Venom’s legacy on metal is undeniable, but like many bands with a forty-five year plus history they’ve had plenty of lineup shifts and offshoots. One of the first major shifts was brought about by Cronos’ departure following 1987’s Calm Before the Storm, which resulted in a three-album run with Demolition Man on vocals. The original trio would return in 2000 with Resurrection, but by the mid-2000s the lineup had shifted yet again. We’re currently in an interesting spot when it comes to Venom, as Cronos’ current lineup has been together since 2011’s Fallen Angels and released material on a sporadic basis while Abaddon and Mantas reunited with Demolition Man as Venom Inc. and put out two albums between 2017 and 2022. With those two having left Venom Inc. the future of that offshoot is unclear, so what better time for the Cronos led Venom to return after an eight-year studio absence with Into Oblivion. Coming in a bit faster and concise than the last few efforts, there’s a considerable amount of fire and grit to the material that you might not expect from a group this far into their career.
The three albums that Venom’s current trio has released prior to this had some speedier moments, but just as much time was spent on mid-tempo grooves and other elements that the group had explored later in their discography. You’ll still hear plenty of the grooves on Into Oblivion, but the one-two punch of the title track and “Lay Down Your Soul” make a strong first impression with plenty of speed and quite a bit of force behind the instrumentation. Compared to its immediate predecessor Storm the Gates, Into Oblivion immediately sounds beefier and it feels like there’s an added sense of urgency and energy from the band. There’s quite a bit of variety throughout the album as well, as tracks like “Death the Leveller” have the intensity and solos that remind me more of Venom’s earlier days while “Legend” explores chuggier, bottom heavy territory. Later cuts like “Dogs of War” even slow things way down towards a doomier cadence, and from beginning to end it really feels like you’re getting a bit of everything stylistically that Cronos and company have offered throughout their lengthy history. What also makes Into Oblivion more impactful is its brevity, as compared to the lengthier run times of the last three full lengths this one comes in at a lean forty-three minutes, which allows the riff and solos time to hit hard without becoming repetitive. A few of the tracks don’t quite stand out on an individual basis, but the amount that do made this an album I found myself wanting to return to frequently.
Cronos is still in fine form throughout Into Oblivion, and while he already had a fairly low-pitched scream/yell back in the 80s things have gotten a bit grittier over the decades. Venom continues to use it to their advantage too, as the title track lets Cronos’ familiar pitch tower above the instrumentals with quite a bit of power. Where some of the heavy metal vocalists that have been at it for this long sound a bit hollow and can’t recapture the same fire and intensity of their earlier days, Into Oblivion feels like the group has figured out how to capture that same approach decades later. There are some rough spots, as the slightly higher pitches on tracks like “Legend” and “Kicked Outta Hell” do sound a bit awkward at times, but these never fully derail things and there remains a consistency to the performance that’s impressive. You can tell Cronos and company are still having fun too based on some of the studio cuts that were left in at the end of “Live Loud” and closer “Unholy Mother”.
I’m sure the usual contingent of people will try and endlessly compare Venom’s new material to their influential 80s works and expect the exact same vibe despite a four-decade gap between them. But for those that found the most recent incarnation of Venom has clicked with them over the past fifteen years, Into Oblivion has a lot to offer. Similar to more recent offerings from Saxon or other British heavy metal from the same period, don’t expect anything drastically different from the tried and true approach but expect it to be done with some strong writing and energy that not everyone can offer this many years in. Into Oblivion is available from Noise Records/BMG.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg