VENOM Welcome To Hell Vinyl 2LP (1981-2016)

Before there was black metal, there was this. Venom's 1981 debut didn't just influence a genre, it accidentally invented two of them and scared a generation of parents in the process.

Welcome to Hell is ground zero. The riffs are filthy, the production sounds like it was recorded in a condemned Newcastle pub, and Cronos sounds like he genuinely means every syllable. This is the record that handed a template to every corpse-painted teenager from Bergen to Brunswick. The 2016 reissue spreads the chaos across two LPs, giving the album the room it deserves and the audio quality Neat Records certainly couldn't afford in '81. If you're coming to Venom through the black metal or speed metal side of the family tree, this is mandatory archaeology. If you already know, you already know.

Double LP reissue. 2016 pressing. Original album recorded 1981, UK. Genres: NWOBHM, black metal, speed metal.

Fans of: Bathory, Motörhead, early Slayer, Mercyful Fate.