{"id":5777,"date":"2019-05-31T05:00:39","date_gmt":"2019-05-31T05:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=5777"},"modified":"2019-05-29T20:51:02","modified_gmt":"2019-05-29T20:51:02","slug":"venom-in-nomine-satanas-40-years-in-sodom-bmg-sanctuary-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=5777","title":{"rendered":"Venom – ‘In Nomine Satanas – 40 Years In Sodom’ (BMG\/Sanctuary Records)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>When the news initially broke earlier this year regarding this Limited Edition vinyl-only box set that brings together remastered editions of the four studio LPs and a double live album recorded by the original line up of Black Metal gods Venom, I was immediately intrigued.<\/p>\n

Add into the mix a further double LP of previously unreleased demos, an exclusive shaped picture disc of \u2018Bloodlust\u2019, and a veritable cornucopia of memorabilia that includes amongst other things a stunning 40 page \u2018History Of Venom\u2019 hardback book along with (if you pre-ordered it from the band themselves) a 12×12 art print signed by Cronos himself, and before I could yell \u201cC\u2019MAAAAAAAAAAAN TURN IT UP\u2019, I had bought a copy.<\/p>\n

I actually received mine at the start of May well ahead of the official release date of May 31st<\/sup> but I wanted to really get to grips with this mammoth set before giving you my verdict simply because with a retail price of \u00a3150 this is never going to be an impulse purchase.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve mentioned the \u2018History\u2019 book already let\u2019s begin with a little bit of my own history and how I first heard Venom. It was early 1983 and a close friend (who remains so to this very day) who first introduced me to \u2018Black Metal\u2019, oddly via a mate of his who had bought said LP (complete with poster) and as he thought it was shit, he had given it away. It wasn\u2019t really like any of the other metal bands we were listening to at the time other than those noisy bastards Motorhead and Tank, in fact, it reminded me more of the relentless racket created by the UK82 punk bands my other school mates were listening to at the time like G.B.H and Discharge. I have to admit I wasn\u2019t exactly an immediate fan but I did have a copy of \u2018Black Metal\u2019 taped for me (there\u2019s a gag in there that I won\u2019t need to explain to old school fans) so it did make numerous appearance on my Walkman over the summer of that year but it wasn\u2019t until June 1984 when I just happened to buy a ticket on the door for the awe-inspiring Seventh Date Of Hell show at Hammersmith Odeon that I fully got what Venom were really all about. \u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Picking up the \u201cremastered from the original tapes\u201d splatter and swirl LPs contained in this lavish box set (they all come with reproduction sleeves and inners) I actually begin my aural assault with \u2018At War With Satan\u2019 because that was the Venom record I first purchased for myself (on picture disc) at that legendary Seventh Date gig, and here pressed on heavyweight clear splatter vinyl it sounds absolutely magnificent. Okay, the gatefold doesn\u2019t have the gold leaf cover of the original pressing or the original merch\/poster inserts but that\u2019s probably just me being a little bit too pernickety as otherwise this is stonking stuff.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I then go back to the band\u2019s beginnings, with \u2018Welcome to Hell\u2019 and \u2018Black Metal\u2019 played back to back, and here the rumbling bottom end that bursts out the speakers is enough to wake the dead, or at the very least the neighbours. Both LPs come in embossed sleeves (and include replicas of the posters and lyric inners \u2013 here reproduced on the inner bags) and are again pressed on splatter vinyl, sounding as raw as they did back at the dawn of the eighties and equally just as ground-breaking.\u00a0 The only small niggle I have here is my copy of \u2018Black Metal\u2019 came with nasty click on the run-in groove to side one, again I may be being over critical here but with the hefty price tag attached to this set I would expect nothing short of perfection.<\/p>\n

Which is something I do get with the 74 tracks on offer here that\u2019s for sure, with perhaps the real highlight for me being the chance to rediscover 1985\u2019s (at the time) critically panned \u2018Possessed\u2019 LP. A record that has never sounded better than it does here, and coming as it does pressed upon splatter vinyl complete with the original inner bag and a huge poster it\u2019s never looked as good either.<\/p>\n

