metal music I would want to listen to. If I want energetic guitar music, I prefer the 'noise' like Foetus or the rhythms of early Velvet Underground, or Pixies or e.g. Viagra Boys. But this is just boring rhythms with boring singing and so on. Bless those who like this, I don;t
Not bad. Not my sound but I can see some general appeal to the quality of musicality on the album.
It was, indeed, black metal (ish).
Fun to see where some of the metal scene from the late 80s and on got their inspiration.
Album 424 of 1001 Venom - Black Metal Rating : 1 / 5 This is actually one of those satan worshipping records your parents warned you about. They get right to the point. Even with the subject matter aside, it pretty much sucks.
To much, only make it thought the first song 2 stars
I feel bad for giving low ratings just because I don't like a particular genre of music, but for my own sake, I need to know to stay FAR, FAR AWAY from this! 1 star!
Boring and weird
We have Megadeth at home:
Ég hef aldrei hlustað á Venom áður og setti þetta hugsunarlaust í gang. Skömmu síðar hugsaði ég svo hvað þetta væri hrikalega mikið að reyna að vera thrash metal en væri samt ekkert á við bestu böndin á því sviði. Svo sá ég hvenær þetta kom út og áttaði mig á þetta band er ekki að reyna að herma heldur ruddi líklegast brautina. Það er samt ólíklegt að ég muni muna eftir þeim og setja þá aftur á fóninn. Frekar hlusta ég á þá sem eltu Venom.
VITTU VENOOOOOOM!!! Tuntus tosi oudolta antaa tälle viisi pistettä kun onhan tää nyt siis ihan hirveen kuulosta kolinaa ja muminaa, mutta onhan tässä se fiilis! Kyllä mä ymmärrän sen että tää yks levy on toiminut innoittajana koko bläkyn genrelle. 4/5
Tässä on huvittavien lyriikoiden lisäksi sellaista aitoa asennetta, joka harvoin uudemmasta metallista välittyy. Mutta ei tälle silti voi kahta enempää antaa.
Huutista näille lyriikoille :D varmaan ollu kova joskus mutta nyt vaikee kuunnella vakavalla naamalla. 2/5 kun kuitenkin oli erilaista kun mitä listalla muuten.
Terrible
Don’t like the mix me don’t like the music
Noise
Ali Express Motorhead
The unrefined Metallica
Habe mir die ersten zwei Songs angehört und entschieden, das ist nichts für mich. Musik und Text, rufen in mir Kopfschütteln hervor und ich meine damit nicht 'headbanging'. Ich wüsste keinen Grund, warum ich mir so etwas anhören sollte. Ich denke, das war mein erstes und letztes Mal. Eigentlich gibt es von mir '0' Null Sterne, aber da das nicht geht, halt einen '1'
I might have dug this when I was 17, but not so much as an adult. Although I never really cared for the whole demon aesthetic. I can see how this could have been pretty influential though.
Yeah not going to lie this was pretty bad. Gets plus one star for the unintentionally funny lyrics
riff og riff hér og þar en frekar slappt. ekki mjög þungt eða kraftmikið. málmur fyrir vanvita.
Best case Iron Maiden, worst case Slipknot. Nope.
good heavy metal
Some parts were fun. Some were not. I guess historical context is why this is on the list
Foundational? Yes! Enjoyable 42 years later? Not particularly as a whole. This record is one in which I would occasionally grab a track from to throw into a metal mix but not one that I would throw on in its entirety. While it may have sounded revolutionary at the time, in a genre that consistently pushes the "extreme" button it sounds tame today.
I don’t love modern thrash/black metal, so I came into this apprehensive, but I actually liked this. It is a pretty far cry sound-wise from modern thrash and that suits me just fine. Solid 80’s heavy metal, fun but not really a killer track here in my eyes.
The opening 15 seconds of electronic hiss are enticing. The joke was going to be that rest of the album doesn’t fulfil that early promise, but it was foiled by the record’s smeary pleasures: it has the wiggly riffage of Motörhead, the blistering chord sequences of Minor Threat, and the murk calls ahead to Portal. Sometimes crude, usually interesting, this is pretty good.
Pretty silly, schoolboy stuff. Some of the music sounds like proto-shoegaze; "Buried Alive" could be a comedian reading a Hammer Horror script over early Ride. Other parts sound like Motorhead taking the piss out of a community theater production of Rosemary's Baby. Essential, eh?
Mon genre de métal, son canette, lyrics sataniques un peu cringe. Parfait.
banal og tydeligvis indflydelsesrig. synes Buried Alive var fed
Glædelig forsinket fredag! Synes sgu den var ret fed!
Super duper skraldet produktion, hvilket passer lige ind i den genre de er gået i gang med at opfinde her. At Mayhem og Bathory er inspireret af den her plade giver super god mening - De forfinede "kunsten", men Venom var O.G. (Original Goat)
Fine
Plenty of better metal out there. I imagine I'd have to be pretty far down the metal rabbit hole to ever decide to listen to this again, and I'm definitely not there yet.
really did not enjoy 1/5
Guitars were decent. Disliked the voice of the lead singer and the songs in general. Not a fan of extreme metal.
Could hear the makings of modern metal in it, but just wasn’t anything special otherwise.
Fun. Obviously very influential.
Unlike most of the death metal I’ve been exposed to on here, these guys at least sound like they are trying to approximate music. In other words, not entirely unlistenable.
Definitely an interesting listen which I liked, but I need to be honest. It's good but I didn't find it great. Some solid moments but not quite enough for me to give a seriously high rating.
I do not know venom. It was not as bad as I thought it was going to be going into it, although the album is really long and pretty redundant.
There have been a lot of metal albums on this list that I liked, unfortunately this is not one of them.
Rips.
I like the genre, but in small doses by better bands. This is overwhelming and repetitive after 2 songs.
It’s funny being called black metal before black metal became what black metal is today. I’m just going to try to say black metal as much as possible. Not my favorite of this wave, that’d be Iron Maiden, but I appreciate it being a precursor to the thrash scene in America (2.5/5)
singen kann der "Sänger" jedenfalls nicht; dann doch lieber Rap
Eigenlijk kan ik niet veel anders dan dit soort muziek enorm puberaal vinden. O, kijk mij eens eng doen. En me geen raad weten met emoties. En ik kan geen meisje krijgen. En ik heb energie teveel met mijn lange, lijzige lijf. En ik hou van pesten (na-na-na-na-naaa). Iets anders kan ik er niet van maken waarom je dit zou willen maken, en eerlijk gezegd ook waarom je het zou willen luisteren. Prima als het je ding is, maar ik kan er niks mee.
Ja, metalig is dit zeker. Maar als de opnamekwaliteit bepalend was, had het ook punk kunnen heten. Want dit lijkt weer eens in een schuur opgenomen. Opnieuw spelen doe je niet in zo'n schuur. Dus we moeten het doen met de overslaande stem. De gitaren hoef je sowieso niet over te doen. Die zijn steeds het hele nummer exact hetzelfde. Het eerste nummer wordt lachwekkend afgesloten. Het is weer zo ver. Ik moet het internet op om er achter te komen, waarom dit dan zo goed is. Tot mijn stomme verbazing moeten het de teksten zijn. Nou ja zeg. Wat is daar dan zo bijzonder aan? Ze zijn wat donker. Maar net als bij de horror-films van die tijd is dat nauwelijks meer dan het concept. De uitvoering is gekunsteld. Wat niet zorgt voor sfeer, maar leidt tot horror-comedie. Maar die pulp-films hebben ook wel weer hun waarde als je ze wat minder serieus kan bekijken. En zo moeten we wellicht ook hier naar luisteren. Het lachwekkende kan zo'n album dan gewoon van 1 ster afhouden.
We krijgen hier weer eens een voorloper, een grondlegger en zelfs een naamgever van een genre. De gitaarpartijen zijn bij tijd en wijle vrij geniaal, de bas en de drums klinken alsof ze in een oud slachthuis zijn opgenomen (ik denk, ik hou de omschrijving maar een beetje in hun thema) en de zanger klinkt alsof hij net opgestaan is uit de door hem zelf bezongen dood. En bij dat laatste gaat het dus gigantisch fout. De teksten zijn echt van een treurig niveau, voor zover ik ze kan verstaan, want hij gromt maar wat door de microfoon. Ik heb nog liever dat zangers grunten of schreeuwen, dan dit gegrom. Waar dit genre muziek nog wel eens op een positieve review kan rekenen van mijn kant, haak ik bij dit soort flauwekul wel snel af. Het is zonde van het prima gitaarspel, dat verdient een betere muzikale omlijsting. Ik zie wel hoe dit later uit kon groeien tot betere muziek, maar de grondleggers zijn vaak niet bepaald goed te noemen. Fijn dat ze er waren, maar gelukkig hoeven we er maar 1x naar te luisteren. Ik geef 1 bonusster voor de prima gitaar. Blijft het op een verdorven 2 steken.
3.7 - Never thought I’d describe a metal album as “quaint” but that’s the first word that comes to mind. Others have noted the plodding pace, the overblown guitars, the crude drum fills and the cliched satanism. But it all comes together in a solid package that I enjoy. I especially like the quieter moments (“Buried Alive”) that add a touch of murky atmosphere.
Venom’s Black Metal is an atrocity. Then again, I don’t like metal, but still. This album is hot trash, with only one mediocre song. Everything else sounds the same: terrible. All in all, Black Metal is a trash album. Best Song: Teacher's Pet Worst Song: Countless Bathory
Sounds like a bad parody of metal. Crappy music and cringe lyrics.
More meh...
This is the reason why, in the ‘80a, any heavy sounding music was labeled as Satan worshipping. I just wanted to listen to Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Kiss, and Poison. Anyway, yeah this sounds silly and amateurish, but weirdly entertaining at the same time. This is far from the worst thing on the list. I would actually listen to it again.
This what started extreme metal. Thrash and black metal (and by expansion death metal) would not exist without the sloppy but heavy sound of Cronos, Mantas and Abaddon. It is very much a product of it's time, since nowadays it could be considered cheesy and messy. Back in it's day however this was the epitome of evil.
I get the history and the influence of this album, but I have also heard an overwhelming amount of significantly better black metal or even bm-esque albums. This is ugly and messy, but I get what it means for the development of metal. Doesn't mean I like it tho.
Impossible to take even a little bit seriously.
As an 11-year old, a friend was singing a dirty song whose lyrics had the refrain "Teacher's pet". I didn't know what artist made this song, and didn't think about it again until I heard it in this album. So it's a bit like using Soundhound or Shazam but the lookup taking about 40 years to finish. Anyway, the album is one of those "origins" albums that set the stage for a lot of bigger, arguably better acts to come. So credit for that, but overall I'll take those bands over this one.
I don't like metal and was hopeful I'd understand it more through this project. Up until now, I've been disappointed with the metal I've come across. This one differed some and has me remaining hopeful. To me, I hear the roots of hard-core or thrash, which moves things closer to punk, a raw energy genre I do like. So, I higher rating than the other metal I've heard, though not enough to relisten to the album.
There's plenty of good metal missing in this book. Then you have shitty metal like this turd of an album that's in it. Yes I know it's a parody but then put Spinal Tap in here instead. At least they were funny. This was plain idiotic.
generally not my favorite genre but this was a fine listen
Fuck yeah! The album that spawned so many -metal bands. Fundamental listening for fans of death metal, thrash, NWOBHM, crust-punk, and obviously black metal. It does suffer a bit from muddy production unfortunately.
Listened to this one before. The production and sound engineering is dreadful and spawned the black metal style I loathe (looking at you Transylvanian Hunger by Darkthrone). The songs are good though if you can look past the sound quality and spawned a genre that got some great bands. Black Metal by Venom is alright I get why it's on the 1001 album list.
You couldn’t make this shit up
Definitely worth a listen, this album itself is decent but the sound created clearly influenced a lot of the music that I love, and I can certainly appreciate that. Much of this album sounds like early Type O stuff, a little more Satan-based instead of vampiric but probably a pioneering sound at the time (and definitely before my time). Worth a listen for sure.
not4me
I doubt there’s a more generic and predictable genre of music than thrash metal. But by what I gather Venom were one of the first to do this whole thing, and the likes of Slayer and Metallica took what they did and ran with it. All sounds a bit daft to me. Cannot get away with the whole ‘oooo look at me, im so hard and talk about the devil and that’. Suppose it was new back then. Quite liked Teachers Pet, found the rest a bit boring but I do respect them for what they did. Clearly influential. And in contrast to me saying how predictable they were, I wasnt expecting a ‘get ya tits out’ chant. Turns out theyre from Newcastle n’all. Didnt know that.
80s metal was basically ripping each other off all of the time. I can see why this is on the list because Metallica copied their entire style, but then Heavens on fire is almost identical to Ace of Spades (and I think the latter came out first). This must be why the genre sounds so samey. This album was fine, basically a Metallica album, maybe slightly more over the top with the satan theme. Influential without being an essential listen id say, 2.5.
Would say this is light thrash metal. Lyrics are daft but generally enjoyed the sound, was humming along a few times. Nightmare and Teacher's Pet were my favourite songs. Plenty of double bass drumming.
Never heard of venom before.... Would call this thrash metal more than anything else I think? I didn't mind it at all. My main complaint is that the whole "black metal" thing just feels like a gimmick. For shock value type thing. I bet it was pretty shocking at the time? Let's see how many evil things we can include.... The devil, being buried alive, heaven being on fire, hell, satan, war with god...zzzzzz. I actually did think the music was quite good though in parts. Reminded me of early Metallica. 2.5, but 3 because I felt it hard not to head bang to quite a lot of it
Nah.
A great early punk thrash crossover
Well, this is definitely a lot different than the black metal genre, mainly because these guys seem to be having fun, while black metal dudes are so goddamned serious all the time. This has much more of a Judas Priest sound, with a little bit more edge to it. It's cool, obviously a hugely influential early metal album 4/5
Grew on me as I got more into it. Very silly. A bunch of silly billies singing songs.
I guess this was quite an influential album but today I'm just finding it a bit silly.
I don’t usually hear metal that sounds this rough and low-fi. It sounds like it was recorded in a garage. The songs are pretty unpretentious too. Fast riffs, over-the-top growling, the usual brimstone and hellfire in the lyrics. Nothing too memorable but it was enjoyable.
Wow wasn't expecting this at all. I love this record; it's one of my favorite metal albums of all time. I think one of my oldest "band shirts" is a shirt for this album. It's ragged as hell. The pedant in me wants to say technically the sound is more "blackened thrash" than straightforward black metal but Venom will always be known as an early black metal band and they deserve to be called whatever they want. They are true pioneers! Cronos (the singer) was always the highlight for me. He is so enthusiastic about heavy metal and his performances are always top notch. The lyrics are also always hysterical and corny in a good way. Despite a lot of people knowing me as a metal head, I've come to terms that I dislike most metal. I don't know if it's because it was a genre that I was so enmeshed with while growing up, but it's hard for me to not be an elitist about. I tend to judge a lot of metal by how catchy it is, and how lasting / memorable it is. If I listen to a track a few times and then a year later I can still recall the song, it's usually a good song. This album and first song I haven't heard in maybe over a decade and while listening to it during a walk outside I found myself singing every single lyric. That's pretty amazing! I understand that not everyone is going to rate this high, but I think it's true in my heart that this is a 4.
Over the top imagery, speed and subject matter. They really got it right and its no surprise they got copied by so many bands to come after them. I love hearing the little things they did on this album that other bands capitalized on, my favorite being the palm muted chugging rhythm guitar on a couple songs like Countess Bathory. They really missed the mark with Teacher's Pet though, should have let Van Halen blaze that trail alone. That being said, if you don't like or understand metal you probably wont like this. HAIL SANTA!
Black Metal and Buried Alive are bangers but the rest of this kind of sounds the same to me. I will say I'm impressed by how fresh it sounds, it doesn't sound that dated that all and could easily be a new metal release today
I'm sorry, I just don't get metal. This is pretty high energy, though, and the singing only partly unintelligible. Not that the lyrics are deep and meaningful.... they're not. "Lay down your soul to the gods' rock and roll... argh grrrr grumble... BLACK METAL!!!" or "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust / if god won't have me the devil must".... and not at all tongue-in-cheek…. The singing style reminded me a little of Trans Siberian Orchestra, and not in a good way. The production is remarkably disappointing, very muddled and muddy. Maybe as if recorded from an adjacent room. Really horrible, especially for 1982. Wikipedia refers to it as a "very unpolished and underproduced sound". Every song has the same sonic template, of all sort of blends into a constant drone. I don't know, maybe this was supposed to be cutting edge, or something. But really it's boring. That said, this is overall not nearly as bad as some other metal I've heard. I didn't give me a headache, at least. 2/5
Sounds Like they read a book about what black metal is and then wrote a bunch of songs "from hell" or about satan
1982?! That was quite a surprise.
