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Venom has gone through many lineup changes since their inception. The less said about Venom for the ten years vocalist / bassist Cronos departed the better. Having their name dragged through the mud with a series of bad albums didn’t help them either. But, 1997 saw the classic lineup reuniting for the excellent ‘Cast In Stone’. But it all fell apart again with drummer Abaddon, who had been the sole survivor throughout all the lineups, finally leaving, to be replaced by the brother of Cronos. ‘Resurrection’ was a surprisingly good release, but then it was time for guitarist Mantas to leave again. This left Cronos back in charge of the Venom name. It was six years before the next album ‘Metal Black’ appeared, and it really wasn't worth the wait. It was fairly patchy...
Now in 2008, their new record ‘Hell’ has really nothing new or groundbreaking on this release, but Venom has finally managed to tap into something that carried them through the early eighties. Some of the songs are good enough to fit onto the classic albums with the raw energy of "Straight To Hell," "Hand Of God," “Fall From Grace”, "Armageddon" and "Blood Sky". Sure, the album does overstay its welcome, and could easily have been trimmed down from thirteen to ten tracks. But it’s a sure step up from ‘Metal Black’. I don’t think they’ll attract any new fans with ‘Hell’, but long time fans will love it. You can grab a copy on Venom’s latest offering ‘Hell’ where all evil metal is sold!
Rating: 50
Reviewed By: Cameron Edney - http://www.myspace.com/insideout666ints