Venom

Did Venom spearhead the first wave of black metal? If metal has founding fathers, Venom stands proudly as one of the most blasphemous patriarchs. Since their unholy formation in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1979, this British institution has influenced virtually every extreme metal band that followed in their wake. With their landmark album "Black Metal" not just naming but in some people’s opinions inventing an entire genre, Cronos and his legions have spent over four decades spitting in the face of convention and good taste. To this day, Venom's first albums continue to be the blueprint that launched a thousand black and thrash metal bands across the globe. Their raw, primitive approach to metal wasn't just revolutionary - it was downright necessary, and still is.