I was looking forward to listening to this....but it was awful! It reminded me of a comedy spoof band called Bad News: a deluded, self important group thinking they were much better than they were. However, Bad News was actually better than this! (Give Bad News a listen, it's worth it!) Really disappointed in this :(
I had very low expectations for this but I liked it, it wasn't too weird or obnoxiously heavy. I would listen to snippets of it again, however the whole thing is too long so it becomes monotonous. Stand-out: Bullet In the Head
Speeding up Black Sabbath inspired riffs, setting the stage for the new wave of British heavy metal, and laying the groundwork that 80s thrash bands like Metallica and Megadeth would (IMO) perfect.
I thought this album was going to be a lot scarier than it actually is LOL. This is basically Metallica. I like it so far. Makes me think of a slightly more metal-ish Black Flag. It's got that punk sloppiness.
Pretty solid for one of the first metal bands ever. Good riffs, cool drums- the singers voice isn’t my fave but what can be done
Too much anger, not really music.
Really not my thing, but I didn’t completely loathe the listening experience.
Not my style, but not terrible.
Couldn’t finish this
Laehlll - Get Me Out of Hell. Wait, didn’t I just hear this song? That took a lot of energy (to listen to, never mind make). An hour+ of the same thrashing song about hell and Satan. Didn’t like it, will avoid Venom in music and real life. (0.4*s)
Not for me
Where was this last week when I was summoning Satan? 2.
I can see the massive influence this album had on a lot of the music i listened to in high school.
I guess this must be here because of it's influence rather than the merits of the music itself because it doesn't have many reasons to be on this list based on the music itself. High 1.
This album means a lot more to us kids who grew up in the 80's, this was was some heavy and deep stuff, and that album cover, still legendary. Sure the production is pretty bad, little repetitive and some dumb lyrics but it still has some great music. While there are better metal albums not many had the influence that this had, Slayers first 2 albums especially.
I was digging the music but they lost me with the lyric “my flesh it doth rot” on Buried Alive. Suddenly it felt a bit silly. Music rocked though, and I’m sure at the time it was great music to freak out your parents.
Really good guitar and drums. Sounded sort of like Black Sabbath. The satan gimmick got stale quickly.
I was fairly bored listening to this. The lyrics are completely asinine. Devil Devil whooo Satan. Maybe it was super edgy in 1982, but today it sounds like something SNL would parody.
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.
Not as heavy metal as I expected
the combination of Motorhead and Kiss as influences combined with the macabre imagery is clearly revealed in Venom's music and sound, and the impact on future thrash and black metal is also clear. The musical influence of Motorhead is most clear, as the thrashing guitars and driving drums are prevalent throughout. Dark, almost goofy, interludes and sounds also add to the overall feel of the album. Not my cup of tea, but creative.
This is everything you want from heavy metal and I can appreciate the major influence they had on the genre (basically creating it). The lyrics are a bit too theatrical for me, maybe revisit some tracks on Halloween, though I did like it a lot more than expected. Good: rapid drumming, can actually understand the lyrics, no overuse of growling. Bad: recording quality, Teacher's Pet.
I prefer metal with better guitar riffs. This being early death metal, I can understand the lack of depth in the instrumentals. Sounded a little over dramatic and too much bloody hands in hell. Not my bag.
This exceeded my expectations as I went in fully prepared to endure an hour of demon-retch death metal. What I heard was actually relatively melodic lo-fi thrash that I was actually able to somewhat enjoy. I'm not really into metal but can appreciate the musical skill and showmanship it takes. I can see why this would be an influential album as it sounds like it lays the basics for a death/black metal album. It feels like it establishes the "tropes" of over the top satanic lyrics and imagery that I find ridiculous and sometimes makes me chuckle. I don't expect I'll listen ever again but I would rather revisit this than many of the other "classic" albums so far on this list. 2.1 stars
Why must I hear this before I die? I can just wait 'til after I'm dead and listen to it during an eternity in hell. Terrible vocal style and lyrics spoil what might otherwise have been some mediocre Motorhead tracks. For teenage boys only.
Blind album and artist. I can totally see how this album was ahead of its time, but I still dod not like it very much. Glad I tried it.
Ganske bra ligger på vipper mellom 3 og 4
not a fan - dnf actually it's growing on me for sure -- wouldn't chose to listen to it, but not that bad
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.
I like Heavy Metal and strangely enough Venom is influenced by them. It's ok, I guess. Maybe I'm just not in the mood but I don't feel this adds much to the Genre.
That's a nope from me. 1/5
Probably would be fun to hear live, but not that interesting
Nope. It may be influential, but not in a good way.
I’m sure it’s influential but it’s influential on a genre I don’t really listen to. On its own, it felt a bit exhausting to listen to. Not for me
Mucho metal
I guess this album is unironic, but I might be wrong. It's like a basic ur-text for other metal. Love the spelling out of sacrifice which I can only assume inspired Fergie. Maybe it's hilarious? Like, the song titles came first? There's no denying the musicianship, even if I never quite got metal--my older brother tried, but I just don't care, this album almost makes me care.
No
I can name at least 1001 albums more worthy of listening to
This was not my cup of tea but it was fine. Clearly a good metal record. Just not for me.
Pretty good. Sounds similar to other metal bands of the era. No fucking around with slow melodies and self-absorbed messaging made popular by black metal. These guys cook along at a brisk, head-banging pace, throwing snarls and solid guitar rips along the way. Good old rock n roll!
The sound gets old. Not the power.
On the plus side, it seems like This is Spinal Tap and Tenacious D wouldn't exist without albums like this. On the minus side, most of this was headache-inducing. If there was a special classification of one-star metal albums for me, this would be toward the top of the pile. I can understand the lyrics, some of the guitar sounds pretty cool. But, like, attempts to sound hardcore and scary are ultimately sort of lame.
