Simon RushworthVenom — Into Oblivion (Noise/BMG)
Truth be told, Tyneside’s black metal pioneers Venom are no longer the terrifying trio that tore through the metal scene almost half a century ago.
Much of the brutally unforgiving music they trailed — and went on to inspire — in the early 80s sounds tame by comparison to 2026’s heaviest fare.
But that’s not to say Into Oblivion isn’t a thoroughly entertaining throwback to a time when Venom’s was the bleakest, most badass and blindingly relentless noise on the planet.
Forty-five years after devilish debut Welcome To Hell ripped up the rule book, Into Oblivion mixes speed, thrash and trad to quarry-blasting effect.
It is, without doubt, the crowning glory of the current line-up’s 17-year tenure.
And if Venom die-hards might argue that’s a pretty low bar, then credit where bone-crunching credit’s due.
Eight years after the largely forgettable Storm The Gates suggested Venom might need a fresh injection of vitriol, Into Oblivion’s a stirring comeback.
Cronos sounds genuinely angry. At himself, at his band, at the world? Who knows?
But that familiar growl paces an album that’s punchier than Mike Tyson at his peak.
‘New boy’ Dante delivers a drumming masterclass and, whisper it quietly, there are plenty of progressive twists and power metal turns.
There was a time when the very idea of Venom evolving was more frightening than the band itself.
But times change. And in a surprising twist surely nobody saw coming, Into Oblivion emerges as the menacing modern-day companion piece to Venom’s classic — and unmatched — early 80s catalogue.
Death The Leveller for band that’s alive and kicking
Skip to Death The Leveller for a sobering snapshot of Into Oblivion at its dynamic, destructive best.
Channelling punk-fuelled energy with trademark doom, it’s Cronos mining Black Metal’s past to make the present relevant.
And it’s exactly what Venom die-hards want — and need — to hear from a band that should never shy away from its famously gnarled roots.
Deathwitch sits somewhere between melodic thrash and spiralling speed as Cronos, Dante and Rage move swiftly through the gears.
But Kicked Outta Hell is the best example of why Venom’s original line-up extended their Satanic reach far beyond the band’s native Newcastle and right across the US.
It’s the kind of tune that persuaded James Hetfield and Scott Ian to pursue their thrash metal dreams back in the day.
And it’s the barbed-wire thread that connects Cronos’ early forays into heavy music with the modern metal he’s crafting today.
If Lay Down Your Soul is a more deliberate attempt to echo the glory days then it’s nowhere near the best song here.
Set closer Unholy Mother might take that honour: subtle keys, Rage’s blistering axe work, a foreboding spoken word segment and an atmospheric outro make for the complete modern metal package.
Into Oblivion fills the Venom void. For now.
