Venom: three men from Newcastle who gave black metal its name
Look at them: studded wristbands, bare chests, a scream frozen mid-air. In the early eighties nobody looked like this. A few years later half the metal world wanted to.
Three young men in studs and leather, one guitar, one scream, and the red Venom logo slashed across the bottom. It looks like a promo shot from a band that wanted to scare your parents. That is exactly what it is. And it worked far better than anyone in Newcastle could have imagined.
Cronos, Mantas and Abaddon
Venom came together in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1978 and 1979, out of three local bands, and took their name on the suggestion of a roadie. Nobody in the band used their real name. Conrad Lant became Cronos, on bass and vocals. Jeff Dunn became Mantas, on guitar. Tony Bray became Abaddon, behind the drums. Three working-class lads from the North East of England, renamed after gods and demons.
Three days, one genre
Their debut Welcome to Hell was recorded in August 1981 in just three days, and the label released the rough tapes almost as they were. Critics hated the sound. Kids loved it. A year later came the second album, called simply Black Metal, and the title stuck so hard that it became the name of a whole genre.
Everybody was listening
Metallica opened for Venom in the early eighties, and Slayer's Kerry King and Tom Araya named them as an early influence. In Norway, a young band called Mayhem took its name from a Venom instrumental, Mayhem with Mercy, and went on to start a scene of its own. Not bad for a band the critics had written off.
Cronos, the voice and bass of that line-up, died in October 2026 at the age of 63. The noise the three of them made in Newcastle is still with us.
About the poster
This is a 55 × 40 cm (22 × 16 in) landscape poster from 2019. It is an original magazine pull-out, never hung, with tiny holes from the staples that held it in the magazine, folded twice as issued. The sheet is double-sided, with Abbath on the back. So you get the band that named black metal on one side, and one of its most famous faces on the other.
Browse all original Venom posters.
Quick answers
Who is in Venom's classic line-up?
Cronos (Conrad Lant) on bass and vocals, Mantas (Jeff Dunn) on guitar and Abaddon (Tony Bray) on drums.
Where are Venom from?
Newcastle upon Tyne in the north east of England. The band formed there in 1978 and 1979.
Did Venom invent black metal?
They gave it its name. Their second album, released in 1982, was called Black Metal, and the title became the name of the genre.
How big is the poster?
55 × 40 cm (about 22 × 16 inches), landscape. It was pulled out of the magazine, so it has tiny staple holes, and it is folded twice as issued.
What is on the other side?
An Abbath poster. The sheet is double-sided, so you choose which side goes on the wall.