Hilarious. To Hell and Back is my new work commute jam.
For what it was, it was good. I'm just not a fan of this genre.
Kuuntelukokemus kärsi (Spotifyn) huonosta äänenlaadusta / hiljaisesta miksauksesta, meni puuroksi. Toisaalta se lisäs charmia, koska sen takia ensivaikutelma AC/DC:mäisyydestä hävisi. Raise the Dead = hymyilyttävän hyvä. Mutta ongelmaksi muodostui lopulta monipuolisuuden puute.
En ole koskaan onnistunut vaalimaan itsessäni sitä vakavuutena ilmenevää huumorintajua, jota tämän tason camp edellyttää. Tykkään jostain syystä Amebixista, eli osa näistäkin biiseistä on ihan ok tai ok+. Tosiaalta monet ovat aika tylsiä - ja ai niin, koska en ole millään tavalla sidottu levyn klassisuuteen, otan vapauden kommentoida sanoja: haha, ei vittu.
80's metal.... 2-3 stars
This album didn't turn me into a metal fan. It starts out immediately setting the tone – heavy banging guitars and thumping drums. First track’s repetitive chanting of the song (and album’s) title got boring for me. “To Hell and Back” at least had some actual lyrics and its guitar work in the middle of the track was interesting. “Buried Alive” is interesting with 30 seconds of near silence, then a minute of gradual building of indistinct sound before establishing the metal sound and creepy lyrics. “Raise the Dead”, “Bloodlust”, “Teacher’s Pet” offer more of the same – they all sound pretty much the same to me. “Leave Me in Hell” seemed a little more interesting, but I didn’t figure out why. “Sacrifice” brought us back to “screaming angry rock” that isn’t for me. We stayed there through “Heavens on Fire” “Countess Bathory”, and “Don’t Burn the Witch” – I had lost all interest at this point. It ended with “At War with Satan”, which was consistent with the rest of the album.
It has been a while since I was "into" metal but there was a time when I would have claimed it as my primary genre (read Megadeath/Metallica era). I don't know if I've changed or if this is generic stuff that has nothing to offer but nothing stood out and I'll never listen again. Track by track: 1 - Semi-generic metal. It's fine. 2 - Didn't realize the track changed tbh. 3 - Get to the music! Oh that wasn't worth the wait. 4 - Is this whole album a trick? I couldn't help a snicker. I also cannot tell if this is just early metal still trying to figure it out or if it is generic on purpose. So far, there's nothing here I want to revisit. 5 - The instrumentation is completely fine and possibly excellent in some ways but I just am getting nothing from this. 6, 7, 8... I'm still listening. I don't hate it, I just don't really care. 9, 10, 11.... I'm so done.
So far this album would win my "most improved" award (even though it's really me who improved.) I found my first listen fairly laborious and counting down the tracks, even though I was latching on to some of the self-parody, guitar work and drum work. My second listen I was really able to key into some of the more melodic elements and I didn't even realize I had made it into the bonus tracks. I think it's really cool that they ended this album with essentially a stinger preview of their next album. TAKE THAT MCU.
This stuff was funny
Kiddie heavy metal, boy what stupid fucking lyrics even by Metal standards . The playing is decent, they even managed to throw some blues into the mix. Worst thing about it is that the production is pretty lousy, sounds like they’re playing in a cave. I would have loved this when I was 13.
It's too loud and I listened too early in the morning.
Im not there. Can't take it
I love elements of black metal with how dweeby it feels. I mean look at that cover. Just saying black metal over and over. Talking about witches. The thought that this sort of thing horrified communities feels so funny with time. Instrumental stuff has some skill but it doesn't add to much. I won't be back but I like that this exists and that people love it.
The mixing is pretty good. I wish it sounded fuller. I wish there was more bass. There are some cool moments on this. I get it's significance, but it would be a stronger album if it shaved off a couple tracks.
No
It’s such a fine line between stupid, and uh... clever. Bailed before the first track had finished. Shocking.
Listening to this album made me look back at the release dates of Metallica's early albums. There is a similar sound there for metal in the 80's I guess. This had notes of Kill Em All and Ride the Lightning. But also an inversion because all of the songs are like 3 minutes long (referenced in the wiki too). America had to go bigger with the 6-9 minute Metallica ballads. Overall this was enjoyable, started to sound the same towards the end but I wonder if this inspired any future metal groups.
Love a good departure like this, and this time we're going to hell. It's evil rock, baby. The album is titled "black metal," so it's easy to see how it inspired a subgenre of the same name. Look, I may not be a metalhead, but I can appreciate some evil riffs and gutteral singing, and there are a couple tracks on here that I did really dig. It's not something I would seek out, but I can't give it lower than 3 stars because it does what it does well. Favorite tracks: Black Metal, Heaven's On Fire. Album art: Looks forbidden. We've got what's certainly the devil stenciled in the middle of a black background, a classic goat-like image. He's got a little smirk, like he knows this music is about to take the metal world by storm. Very strong, fitting cover. 3/5
It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t my jam.
The worst album yet, after 146 days. It has all the worst elements of metal, but with one additional factor: you can actually hear the lyrics. Oh good! Let's see if actually metal singers have deep thoughts and emotions when it isn't just screaming. Wait. Why does he keep saying 'doth' and singing about trolls and goblins or whatever? Is he 14 and a nerd? Hang on, this one's a misogynist, back-seat-of-the-bus giggle about fancying your teacher. That's a gear switch. WHY IS THE NEXT ONE ANOTHER DOTH ONE? Genuinely makes you think that castrating all teenage boys is probably the best way to save the planet.
I liked this well enough. Classic 80s metal.
Yeah metal is ...... not it..... not for moi
Emhhh no thank you. Maybe in another time i could have listened to this. But i am not so sure.
Good to finally hear Venom, a prelude to the Trash Metal scene, and I like to hear the transition they represent, although the songs don’t really stand out one from each other.
Its not bad. I get that it was influential, but everything it influenced is better.
I can respect the talent it takes to do this, but find it difficult to take death metal seriously.
meh. Like metal but this didn't do it for me. Can see it being a big step forward for metal though.
Mag iets meer melodisch en bombastisch
Rätt bra!
This album is a strange one. And I’m having a bit of difficulty trying to express how I feel about it. This released during a very transitional period for metal music, and this album kind of represents that period as a whole. Its title inspired the namesake of an entire genre, and also supposedly inspired that same genre. And I’m not sure what to think. This is divided into two parts; Side Black and Side Metal. And so I expected a sonic difference with the songs on each sound. But there is very little difference as far as I can tell. I’m somewhat at a loss for where the “black metal influence” comes from other than the name. The characteristics of the black metal I’m familiar with aren’t present here. Much like the transitional period this was released in, the music itself feels very in between two worlds. The vocals are heavy, but not that low grisly growl that would become synonymous with hardcore metal. The riffs and drumming are fast, although the latter feels a little amateurish at some points. My biggest complaint is how lo-fi the album is. It’s mixed pretty poorly, and the guitars get kind of squandered by the drums and vocals. This was released even before Kill 'Em All, which whether you like Metallica or not, was a big album for thrash metal. In a way, I predicted what my thoughts on this would be just based on the year of release. Much like Vincebus Eruptum before it, which laid some of the groundwork for metal music as an entity, it’s very primitive and lacks the creativity and aesthetics that would cause metal to become a global phenomenon. Metal hadn’t exactly reached its genesis with this album. Rating: 5/10
It deserves its spot on the list. For me, this is not in discussion. However, it's very far from a good album. The production quality is not so good, the lyrics are much less "dangerous" these days (although I'm sure it was crazy to release it around the 80s), and the modern extreme metal is much better than this one. I would like to see more examples of extreme metal on the list.
Interesting history, but the quality is really bad.
Not bad actually.
This was enjoyable.
Heavy
I’m not a fan of heavy metal so I couldn’t truly appreciate this album.
Musicianship was fine, just lyrically not my thing and it was a bit too grungy.
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.
Not my cup of satanic tea
So... When Miles Davis released *Milestones* and *Kind Of Blue* he did not only release great albums a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. He also created a whole new music genre, known as "modal jazz", and this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when Bob Dylan released *Bringing It All Back Home*, he did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. He also created a whole new music genre, known as "folk-rock", and this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when The Who released *My Generation*, they did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new trend for "mod-rockers", and this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when The Beatles released *Sgt Pepper*, they did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created modern pop music, along with a whole new template for albums as a serious art form, and this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when The Velvet Underground released their eponymous debut with Nico, they did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new music genre, known as "art-rock", and this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when Fairport Convention released *Unhalfbricking*, they did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new music genre, known as modern "British folk" at the time, and this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when Marvin Gaye released *There's A Riot Going On*, he did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. He also created a whole new music genre, known as "socially-conscious modern soul", and this almost singlehandedly Likewise, when The Byrds released *Sweetheart Of The Rodeo*, they did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new music genre, known as "country-rock", and this almost singlehandedly (personally, I don't even really like this record, but I know that many fans of this subgenre still enjoy it today, so I'm not gonna argue against its relevance here). Likewise, when The Stooges released their eponymous debut, they did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new music genre, known as "proto-punk" today, and this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when David Bowie released *Ziggy Stardust...*, he did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. He also created a whole new music genre, known as "glam-rock", and this almost singlehandedly Likewise, when Black Sabbath released their eponymous debut, they did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new music genre, "metal", and this singlehandedly. Likewise, when Bob Marley And The Wailers released *Catch A Fire*, they did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new music genre, known as modern "reggae" at the time, and this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when Brian Eno released *Ambient, vol 1*, he did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. He also created a whole new music genre, "ambient", and this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when Kraftwerk released *Radioactivity* and *Trans-Europe-Express*, they did not only release great albums a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new music genre, known as "electronic music", and this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when Patti Smith, The Ramones, The Damned and The Clash released their respective debuts, they did not only release great albums a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new music genre, "punk", and this almost singlehandedly (at least for each incremental steps leading to that style as it is known for and enjoyed today). Likewise, when Wire released their debut *Pink Flag*, they did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new music genre, known as "post-punk", and this almost singlehandedly Likewise, when Minor Threat and Bad Brains released their first EP, they did not only release great records a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new music genre, "hardcore punk", and this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when Kate Bush released her debut "*The Kick Inside*, she did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. She also created a whole new music genre, known as "baroque pop" (that she later brilliantly furthered in *Hounds Of Love*). And she did all this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when The Human League released *Dare*, they did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new music genre, known as "synth-pop", and this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when Talk Talk and Slint respectively released *Laughing Stock* and *Spiderland* on each side of the pond around the start of the nineties, they did not only release great albums a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new music genre, known as "post-rock", and this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when NWA