Moving on to \u2018Eine Kleine Nachtmusik\u2019 from 1986 and this double live LP for me has never really cut it, largely because some bright spark decided to leave silences between the tracks, so its not really like listening to a live album at all, and why would I want to listen to the band live just as they were falling apart at the seams when I could simply slip in my almost worn out VHS of The Seventh Date of Hell? The soundtrack of which I have always felt would have been a much better alternative as their official live album. Here \u2018Nachtmusik\u2019 is lovingly restored in a gatefold sleeve complete with the inner bags, so I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll get to play it more this time around.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

With many Venom fans probably looking to buy this box set just for the 15 track \u2018Sons Of Satan\u2019 double LP I have to admit that if this were a standalone release I wouldn\u2019t have been happy paying a top price for it. However, as a piece of Venom history contained within such an absorbing time capsule commemorating the band\u2019s 40th<\/sup> anniversary it actually works well. Initially transporting us right back to 1979 via some very boomy cassette recordings of the band\u2019s first line up complete with singer Christ, this is a world away from the Venom that would ultimately change heavy metal forever. However, by the time we get to the 1980 Impulse Studios demos that make up sides 2 and 3 of \u2018Sons Of Satan\u2019 the more recognisable \u201corganised chaos\u201d of the classic Venom sound is all but a few bottles of Jack Daniels away and waiting to take on the world. Something Cronos, Mantas and Abaddon were more than ready to do by the time they released the original \u2018Bloodlust\u2019\/\u2019In Nomine Satanas\u2019 7\u201d single back in 1982 and thankfully it is included here as a shaped picture disc exclusive to this box set.<\/p>\n

Whilst immersing myself in the satanic sounds of this box set I found the aforementioned \u2018History Of Venom\u2019 book to be the perfect accompanying piece, formed as it is from quotes from all the band members as well as being crammed with some of the cheesiest band photographs ever taken. This book for me is where this box set truly adds a bit of (black) magic to the mystery of Venom, as does the memory jogging reproduction tour programme.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Wrapping up the memorabilia part of this set you also get a huge Seven Dates Of Hell poster along with a Venom\u2019s Legions back patch and if like me you order it from the band\u2019s official store (linked below) you also get a very frameable art print signed by Count Cronos himself.<\/p>\n

So, is it worth the \u00a3150 then I hear you cry?<\/p>\n

Well, if you don\u2019t already have these seminal albums on vinyl it most certainly is a must buy. If however you are a hardcore Venom collector and have these albums already a bazillion time over you\u2019ll probably have done what I did and already have this box set filed away in your collection, in which case, \u201cwhat the hell are you doing reading this review?\u201d Ha!<\/p>\n

‘In Nomine Satanas – 40 Years In Sodom’ will take a lot to top in the box set stakes that\u2019s for sure and it once again proves that the devil really does still have all the very best tunes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

signed by Cronos Copy Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Double CD best of book edition Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: Johnny Hayward<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the news initially broke earlier this year regarding this Limited Edition vinyl-only box set that brings together remastered editions of the four studio LPs and a double live album recorded by the original line up of Black Metal gods Venom, I was immediately intrigued. Add into the mix a further double LP of previously […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5778,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[2199,2207,2204,1685,2202,2198,2197,1818,2206,2200,2201,1614,2205,2203],"class_list":["post-5777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-abaddon","tag-at-war-with-satan","tag-black-metal","tag-cronos","tag-eine-kleine-nachtmusik","tag-in-nomine-satanas-40-years-in-sodom","tag-mantas","tag-new-album","tag-possessed","tag-sons-of-satan","tag-the-seventh-date-of-hell","tag-venom","tag-vinyl-box-set","tag-welcome-to-hell","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5777"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5786,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5777\/revisions\/5786"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}