RSS Feed


VENOM
Into Oblivion

Noise (2026)
Rating: 7.5/10

If ever there was a band that should’ve mysteriously disappeared after releasing its initial batch of classic albums, it’s Venom. Back in the early 80s, this British mob were the drunken uncles you never knew you had. Clad in leather and spouting alcohol influenced satanic nonsense, the trio of Cronos, Mantas and Abaddon spewed prose straight from a Dennis Wheatley novel. Their debut outing, Welcome To Hell (1981), and immediate aftershock, Black Metal (1982), rocked, yet were also mocked. After all, here was a trio from Newcastle Upon Tyne that the press loved to hate and in turn fuelled a hate campaign against the band. Yet here we are, decades later, and for Venom, 16 studio albums in, and the metal community is still talking about the band and under the influence of those early albums. By unintentionally spawning a whole new genre, black metal, Venom – with whichever line-up – remain Gods, a band forever heralded as Hell’s true occupiers. It matters not that their career is chequered, Venom have always trudged on.

Of course, the history of Venom deserves more than just a few sentences, but if you do, or don’t know the score, then let’s still crack on with the review. Firstly, Into Oblivion, like its many predecessors from the late 80s onwards, is in no way at a match or replica of those halcyon days of black, spitting hellfire. Any reviewer, or fan for that matter, worth their salt needs to realise that Venom in the early 80s cannot be replicated. Why oh why do critics and the like constantly compare new material of a band that’s been around decades, to their old stuff? Anyway, Into Oblivion will no doubt receive mixed reviews with some critics claiming it’s Venom’s best material since the early 80s (shock horror, it’s not!) and others stating it’s their worst, because it doesn’t sound as good as Black Metal.

I’d rather focus on the new album in the now. Into Oblivion kicks off with the title track, a nod to their roots, somewhat, as Cronos gargles: “Falling ever downwards into the blackest pit, no flashing life before my eyes. Violence, anger, pain and blood and spit, the speed of dark eternal night. Into oblivion. Ancient pantheon. Into oblivion”, over a tirade of silted percussion and charcoal guitars. It’s relatively rough, but energetic all the same. It’s effective and coated in a rawness I maybe I didn’t anticipate, although it’s also generic and predictable but ultimately fun.

Most certainly nodding to their past, ‘Lay Down Your Soul’ gallops in tidy fashion, grey plumes of dust kicked to the leaden clouds by the steel hooves of the three horsemen – Cronos, Rage and Danté. The album is all delivered at a suitable pace, a majority of the songs heading off on a Motörhead-styled pace as both bass and guitar grind off shards of rust, while the drums do exactly what they are supposed to do; rhythmic pulsations and pounding clambering forth like the scurry of iron-footed rats.

Into Oblivion pretty much remains on a level, touching upon primitive shades but with the expected modernised tweaks. Remember, this isn’t the young ‘n’ hungry Venom of 1980, but it is a formation returning after the longest break in their career. The vim and zip sounds genuine, but there’s no greater weight offered than on the bruising and doomy traipse of ‘Man & Beast’. The riff alone is worth the entrance fee to Hell while Cronos snarls his way through, drooling: “Man and beast, man and beast, man and beast… Fuck in hell (Man and beast) Destruction, we yell (Man and beast). In pain, in death, in graves, Old Lilith salivates”. Venom’s lyrics may no longer convince teenagers to play records backwards, but they do, of course, add to the effect.

Elsewhere, it’s all pretty much routine metal with a blackened crust, but even so, there’s another mid-tempo gem to discover with ‘Metal Bloody Metal’, a genuinely catchy march to and along the banks of Hades as the trio chants: “Metal, metal, metal, metal”. Another personal favourite, which reminds me of Celtic Frost, is ‘Legend’, complete with twisted riff and Tom G. Warrior-styled vocal grunts. Those seeking ghastly gallops to shake their holy bones may obtain satisfaction from the rollicking ‘Kicked Outta Hell’, but a lot of the content is mid-paced and very heavy. ‘As Above, So Below’, is another gnarly triumph, sounding somewhat like a jam session; the riffs just billow black smoke, the bass and thumping drums choking on their own pungent fumes.

This is Venom in far more emotive and rewarding mode, because it would be so easy for Cronos and his comrades to churn out relatively speedy black n’ roll as exhibited on ‘Death The Leveller’. It’s all well and good spitting out such bloody feathers, but the thick roles of oily fog are far more potent, so thankfully, the pacier moments are sporadic, which may upset some. As I mentioned before, Into Oblivion is a level platform for the most part with ‘Dogs Of War’ and ‘Deathwitch’ maintaining a middle ground between trudging and steady loping.

I never expected to enjoy this album so much, but maybe, like some, I didn’t expect an impossible return to the 80s. My advice, appreciate Into Oblivion for what it is – a silt-layered traipse through Satan’s back passage.

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share