released *Straight Outta Compton*, they did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new music genre, known as "gangster rap", and this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when A Tribe Called Quest released their debut LP, they did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new music genre, known as "new school hip hop" at the time, and this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when Massive Attack released their debut *Blue Lines*, they did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new music genre, known as "trip hop", and this almost singlehandedly Likewise, when Daft Punk released *Homework*, they did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also created a whole new music genre, "French Touch", and this almost singlehandedly. Likewise, when The Strokes released their debut *Is This It*, they did not only release a great album a lot of people still hold dear to their heart in 2023. They also triggered the whole *rock-revival* wave, and this almost singlehandedly. And so on. There's probably a dozen of other similar examples left, and of course, there will be many other ones in the future. What about Venom's *Black Metal*, then? Surely, with an album title like that, it has spawned new generations of long-haired lovers of heavy riffs and extreme-sounding vocal ! Well, parts of the album's horror Z-movie-level Satanist imagery, clearly parodic here, might indeed have been influential for a few Scandinavian bands, most of them filled with naive teenagers who didn't have a clue all of this was mostly in jest. And yes indeed, parts of the objectively *terrible* music might have have been listened to by those same teenagers. So yes on both counts. The thing is, said music is so badly composed, so badly performed, and so badly recorded that it's just impossible to take it seriously in 2023. And more importantly, *most metal fans out there* don't take this music seriously either today!!! At least that's what my usual impressions about this band tell me, and the reviews in here mostly confirm them. You have literally dozens and dozens and dozens of album categorized in the same subgenres as Venom that have been recorded since 1982, and you can bet your boots they sound better than this pile of hot garbage. Plus, musically speaking, *Black Metal* isn't really "black metal". It's very much trash metal / speed metal and the likes. There's no high-pitched shrieking and the riffs are too slow. It's only the Satan thing that can make you tie this act with later ones using that same "brand'. And well... that Satan thing wasn't even invented by Venom. The Bible invented it, did it not? 😉 So even as a first example of a precise subgenre--no matter how good or bad that example is--this album doesn't hold water. Very few people enjoy it now, it has no "objective" merits, and the influence it might have had--stemming on a misunderstanding anyway--has little to no relevance in the long run. So next, please. Number of albums left to review: 336 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 299 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 161 Albums from the list I won't include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 213
1. 3/5 2. 3/5 3. 3/5 4. 3/5 5. 3/5 6. 3/5 7. 3/5 8. 3/5 9. 3/5 10. 3/5 11. 3/5
Corny teens make fun thrash metal
it's alright
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.
While I appreciate the influence this album has certainly had, I don't think Venom will ever be my cup of tea. The songs bordered on satirical. Maybe they are? Also, I wonder if their spelling of "sacrifice" inspired Gwen Stefani to teach the world how to spell "bananas"? If so, bravo Venom. Bravo.
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.
There is better 80’s metal
I just don't like this genre but it was better than I expected
Nasty and brutish. Definitely not for me.
Not into metal, tried, not for me. Better than a lot of modern stuff, comprehensible lyrics and melody for example, so just scrapes a 2.
Not my vibe
Disco icónico que sólo ubicaba de nombre. Me encuentro escuchando ciertos días Metallica y Slayer, así que en este trabajo viene a agrandar el panorama. Thrashero, previo a la existencia del género, lo siento ideal para entrenar.
Man - this hasn't aged well for me. The influence this has had on metal is clear, but a lot of it just feels silly now and the guitar riff, drums, and mixing overall just doesn't do it for me. Perhaps that's because it's hard to go back to something that's much weaker than things like Metallica and more.
The witches brew a pot of hate With lizard, bat and man With a smile they laugh their spells And stir with wretched hand Calling demons Baphomet and Mephistopheles The tattered figures cackle As their mortal victims bleed Don't burn the witch The ways of Hell aren't wrong Don't burn the witch Let them brew their song I'm generally in favor of anything that would upset tipper gore. This is an OK album, but it does get kind of background noisy after a few tracks. 3/5
Ik heb hem afgeluisterd maar het kostte me enorm veel moeite. Rare cuts ook soms. Af en toe een vetter riff.
Ik vind de mix echt om te janken, ook voor die tijd. Klinkt alsof het opgenomen is in een kelder (wat vast zo is) en echt ongelooflijk zacht. Schrok me de tyfus bij nummer 4 want die is opeens veel harder in volume. Heb het opgezet tijdens een potje Chivalry en vond dat wel lekker maar ik ga het niet nog een keer opzetten. Wel gaaf dat dit album een heel subgenre heeft gecreeerd vandaar 2 sterren
wtf is dit met een aardappel opgenomen? Muziek kan best goed zijn maar kan er niet van genieten met deze kwaliteit
Highly influential, it's a good borderline between the heavy metal of NWOBHM and thrash, with primitive aspects of what would become black metal. What sets it apart is its low register guitar, punchy drums, and lo-fi quality (with barely audible trippy effects), giving it a very gritty, unsettling, and mysterious sound. In the slow and atmospheric moments, when combined with the evil lyrics and growled vocals, you can hear how much of it forms the basis of black metal. Most songs have the energy, vocals, and riff style of Motorhead, but with a fast tempo and aggressive playing, it mostly shows signs of thrash metal, particularly Slayer, but also Anthrax in the anthemic songs like "Teacher's Pet." Onto the downsides. 1) I get that it's very early black metal, but the lyrics are primitive and boring with basic themes like "hail satan" and "damn that teacher's hot." I did really like the imagery in "Buried Alive" though. 2) I think the quality does work against their favor, feeling like it's best enjoyed from shitty speakers in some creepy basement. On the plus side, it does reinforce the creepy vibe. 3) Many songs feel gimmicky, like they're having fun with whatever ideas come to their mind. I did have a bit of a fun too, it makes it a bit more accessible too to people not used to more extreme forms of metal. But the novelty runs out quickly with successive listens, where I'm waiting to get past most of it just to get to highlights like a sick riff. 4) The gimmicks make it incoherent, leaving me conflicted between tracks. 5) The middle 4 songs were really weak and (besides "Teacher's Pet") forgettable. "Heaven's On Fire" was good but drawn out, and the vocals clash. 6) Lmao at the sneak preview into their next album. It's stupid but I appreciate the effort. Maybe just stop at the end of "Don't Burnt the Witch." The first 3 and last 2 are really strong compositions for different reasons, some for their trash elements, and others for their black elements. The lyric, gimmick, consistency, and production qualities I outlined above still hinder them, but at least it feels part of the experience, which I can't discredit too much.
