Venom "Prime Evil" Cassette

Calm Before the Storm effectively ended the first of Cronos' eras with Venom. Alternately experimental yet lacking in overall consistency, Calm Before the Storm was a direction that Cronos knew could not be advanced any further within the confines of Venom. Cronos decided to take his leave from the group and start his own solo career.
Abaddon was determined to carry on the name. He managed to secure the "band" a contract with a new label using, ironically, Deadline-era demo recordings (which featured Cronos and Mantas) despite the fact that he was the only member of the band at the time. Needing to scramble a band together to get back into the studio and record what would become Prime Evil, Abaddon convinced Mantas (whose own solo career was a worthy but commercially underwhelming experiment) to return to the band. Mantas agreed on two conditions - rhythm guitarist Al Barnes (War Machine, who also played on Mantas' Winds of Change LP) and his friend and former Atomkraft bassist/vocalist Tony Dolan (Demolition Man) had to be allowed to join up. Abaddon, luckily for us, agreed.
Prime Evil, the resulting album, is THE great Venom release that no one much knows about. This is a much more lively and rejuvenated Venom, one that had not been heard since the At War With Satan days. Everyone fires on all cylinders. The production is probably the best the band ever had, although Resurrection comes close. The songs are all over the place and also among the band's best - Blackened Are the Priests is a fucking classic; if that bass solo in the middle doesn't repeatedly kick your ass, you are just not metal. Yes, I said it. It's so hard to pick a standout track on this album. Every single one of these tunes is a masterpiece of the highest order. Harder Than Ever is great fun; Venom's way of reminding us all not only that they were back but that they weren't about to slouch, either. Of course, School Daze fulfills the requirement for a mildly chauvinist number, and is good for a laugh to take us out of the record. Even the cover of Megalomania is cool, except for the fact that Mantas didn't know it was a Black Sabbath song...really, Jeff? There's a little bit of everything here - a little thrash, some speed, a bit of doom, and a fuck load of confidence and attitude.
The band sounds great on this record. Abaddon is his usual unpredictable drumming self, and we wouldn't have it any other way. Mantas and War Machine are a formidable two-headed guitar monster, interweaving amazing solos and runs along with some of the best riffs to ever find a home on a Venom LP. And then, there's the Demolition Man. When I was a younger Venom fan I never really appreciated Tony's gig with Venom. Youth is wasted on the young. Dolan is by far the DEMOFUCKINGLITION MAN on this record. His basslines are manic and unpredictable and his vocal style is completely unhinged. So, he wasn't Cronos. Big deal. Listen to this guy. You may not be able to replace Cronos but Tony was just as great in his own right.
Everyone who insists left and right that Venom isn't Venom without Cronos, get over it. This album can and WILL kick your ass and you know it. This is their best album since Black Metal, and they have not topped it since. Get this album by any means necessary. And one more thing, to close out the review...INTO THE FIYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

Sample: