Venom Black Metal: the demon painted with correction fluid
No colour, no band photo, no mercy. Just a white demon staring out of the dark. The cover of the album that gave black metal its name started life with an office supply.
Black paper, and out of it a white face. Hollow eyes, a pentagram burning on the forehead, the Venom logo slashed across the top like a blade. Look closer at the horns: a tiny inverted cross hangs on one, and 666 is written on the other. Above it all, in old gothic letters, the two words that would end up naming a whole genre.
The singer's design
The sleeve was Cronos's own idea. Conrad Lant, bass player, singer and the band's in-house designer, also created the famous Venom logo and much of the band's early artwork. For Black Metal he went for pure black and white, and the story goes that the demon was first done in Tipp-Ex, the white correction fluid every office and school desk had at the time. That explains the look: no shading, no subtlety, just white paint scraped out of the dark.
Early copies had one more trick. The title was printed black on black, raised in relief, so you could only read it if you tilted the sleeve against the light. Later pressings gave up and printed it in white.
Seven days in Wallsend
The album was made in 1982 at Impulse Studios in Wallsend, near Newcastle, with Keith Nichol producing alongside the band. Their debut Welcome to Hell had been done in three days. This time they had seven, which Cronos later said finally gave them time to add guitar solos and redo vocals. They used the spare minutes well: the noise that opens the title track came from steel plates in a vice and a real saw, an idea from Abaddon, who worked in a steel factory.
Black Metal came out on Neat Records on 1 November 1982. Cronos said the phrase was meant to set Venom apart from every other heavy metal band of the day. It did more than that. A few years later young bands in Norway picked up the words, the imagery and the attitude, and black metal became a scene of its own.
Cronos died in October 2026, at 63. The demon he drew is still staring.
About the poster
This is the Black Metal sleeve printed as a 55 × 75 cm (22 × 30 in) portrait poster, from 2020. It is an original magazine insert, never hung, with no staple holes, folded three times as issued. The sheet is double-sided, with Led Zeppelin on the back.
Browse all original Venom posters.
Quick answers
Who designed the Venom Black Metal cover?
Cronos (Conrad Lant), Venom's bassist and singer, who also designed the band's logo. The black and white demon was reportedly first done in Tipp-Ex correction fluid.
What is on the demon's horns?
An inverted cross on one horn and the number 666 on the other, with a pentagram on its forehead.
When was Black Metal released?
On 1 November 1982, on Neat Records.
How big is the poster?
55 × 75 cm (about 22 × 30 inches), portrait. It is a separate insert, so it has no staple holes, and it is folded three times as issued.
What is on the other side?
A Led Zeppelin poster. The sheet is double-sided, so you choose which side goes on the wall.