Phantom Sound & Vision
1982
Black Metal
About This Album
Newcastle natives Venom had exploded across the U.K. like a bona fide musical virus in 1981, unleashing one of the most reviled, unapproachable, and, well, toxic debuts in rock history with their landmark Welcome to Hell opus. An unprecedented example of sonic excess applied to the lowest fidelity recording available (or even imaginable), the album wielded its satanic subject matter and uncontrolled speed like a weapon against all that was considered tasteful and refined in music -- a true Frankenstein's monster, even by heavy metal standards. Needless to say, it was ruthlessly derided and ultimately doomed commercially, but amazingly influential nevertheless, sowing the seeds of much that would be referred to as "extreme metal" in the coming decades. Released hot upon the heels of this first assault came Venom's nearly as crucial second album, 1982's Black Metal, whose title alone still lends itself to the most uncompromising strain of heavy metal in existence today. Like Welcome to Hell, Black Metal revealed a trio of visionary village idiots grappling with forces beyond their control (i.e., creative developments so groundbreaking they themselves had little control over its final destination, nor the technical ability to match their vision, more often than not).
Track List (try tracks 1,2,4,5,6,7,9,16 and 18)

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