VENOM 'Into Oblivion'

VENOM
Into Oblivion
Noise/BMG Records

Loud!
Raw!
Heavy!
And still keeping it real and ungodly nearly 50 years later!

For any diehard fans of NWOBHM architects VENOM, one has always accepted that the legendary trio’s raw and punishing approach to its brand of heavy metal owes a great deal of its success to mostly two things: Volume and honest simplicity. This is a band, after all, who managed to create an entire subgenre of obscure metal purely by accident with their debut album Black Metal back in 1982. It was a raw and powerful album by very early standards, emerging at a time when punk rock was wavering and the sounds of the aforementioned burgeoning heavy metal movement in the UK was literally getting louder; shit, even most avid punk rockers from that era praise VENOM in that same aspect as they do with MOTORHEAD. Frontman/bassist Cronos has always performed with the equal parts precision of Tom Araya and the rage of Sid Vicious, and perhaps one would speculate as to why that the remainder of that original classic lineup including Mantas and Abaddon couldn’t always keep up afterwards over time, which is why guitarist Stuart “Rage” Dixon (guitars) and drummer Danny “Dante” Needham (drums) have been helping to hoist the VENOM name onward since joining the band nearly 20 years ago. Still, with some sixteen studio albums into their career, the notion of VENOM having to amend their sound and their soul honestly seems like career poison at this point. That would likely explain why on their latest disc Into Oblivion, VENOM have opted to blast the rule book to hell with 13 raging tracks about purgatory, the power of heavy metal, and more purgatory.
So, like, almost every VENOM album but with always-improving production.

Opening with the title track, VENOM are already on fire as they play with the ferocity of ten younger versions of themselves. Rage plays with so much unbridled intensity equaling that of three guitarists that he’d be the type of efficient axeman that MOLLY HATCHET and BRAND NEWSIN would be fighting each other over to replace half of their lineup. “Lay Down Your Soul” is the equally unhinged sequel to “Black Metal” as its chaotic delivery and punching chorus pays homage to the band’s breakthrough anthem. “Nevermore”, the chanting horde-like groove of “Man & Beast” and the admittedly slamming-sounding “Death The Leveller” definitely showcase VENOM’s incendiary songwriting, but it’s the punchy-sounding “Kicked Outta Hell” that further displays the band’s talent in honing unabashed heavy metal with similar-sounding unabashed punk rock – the reason why VENOM continue to appeal just as much to the 1981 Wattie Buchan spiked-haired punk rocker as they appeal to the 1983 James Hetfield mullet-haired headbanger over the years. “Legend” also continues the aura as Cronos screams out the title, which is also basically the song’s chorus. “Live Loud” also further keeps up the momentum thanks to Rage’s driving riffs and rising solos and Dante’s thundering tubthumping skills. VENOM admittedly sound like they might be overcompensating a bit by the time they conquer “Metal Bloody Metal” – and you can sense that the band might be realizing this as well – but Rage and Dante’s close-to-the-bone style of playing saves the song from being any more OTT than it needs to be. They aren’t all that successful otherwise on the admittedly throwaway track “Dogs Of War”, which is 2 minutes of clumsy-sounding confusing and unnecessary distortion in parts, but at least it’s also only 2 minutes in duration. By the end of the album, VENOM have redeemed themselves with the driving merciless onslaught of “Deathwitch” and the lumbering groove of “Unholy Mother”, featuring Rage’s crazed Steve Stevens-like whammy bar solo work which lifts the song beyond average.

So, having listened to Into Oblivion and appreciating its traditionally muddled-sounding production in parts, I do have to say this:

We’re halfway through 2026, and it’s understandable as to why, as Gen X for most of us, our genre is at a proverbial crossroads with regards to an identity crisis. We’re approaching 35 years since grunge conquered mainstream hard rock and metal as it rode on the premise of why a change in the musical climate was much needed, and 25 years since nu-metal conquered the mainstream hard rock and metal for the same reasons that grunge needed to, but it came at a considerable price as well. The current crop of mainstream heavy bands such as GHOST, SLEEP TOKEN and BAD OMENS, to name a few, may claim to be inspired by the sounds of the 80’s rock/metal scene but they have also more than their fair share of exceedingly overproduced musical moments that they sound more keyboard-driven than guitar-driven; they make NIGHT RANGER sound like HUSKER DU by comparison with the amount of wall-of-sound style overproduction that’s best suited for, say, Drake. Image-wise, as dated as the leather jackets/bullet belt look might be for us old-school bangers appear to be as such as they do admittedly scream “MIDLIFE CRISIS!” (and not in the dark catchy Mike Patton way either) in parts, our genre also gave up a lot of its own identity alone throughout the past decade in particular. Take a band like TURNSTILE, who are currently the hottest band in alternative hard rock/metal (and even hardcore) and their frontman could easily pass as Ryan The Temp from The Office if you randomly passed him by on the street. And ask yourself this after listening to Into Oblivion a couple of times: Are any of these aforementioned bands opening their songs with the rabid battle cry of “TURN THAT FUCKER UP!” in the same unabashed and confident manner as Cronos is doing on “Live Loud”? Are they even bothering with trying to scribe gloriously goofy-sounding escapism-sounding numbers such as “Metal Bloody Metal” in 2026? I wouldn’t blame them either for not trying because it would sound forced and unnecessary, but this still confirms as to why an album such as Into Oblivion must exist as much as VENOM themselves need to. It’s not Black Metal but a celebration of such and further confirms VENOM’s own mission statement as a band: They’ll happily blow up that same confining uniform-like rule book before they’ll ever conform to it, and for any of its otherwise imperfect-sounding production in parts throughout its listen, Into Oblivion is the perfect soundtrack in obliterating any such misconceptions about where VENOM stand as a band in this day and age.

4.5 Out Of 5.0

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