Through many a tortured night prevails
Thy exorcisms shall but fail
While crucifix doth burn my flesh
I shall not yield to you unless I die.
--------------------------------------
OK, the lost classic. Last 80's release with the 'classic' lineup. I dug it out just now and yeah it does lack some cohesion and it sounds like it was recorded in a urinal, but still--some of the songs are fuckin' heavy (Flytrap, Hellchild) some are gay (Voyeur--what's up with that solo?, Suffer Not the Children--did you guys just not have time?)

Inverse-cross for your thoughts--

WITCHING HOUR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to put it on right now.

i drink the vomit of the priests, make love to the dying whore
i spit at the virgin you worship, and i sit at lord satan's left haaaaannnddd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

honestly i listen to possessed more than any other venom album

this was also the first year ('85) I heard the band. 'Possessed' wasn't first thing I heard (probably a good thing), it was the 'Manitou' single and 'Canadian Assault'.

Production-wise, there's really something about the snare/hi-hat sound on 'At War with Satan' and the '7 Gates of Hell' single that really make those releases stand out as heavier than everything else, IMO. Even the vocals and guitar sound crisper there.

the following year ('86), Venom still had Mantas but he was drifting away pretty quickly, apparently. I have a tape from their Live show at the Ritz in NYC, and at the end there are some fifteen-second snippets of Venom's rough mixes for what was supposed to be the 'Deadline' record. The tape is third, or fourth-generation so of course it sounds like complete shit. Most of these songs on there, like Chanting of the Priests, ended up on 'Calm Before the Storm,' after Mantas left and Jim Clare and Mike Hickey took over (and the hair got bigger). But MUCH TO MY DISMAY, 'Deadline' was never released (I wonder if it's just that it wasn't finished, or was scrapped altogether, or if a rough bootleg mix survives out there somewhere). There was a whole big article on Venom recording 'Deadline' in Creem magazine back then in '86, so I know it was going on. Maybe the only way for me to find it is to ask Cronos himself.

VENOMOLOGY 101, to be continued, eh?

damn dood, i need a copy1

i have 7 of their records, and all their cd's. i used to have the manitu shaped picture disk.

but i do still have their double album from hell to the unknown, with interviews and some unreleased tracks, that you can't find anywhere, the album folds out to a big fucking upside down cross and the goathead!

at war with satan was my fav! but possessed was my 2nd

I still have the Manitou devil-head shaped single, it is my prized possession (my first hearing of Venom, but also it looks so cool!)

Now, 'From Hell to the Unknown' is a prime example of how Venom let really REALLY shitty releases fly out. Half of the thing is ONLY a repressing of 'Welcome to Hell,' for fuck's sake. HOWEVER, it is true that you WILL NOT find 'Senile Decay' anywhere except on that LP. So, for the true afficianado, FHTTU is allowed.

'Skeletons in the Closet' is also decent, because it has that crazy song 'S.A.D.I.S.T."

yeah i have that too, i liked the intro tapes and the new possessed intro tracks too, creepy the welcome to hell is all alt mixes, so it makes it worth listening to! senile decay is my favorite song from them, i wonder why it never made it to any release

yeah 'senile decay' is a crazy song, it's one of those ten or so Venom songs where the guitar solo is just Mantas making an unholy noise with all open strings, and echo unit, and the trem bar

lol hell yeah, thats what was great about them, they could'nt play their instruments and they still rocked!

I wish I could see them

they were denied access to the USA on a few occasions, because they were on the PMRC's shitlist

you know what gets my goat?

every time they put 'Warhead' on a CD, they fade out the end. GODDAMMIT THE 12" VERSION RULES BECAUSE IT DISINTEGRATES INTO AN ADDITIONAL FIVE MINUTES OF SCREAMING AND MAYHEM! You can hear Cronos de-tuning his bass too as it just gets crazier. Fuckit, I'll just have to make a digital file myself.

is it faded on from hell to the unknown? i haven't actually played that record in years. but it could be the full un faded version

Saw Venom at the Living Room

remember thinking, 'hey Cronos can play'
then 'holy shit, HE CAN PLAY!!!'
then 'can't hear anything Mantas is doing'

then 'Goddamn that drummer is TERRIBLE'

I am a firm beleiver that Venom's non-lp stuff as a whole is better than their any 'official' albums...

Burn your own comp CD with:
Die Hard
Acid Queen
Blood Lust
In Nomine Satanas
Warhead
7 Gates of Hell
Woman
Manitou
Lady Lust
Senile Decay
Bursting Out
Dead of the Night
Witch Bitch

...that's their best album!!!

Plus there's a killer version of Poison on a comp lp I have (the name escapes me; if anyone really cares I will find it) that's different--and way better--than the one on the 1st lp...

true, their singles are better representation of their brutality

bob are you talking about the live Hammersmith '85 version of Poison (where they break into it from 'Teachers Pet')? If not I'd be interested in the details.

Abaddon IS a fucking terrible drummer

no, it's not live...
i will dig out the comp that has the diff version of Poison on it
and post the details asap

stay tuned?

thanks, of course I will--IT'S VENOM-related!

Litacore:
The LP is called 'Metal Hammer' and was a German release in 1984 via Roadrunner; compiled by Metal Hammer magazine.

Mercyful Fate, Raven, Venom (the different/AWESOME version of 'Poison'), Satan, Thunderfire, Clovenhoof, Metallica ('Motorbreath'), Tokyo Blade, The Rods, Battle Axe, Exciter, and Anthrax all appear.

i saw venom at the old living room in ri back in 86 .. it was the most insane thing i had seen in my life up until that time.. flames ..pentagrams..upside down cross's every where..it was fuckin beautiful..fond memories of my freshman year of high school

i wish i got to see venom

th3rdknuckle said:

I have that same version of Poison on a Roadrunner comp. called Giants of Steel. It also has Metallica, Black Sabbath, Dio, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Anvil (Lips is on the cover of the LP), I forget who else is on it.

damn, that sounds cool.

litacore said:

at the end of 'Powerdrive', do you think those extra snare hits before the attempted David Letterman breakdown ending were intentional? HAHAHA, I fuckin' doubt it--