"Avé Satanas", a brand new song from VENOM INC., the band featuring original VENOM members Jeff "Mantas" Dunn (guitar) and Anthony "Abaddon" Bray (drums) alongside ex-VENOM bassist/vocalist Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan, can be streamed below. The track is taken from VENOM INC.'s debut album, "Avé", which will be released on August 11 via Nuclear Blast.
Dolan says: "This is the salute to you all... from our dark hearts to your good black souls... the earth is ours and Lucifer walks with us. We hail our master, we hail our Lord! We present ourselves to you... 'Avé Satanas'! Welcome to hell you sons (and daughters) of Satan!"
VENOM INC. was born during an impromptu live set at 2015's Keep it True festival in Lauda-Königshofen, Germany. The onstage reunion was a rousing success amongst VENOM fans and music industry personnel alike, and although it was originally only set up for fun, Dolan began receiving numerous show offers for VENOM INC. from booking agents around the world. What started as a live set to celebrate VENOM's legacy immediately turned into a serious reunion discussion.
While unexpected at the outset, the end result of this reunion is an album that true VENOM fans will gladly add to the top of their playlists. Dolan says: "We tried to shape 'Avé' so that it comes at you dark, then it gets bright and heavy and just keeps growing into some kind of monster."
"Avé" track listing:
01. Avé Satanas
02. Forged In Hell
03. Metal We Bleed
04. Dein Fleisch
05. Blood Stained
06. Time To Die
07. The Evil Dead
08. Preacher Man
09. War
10. I Kneel To No God
11. Black N Roll
Going in to writing "Avé", VENOM INC. realized their live performance was the key to creating an album that would be a metal classic. It was clear that any songs the trio came up with had to have the intensity, the honesty and the aggression that was happening for VENOM INC. in a live situation. Simply put, they needed to translate what they do on stage onto a record. Not once did they look back on the VENOM catalogue and think, "We have to write another 'Black Metal' or another 'Schizo'..." The focus is on VENOM INC. and everything the rejuvenated three-piece do in the here and now.
Dolan adds: "Expect 100% pure, honest, solid, hard, dark, thought-provoking metal... like it was, is and forever shall be. Classic old-school, but with the ferocity and energy that we display in our live show. We are proud of this album and our new home at Nuclear Blast, as well as our whole team — management, PR, agents, sponsors and most of all, YOU. Thank you! See you somewhere on this blood-stained Earth!"
VENOM INC. will kick off the "Blood Stained Earth" headline tour, featuring support from GOATWHORE, TOXIC HOLOCAUST and THE CONVALESCENCE, on September 1.
In addition to the tour, VENOM INC. is set to perform dates in Europe throughout 2017, including stops at MetalDays, Heavy Metal Cauldron and others. The band will perform classic VENOM songs and new tracks.
VENOM INC. is not to be confused with the Conrad "Cronos" Lant-fronted version of VENOM, which is continuing to tour and make albums under the VENOM moniker. Joining Cronos in that group are Rage (a.k.a. Stuart Dixon) on guitar and Danté (a.k.a. Danny Needham) on drums.
Dunn, Bray and Dolan released three albums as VENOM between 1989 and 1992 — "Prime Evil" (1989), "Temples Of Ice" (1991) and "The Waste Lands" (1992).
The classic lineup of VENOM — Lant, Dunn and Bray — is often credited with kickstarting the whole black metal movement, but is more accurately seen an early example of extreme metal.
VENOM's second album, 1982's "Black Metal", was a major influence on on the early Norwegian black metal scene.
Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral
