We've seen it all too often these days, a legacy band that splinters and forms two different factions, both fighting for the continued affection of the loyal fans who supported them for many years while still in their original incarnation. Well, this stigma hasn't evaded the legendary Venom either, as in addition to the Cronos led combo that still operate under the Venom name, we now also have original guitarist Mantas, drummer Abaddon, and former Venom bassist/vocalist Tony 'Demolition Man' Dolan (he was part of the band when Cronos left for a few years) joining forces as Venom Inc., which is basically a spin off of the very fine M-Pire of Evil band they had up until a few years ago. Confused yet?
Ave' is their brand new release for Nuclear Blast, and comes on the heels of Venom's very solid From the Very Depths album from 2015. Though Cronos obviously carries the original 'voice' of classic Venom, it's this new release from the Venom Inc. lads that actually sounds closest in spirit to the bands early material. There are riffs aplenty here from Mantas...in fact, he hasn't sounded this good in years. Tracks such as "Forged in Hell", "The Evil Dead", "Ave Satanas", and "Preacher Man" combine classic & death metal riffing to wonderful results, while Dolan's gravelly vocals perfectly mesh with the extreme ferocity of "Blood Stained" and "War", with Adaddon just crushing it all underneath with his pummeling drum attack. "Metal We Bleed" even approaches thrash, almost like a head on collision of Accept and Destruction. The production on the album is incredible, and really lets the power of the band shine through on each of the 11 songs.
Is Ave' on par with classics such as Black Metal and Welcome to Hell? Well, no, but it's still a damn strong album, and to be honest, I don't think anyone expected something this good from anyone in the Venom camp at this stage of the game. So, who reigns supreme, Venom or Venom Inc.? I'll let you be the judge, but my money's on this trio.
See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!
Track Listing
01. Ave 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
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