The originators of Black Metal have returned, sort of. Sure the only original member remaining in this line up is bassist/front man Cronos but musically Venom as still as raw and brutal as they were back in the NWOBHM boom.
The album opens up with an typical Venom intro track like they have traditionally used for their live shows and then it kicks into the title track “From The Very Depths” which perfectly sets the tone for the entire album.
The songs are all raw, dirty, nasty fusions of that classic NWOBHM sound combined with the speed of thrash metal and the rawness of what would become black metal. It pretty much shows that you could put this album up against the bands 1981 debut album and you could tell very little difference between the 2 releases at all. Thematically, musically and lyrically the albums are virtually identical and that’s where I start to have issues with this.
While the band broke new ground and defined a genre back in the early 80s unfortunately for 2015 the world of heavy metal is progressed and grown in such leaps and bounds that Venom still relying on the same over the top satanic imagery and goofy lyrics that its very hard to take any of it seriously when the band seems to be permanently stunted in the past.
While a lot of bands get by on being nostalgia acts from the glory days Venom really seemed to be not treading water but going backwards. Look at the first single released from the album “Long Hair Punks” its so by the numbers for them Cronos must have wrote it in his sleep.
While all that being said its not a band album. Its just a boring and unoriginal one and if you already own the albums “Welcome To Hell” or “Black Metal” then there is really no reason to own this album unless your a completest.
“From The Very Depths” is due out January 30th
http://www.venomslegions.com/
https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/from-the-very-depths/id948907330
http://www.spinefarmrecords.com/
