“Sparing no one, the meek and the mild”
I was thumbing through the booklet that came with Venom’s MMV box set today and a quote from their frontman Cronos jumped out. “In Venom we wanted to be the devil, we wanted to be the vampires!” Well, it doesn’t get more vampiric than their essential non-album single Bloodlust. In fact, the singer refers to himself in the song as “Count Cronos, vampire supreme”. Guitarist Mantas gets a shout out too (this time simply as “Mantas”). That leaves poor drummer Abaddon as the only Venom bloodsucker to not get a mention which is probably why he tries to get everyone’s attention by playing as many of his drums as he possibly can. As often as he can. It’s a chaotic, slightly-out-of-tune mess but it is glorious! Pure punk metal battery, deranged and in your face. Come on, turn it up!
(And because one Venom box set simply isn’t enough here’s the Bloodlust picture disc that came with their 2019 box set In Nomine Satanas)
HEAVY METAL OVERLOAD 
Great song and I’d like to live inside that video.
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I bet it smells there.
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Mike Pence wouldn’t approve.
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Count Cronos, vampire supreme – that would look sharp on a business card!
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I don’t think he’d have a business card. Probably just a severed hand with ‘Cronos’ written on it. In blood.
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That does sound more his style – somewhat trickier to fit in a wallet for future reference though!
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True! But I’m not sure if he’d be a wallet kinda guy either…
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That’s possibly the best Venom track I’ve heard, brilliantly punky.
Some awesome figure-of-8 headbanging technique going on there too.
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It’s advanced stuff. Have you heard this before?
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Never. Where does it fit in their discography?
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Released between the debut and Black Metal. They had quite a few non-album singles but this was the best one.
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£34 on Discogs for an original, there are loads of cheapo singles compilations out there though. Hmm.
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£34? Must be good!
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17 times better than some Robert Palmer albums!
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Sounds about right.
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Plus: SHAPED PICTURE DISC! I mean it’s not Africa shaped but its pretty good.
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I know! After us talking about it, I was trying to think what ones I have. Think this might be the only one!
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Awesome. Completely forgotten about that one.
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It’s great isn’t it? Glad to have reminded you! Thanks for reading.
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YIKES! This stuff is way out of my league. I’m impressed that you can even decipher that it’s chaotic slightly out of tuned mess. I think Venom would take that as a compliment.
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I’m sure it’s what they were aiming for.
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That picture disc is awesome. I love shaped picture disc and that one fits the band quite nicely. Vocally, not my cup of tea, but that guitarist is freaking killing it!!
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He’s a big KISS fan so that’s maybe why!
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That’s pure Venom!
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That’s not half bad, that. I know this band, but don’t think I’ve ever heard anything by them until this evening.
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17x better than Robert Palmer too!
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I made up my mind in the 80s that I would not support a Motörhead copy act. Lol…
but I do keep checking em out now and then and my mate Hermann (real name Jordan) is one hell of a fan and keeps getting me to check em out.
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They are a lot like Motorhead but I wouldn’t say they were a copy act. Too many differences, musically and in terms of their lyrics, image etc… They carved out their own niche.
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Yep they sure did create their niche. When my cousin got into Black metal I was interested as to what influenced this style and everything led back to Venom.
And I’m like Venom.. the Motörhead act. Lol.
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It is funny though… was talking about this the other day. In the 80s we were all more critical of bands that sounded like other bands. Like Kingdom Come. Originality doesn’t seem as big a deal now.
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I think we all tried to sound knowledgeable in the 80s, because it made us look cool, so when someone said this band sounds like that band, it was like a big thing. Lol.
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Absolutely. For me, if any band sounded remotely like KISS I just took it as proof that KISS were the best band ever and all those bands must be shite.
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Something about this song, the way it was released, the way it’s recorded, it’s visceral energy, and the animalistic force of the band’s performance on this record; a stellar example of Venom’s crushing sonic power and why they still have influence today. Great choice!
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Well put! It’s magic. It’s the song that got me into them too so it’s extra special for me.
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