Couldn't tell if this was a satirical metal album or it has just aged poorly, it was a fun listen but jeez sacrifice was a corny song especially when they spelled out the word
Favorite Songs: Black Metal Countess Bathory Solid old school metal album and thus quite enjoyable.
I actually didn't think it was all that bad. Like it's the kind of music you'd listen to while jumping out of the back of a plane without a parachute on but overall was fine - and this is coming from someone not really a fan of this genre. 6/10.
Couldn't stand the vocals at all. A few decent guitar solos, but that was it. Wouldn't listen to again. Min 1 out of 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.
Banger metal album! It’s clear from where Metallica got influence for their debut album.
grimy noisy maximalist metal beats for your local dive-y craft beer bar.
Kinda meh, I can see how it influenced things though
Came into this album expecting not to like it, and I wasn’t wrong. Generally most metal music doesn’t do it for me so I’m not too surprised. There are exceptions (Doom eternal OST <3), but metal just isn’t my thing. Not awful, but I didn’t like it. 2/5
I dig it, funnily enough.
Dog shit bad
They really lean into the heavy death satanic metal theme. If they weren't pioneers of the genre I'd think they were a parody band.
This album sucks. I wouldn’t call myself a metal aficionado, but the vocals were bad, the instrumentals were uninspiring, and the production made it sound worse. DNF.
I do not like metal, and this did not change that. Struggled to get through this one.
Metal
Not my cup of tea, but great energy.
Pas écouté en entier
dans le doute (aucun souvenir) toujours mettre 2 a un album de metal
This was silly, but I kinda like it?? There are some catchy parts
Pretty influential not bad
Generally not my thing, not awful. Sounds like prototypical Metallica
Some cool melody and drums but metal ain't for me
Not a fan
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.
Not great… I guess it was something at the time but it has not aged well IMO.
I’m not a big fan of the themes, which feel very one dimensional and confined. I do appreciate the DIY feel of the album but the niche is too confining for me. I know this is groundbreaking but why not discover more instead of just expressing fascination with one theme.
It's kind of fun, kind of stupid. Can hear the joke in it, can hear seriousness in it too. Not something I plan to come back to.
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.
Listened to this while I worked out, which is probably the best way for me to listen to it. The lofi-ness made it kind of wash over me though.
they do what they say
Not too bad. Kind of corny.
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!"
This album was one that I was not at all interested in listening to. As I was listening, I found it confusing that I could make out the lyrics. Also, the music wasn’t too terribly painful to my ears. Still not interesting for me, but it could have been much worse.
Well this turned out to be just fine for Halloween. But I find that this kind of goofiness wears thin quite quickly. At least I got the sense that they don't take themselves too seriously. Very silly.
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!
No lo acabé de escuchar, a ver si mañana.
Perfect record for Halloween.
Ok
No thanks
In case you hadn't heard, it's blaccckkkkkk metaaaalllllllllll!!!! \m/ \m/
I tried…could not get past the first song. Does it get better? I’ll never know.
Utterly ludicrous and absurd, I loved it.
Ok
Venom Genre: Heavy Metal, Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, Black Metal 1982 Holy crap, THIS is from 1982? Never herd of these guys...it definitely seems way ahead of its time. Is it good? Well, it is no Metallica. But, maybe this was an influence, and that makes it significant.... Buried Alive is probably the best song on the album. Standouts: None. Others: Buried Alive, Black Metal, To Hell and Back, It's a bit to hard and heavy for my taste today, but not bad. 3/5
Disco is dead, new wave has yet to arrive and hair metal is still in its infancy. Venom put out this album which is the template for Speed and thrash metal. Fast guitar picking, super bright cymbals, phase on the guitar distortion and a bit of growl to the vocals.
When listened to on low volume, its like metal elevator music.
A metal album from the 80s with consistent double bass and your standard hardcore lyrics and guitar. I would have rather seen a different Metallica album as they were the better musicians of 80s metal. But this is alright nothing I’d revisit. 5.5/10
Ég gaf Sepulturu eina stjörnu. Sem er synd, því ég myndi vilja gefa þessu mun lægri einkunn. Það jákvæðasta sem ég get sagt er að ég næ ekki nokkurri tengingu við þetta.
Un album évidemment de très mauvais goût mais ça on s'en doutait rien qu'à la couverture. Il est important de rappeler que les fans de métal schlinguent la mort et imposent leur odeur à tout le monde à longueur de journée.
Atroce j'en ai mare va te faire foutre Robert le castor
Ok, I get that it's on brand, but that opener is rough yall. Ok, I need to remember that this is 80s Metal, but these Lyrics are cracking me up. Oh. That guitar solo though. Yum. The cheese. Revoking his spoken word license. Could I have an Album of just the Solos? Good album ruined by childish vocals. Shock only works until is wears off, then it's just giggle inducing. Some decent bones here though. Countess Bathory strong best. Should give their later stuff a listen.
80's hum-drum metal. Sounds like it was recorded in an echo chamber. Pretty sure blade (the vampire hunter) listens to this?
not interested
Awful
Just pretty boring angry metal, my least favorite kind of metal.
I can see what they are going for, the vocals are not for me, however. The guitar riffs and drum lines are nice, but ultimately the lyrics and vocals are what bring it down
It does exactly what it says on the cover! Enjoyable, but more a diversion than the big event.
Started strong. Wore on me towards the end.
Not what I needed first thing in the morning
Horrible music. Did not get half way through the first song.
What's going on with the terrible production?
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.
I think I just really don’t like metal
3.5
instrumentals are pretty solid but there is no musicality in the singing, tough to listen to unless truly in the mood for heavy metal
Not for me.