Venom
Welcome To Hell

THE REVIEW

"Welcome To Hell was a classic! Black Metal, Speed Metal, Death Metal - Venom started it all in 1981 with that one album" Lars Ulrich (Metallica) - before losing his mind

"Venom were the first thrash band I heard on record - It Really pushed me to be the best" Kerry King (Slayer)

These words are written on the back cover of the Venom best-of "In Memorium." Now, we cannot debate how much Cronos' band influenced Slayer and Metallica, but I think that through the album "Welcome To Hell," their best release, Venom really started to shake up all the contemporary heavy metal (or more or less contemporary) of various bands like Iron Maiden, Saxon, Motorhead, Angel Witch, etc. by exaggerating the various NWOBHM stylistic elements, playing at much faster speeds than their colleagues, increasing the level of malevolence and pseudo-satanism in the lyrics, making the guitars much sharper and "in your face" as they say. In short, Venom never played pure thrash metal or black metal, but they certainly lent a good hand in ensuring that these genres emerged like mushrooms in the second half of the '80s (thrash) and the '90s (most of black).

There couldn't have been a better start with "Sons Of Satan," a piece reminiscent of the early Motorhead of Lemmy, but which stands out above all for the group's malice and tenacity in playing tightly and "aggressively" throughout the song, definitely a respectable opener. Much more in line with the heavy metal of the time is the following title track. The introduction of "Welcome To Hell" could easily fit on an early Maiden record, but it is clear that the chorus and general structure were definitely something new for the time and damn Venom-style, making it undoubtedly another gem of the album. Still fast-paced and skillful rhythms with the following "Schizo," Cronos continues to recite his lyrics with that evil attitude, but always very composed, never descending into screaming or growl (not yet used at that time), his style surely influenced Tom Araya, bass and vocals of the aforementioned Slayer; it must be said that the solos in the whole "Welcome to Hell" are never technical or long, but at the same time never trivial. A relaxed intermezzo for the arpeggiated and brief "Mayhem with Mercy," which serves to introduce another masterpiece of the album, the track "Poison" has an introductory riff that is proto-thrash metal 100 percent, catchy chorus, it sticks immediately in your ears and never tires, a good guitar work and very tight rhythms for drums and bass, beautiful solo! Another speed-song with a Motorhead flavor with "Live Like An Angel," good riffs and very simple overall structure, but effective; although a tad repetitive, the song is well composed, but surely does not shine among the others of the "master."

The first piece to really approach that form of extreme genre that will be called Black metal is "Witching Hour," a song with dark atmospheres and a speedy tempo, another small gem of the album, the same can be said about the following "One Thousand Days In Sodom," a piece very much in line with the rest of the compositions. A classic is undoubtedly "Angel Dust," a fast composition with biting guitars and a Cronos (the undisputed leader of the group) truly captivating and in shape.

Decidedly very different from the overall style of "Welcome To Hell" is "In League With Satan," an excellent piece much more relaxed and cadence-driven than the rest, but certainly malevolent and dark, with a semi-anthemic chorus. A violin similar to folk and festive introduces us to "Red Light Fever," but the joy quickly turns to terror with Cronos' screams and the attack of the real song, the longest of the entire album (at 5 minutes and 14 seconds) with which Venom close "Welcome To Hell," an impactful, compact, and extremely "heavy" album, certainly not that sense of "heaviness" we understand today, we are not facing the harshness of Suffocation or the obsessive music of Burzum, but without a doubt, this album is a metal music classic, and partly thanks to it, today we can listen to various bands from the extreme hard'n'heavy area.