by: Frank Godla
How can we possibly celebrate Black Metal History Month without the band that started it all? Venom was an extreme thrash metal band from England who began their rocking days in 1979, however it wasn't until their 2nd full length entitled "Black Metal" that gave birth to a sub-genre unlike the world has ever known before. Although the music style of the LP remains more reminiscent of thrash, the lyrics and imagery associated with the record turned out to be the single biggest influence in spawning the early Norwegian Black Metal scene nearly 10 years later.
Mayhem, Burzum, Immortal and Emperor cite Venom as true originators of the black metal message, as should you. The above video clip features a live version of the LP's title track, and also contains one of my favorite lines of old school metal lyrics ever "Lay down your soul to the gods rock and roll!"
