VENOM
“STORM THE GATES”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

Venom are a heavy metal band from the UK formed in 1978, releasing their debut album ‘Welcome To Hell’ in 1981. Venom have enjoyed a career spanning almost four decades, releasing fifteen studio albums, five live albums, numerous compilations and a number of box sets. Venom helped shape the iconic NWOBHM sound, bringing a more brutal and aggressive feel to the genre, and arguably, set in motion the beginnings of the black metal genre. Venom will live forever, and may be best remembered for their iconic song ‘Black Metal’, from their second album (also called) ‘Black Metal’, and its spoken word passage…

“lay down your soul to the Gods rock ‘n’ roll, metal ten fold through the deadly black hole, riding hells stallions bareback and free, taking our chances with raw energy“

Thundering with menace, the new album from pioneering NWOBHM band Venom opens with ‘Bring Out Your Dead’, bustling with fire and brimstone, delivering a much harder and gruffer style of NWOBHM than other pioneers such as Judas Priest, Saxon and Iron Maiden. Lead singer and bass player Cronos, growls and howls with bite and venom… The album picks up pace with ‘Notorious’, slamming listeners against the wall and then throwing them to the floor. Thirteen songs across fifty five minutes is a weighty avalanche of heavy metal, delving into the very heavy realms with ‘I Dark Lord’. A mighty mid tempo foot stomp, ‘I Dark Lord’ is dark, moody and menacing, three traits that Venom deliver in abundance. ‘100 Miles To Hell’ is up tempo and full of gusto, galloping on like the classic sounding NWOBHM it is. Head bangingly addictive, ‘100 Miles To Hell’ is foot on the monitor style heavy metal like it should be. The buzzing guitar sound synonymous with the NWOBHM evolution launches the venomous and aggressive, attitude laden ‘Dark Night (Of The Soul)’, with Cronos fiercely spitting the vocals. Stand well back or you will forcibly be obliterated. ‘Beaten To A Pulp’ is fierce, and will devastate and decimate anything and anyone that stands in its way. Ferocious and very heavy riffage will do as the song title says. At the halfway mark through the album, Venom are as raw and as brutal as they have always been, ever since I first heard them almost forty years ago…

Introducing elements of the doom metal genre, ‘Destroyer’ is a heavy stamp of savage brutality, cracking concrete floors and knocking over walls with ease. One of the quickest songs on offer, ‘The Mighty Have Fallen’ takes a quick trip through the thrash metal genre as it machine gun riffs by at break neck speed, banging heads harder than ever before. ‘Over My Dead Body’ maintains the previous songs savagery, viciously thrusting its way forward. Blistering pace pushes ‘Over My Dead Body’ on at an extreme rate of knots, crushing skulls and breaking bones as it hurtles by. The traditional and classic sound of British heavy metal rises high, as ‘Suffering Dictates’ gallops by in a flash. Raise your fists high and salute a thundering metal anthem, for ‘We The Loud’ sets a scorching pace as it hurtles past. The fastest song on offer, ‘We The Loud’ is a head bangers dream, and I have to admit that the second half of this album is much better than the first. It would appear that ‘Immortal’ has travelled at 88 miles per hour to get here, the retro feel resonating with eighties nostalgia. And for anyone who doesn’t have a clue about the “88 miles per hour” reference, go search the internet for the film trilogy Back To The Future… The title song ‘Storm The Gates’ ends the album in a flurry of fury. Galloping heavy metal, foot on the monitor styled with an infectious and catchy melodic undertone, ‘Storm The Gates’ (the song) is everything that is great about Venom, and the pride they portray, flying the flag for great British heavy metal.

Overall, a menacing display of savage brutality, Venom embody the classic sound of the NWOBHM, adding mega amounts of ferocious heaviness.

TRACKLIST

Bring Out Your Dead
Notorious
I Dark Lord
100 Miles To Hell
Dark Night (Of The Soul)
Beaten To A Pulp
Destroyer
The Mighty Have Fallen
Over My Dead Body
Suffering Dictates
We The Loud
Immortal
Storm The Gates

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