Cronos, Venom vocalist and black metal founder, has died

Conrad Lant, better known as Cronos, has died — the vocalist, bass guitarist and one of the founders of the British band Venom, which stood at the origins of black metal. This was stated in an announcement posted on the band's Facebook page: the musician led the group for more than four decades and took part in thirteen of its albums.

“For more than four decades, Conrad's voice, bass and vision were the heart of Venom. From the first dark sounds of Welcome to Hell to the records Black Metal, At War With Satan, Possessed and others, he created something that changed the world of heavy music forever,” the statement reads. It also stresses that Venom never bowed to established rules and blazed their own trail, with Cronos always at its center — uncompromising, fearless and like no one else. The authors of the statement separately thanked the band's fans, who for decades bought records, went to concerts and kept Venom's fire burning.

From London to Newcastle: the birth of Venom

Cronos was born on 15 January 1963 in London, and at the age of eight moved with his family to Newcastle. There, in 1978, he joined Venom — a trio that also included guitarist Jeffrey “Mantas” Dunn and drummer Tony “Abaddon” Bray. The musicians drew inspiration from the rawness and drive of punk rock and brought unbridled aggression to the British metal scene. The debut album Welcome to Hell was released in 1981, and the British magazine Sounds called it “perhaps the heaviest record ever to hit the shops.”

The album that named an entire genre

Venom's second album, Black Metal, was recorded in just six days and released in November 1982. Its title track became the band's calling card and gave its name to an entire extreme-music genre — black metal. Cronos himself admitted that Venom's sound drew on several sources at once: “I loved Motörhead,” he said in one interview. “They were a huge inspiration for me, but I also wanted to bring in the satanic element of Black Sabbath, the theatricality of Alice Cooper and the aggression of punk.”

Departure, return and the final album

In 1987 Cronos left Venom to pursue a solo career, but returned to the band in 1995 and led it without interruption from then on, despite numerous lineup changes. In the final period he performed alongside guitarist Stuart “La Rage” Dixon and drummer Danny “Dante” Needham. In total, Cronos took part in thirteen Venom albums — the last being this year's Into Oblivion. “There has never been another band like Venom,” the musician once said. “No one has even come close to what we achieved.”

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz