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August 29, 2008 |
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01. Antechrist
02. Burn In Hell
03. House Of Pain
04. Death & Dying
05. Rege Satanas
06. Darkest Realm
07. A Good Day To Die
08. Assassin
09. Lucifer Rising
10. Blessed Dead
11. Hours Of Darkness
12. Sleep When I'm Dead
13. Maleficarvm
14. Metal Black
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Who would've thought that after their first three landmark releases ("Welcome To Hell", "Black Metal", and "At War With Satan") VENOM's career would take a turn for the absolute worse? Who would have thought that they would continue to remain a household name amongst the Metal community for so many years while releasing a few mediocre (at best) albums and compilation after compilation after compilation after...you get the idea?
Fast forward 24 years from their second release, "Black Metal", an album that helped define an entire genre, to VENOM's latest offering, the dyslectic-friendly "Metal Black". Founding member/bassist/vocalist Conrad Lant (aka Cronos), guitarist Mike Hickey (aka Mykus), and drummer/sibling Antton Lant (aka...Anton Lant), bring to us fourteen new songs clocking in at slightly under an hour. This album comes with all the customary VENOM references including pentagrams, Satan, the dead, the goat's head, death etc. - nothing unexpected here.
To me, VENOM just isn't VENOM without the original Cronos/Mantas/Abaddon lineup, and there just had to have been some special "magic" when the three of them sat down in the studio together, magic that the current lineup does not seem capable of recreating. The obvious reference to the 1982 release "Black Metal" ends up going amiss just as "St. Anger" and all its hype did for METALLICA. Although "Metal Black" showcases some respectable guitar work, it is full of terrible lyrics, and an even worse production. Like MEATLOAF said many years ago "Two out of three ain't bad".
There are plenty of bands and places for "raw", "cult", or "true" Metal recordings…but in this day and age, just give me a well-balanced, audibly pleasing mix...please! VENOM were masters of that sound 25 years ago...quit living in the past! It doesn't take the keenest ear to figure out that there was no use of Pro-Tools during the recording of this platter. It sounds more to me like the producer had a microphone and tape recorder in tow as he walked about the studio while the band jammed. Antton may be very capable behind the skins, but it's often hard to tell in this muddled mix. As a bass player, I think Cronos may get slightly better grades than Gene Simmons, but once again, it's really hard to tell with the atrocious production. Mykus appears to be the most gifted of the bunch; his guitar work being the albums' best chance of acknowledgment.
"House Of Pain" starts out with potential with thick guitars and those "wah" sounds ala Zakk Wylde, but is quickly followed by Cronos' ghastly shrieks and grunts, which sound like they were recorded while he sat upon the "throne". "Burn In Hell" has Mykus doing what he does best on the fret board, and "Blessed Dead" has some different, catchy guitar parts that start about mid-point. The solos in "Assassin" and "Hours Of Darkness" showcase more of Mykus' talents. "Lucifer Rising" is catchy, as are bits and pieces of "Darkest Realm".
Here's a lyrical sample of "Hours Of Darkness": "Late in December, coldness deadly chill, the night is calling, it's kill or be killed". I seriously feel that a pissed-off third-grader could easily write better, "evil" lyrics without much effort. After the first listen, I absolutely could not avoid hitting the "next track" button the instant the chorus to "Rege Satanas" kicked in...absolutely awful sounding and annoying as hell. The title track, "Metal Black", closes out the disc with just over three minutes of intensity and is easily the quickest of the bunch and undoubtedly the closest return to old-school VENOM of all the tracks on offer. Unfortunately, it took until the closer to really excite me.
Overall, "Metal Black" is a bad attempt at reworking what was good about the band's first three releases. There is possibly an EP's worth of decent licks, riffs, solos, and (dare I say) lyrics scattered throughout the fourteen tracks. It's a very trying hour that can trigger a few memories of VENOM's glory years. However, it's been five years since the last VENOM release, and after spinning this a few times, it won't really bother me all that much if it's another five years before the next. If you want to hear a decent VENOM record, may I suggest dropping in "At War With Satan".
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