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<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nTo understand just how influential (and indeed shocking) Venom, Newcastle\u2019s very own masters of mayhem and metal, were back in the early to mid-\u201880s you simply need to read Shane Embury\u2019s sleeve notes which accompany this soon to be released reissue of the band\u2019s second Hammersmith Odeon headline show from 1985. As sixteen-year-olds Venom really was the band we all wanted to be in, and alongside the Napalm Death man\u2019s words of wisdom, Antton Lant (brother of Venom frontman Cronos\/Conrad and one time drummer with the band too) also shares some insight into what it was like to not only grow up around, but also eventually be a part of, such a musical phenomenon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With both musicians perfectly setting the scene for the madness to begin, I take a trip back in time and let Abaddon, Cronos and Mantas whisk me on the rip ride that was their World Possession Tour Part 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was lucky enough to ride on the wings of the Hydra (or Fred Day\u2019s mini bus to be exact) and catch Venom live on this very tour, attending the Birmingham Odeon show two nights before this Hammy O gig, this being a hastily arranged jaunt after the UK leg of the tour had been curtailed (and the Cardiff show I had front row tickets for was axed) following the band\u2019s shock announcement that most of the venue\u2019s booked wouldn\u2019t allow the band to use their full pyrotechnic overloaded production. And having also been lucky enough to have witnessed the legendary Seventh Date of Hell show at Hammersmith Odeon back in the June of 1984, and still trying to grow my eyebrows back following that hotter than hell show, I was not about to miss the Godfathers of Black Metal return to the UK stage\u2026so off to England\u2019s second city we set. More of which in a second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the concert film having been initially released as \u2018Alive in 85\u2019 by Embassy video and then subsequently re-released on numerous formats by various companies over the years, this is, as far as I\u2019m aware, the first time a UK record company have been audacious enough to bring together both the audio and the video from the band\u2019s October 8th<\/sup> show into one hell of a value for money set. The live package capturing fifteen of the nineteen songs the trio played that night in London and fully utilising a multi camera unit to get (perhaps a little too) up close and personal with the band to showcase the metallic maelstrom that Venom always has been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, newer tracks from the band\u2019s fourth album \u2018Possessed\u2019 like set opener \u2018Too Loud (For The Crowd)\u2019, the anthemic lead single \u2018Nightmare\u2019 and a blistering \u2018Satanachist\u2019 all fit in faultlessly alongside such genre defining classics as \u2018Black Metal\u2019 and \u2018In Nomine Satanas\u2019 and whilst the show is nowhere near as chaotic as that initial Hammersmith headliner, what it lacks in levitating drum risers and bleeding\/smashed guitars it more than makes up for in the band\u2019s supersonic punch. The trio sounding and looking nothing like a band about to lose its guitarist (and resident ninja it would appear) watching the DVD once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pyrotechnic bursts are conserved for a colossal sounding \u20187 Gates of Hell\u2019 and the final flurry of \u2018Bloodlust\u2019 and encore \u2018Witching Hour\u2019, and I have to be honest and say that I distinctly remember coming away from the Birmingham show feeling somewhat underwhelmed by the band after the sonic and visual assault on the senses I had previously witnessed them deliver (it also didn\u2019t help their cause that the Paul Baloff fronted Exodus supported them on the night and totally destroyed the place) but here thirty eight years on and without any of those \u201cin the moment\u201d distractions I found this \u2018Live From Hammersmith Odeon Theatre\u2019 to be one of the most rewarding (if that\u2019s the right word to use here) re-issues I\u2019ve had the pleasure of reviewing this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, in the words of the mighty Cronos, \u201cCome on, turn it up!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n