Venom (band)

Venom
Venom
	Lant and Dixon performing in 2013
Background information
Also known as	Guillotine (1978); Dwarfstar (1978–1979);
Origin	Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Genres	Speed metal; thrash metal; heavy metal; first-wave black metal;
Years active	1978–1992; 1995–2002; 2005–present;
Labels	Spinefarm; Neat; Filmtrax; Under One Flag; SPV; Sanctuary; Castle;
Spinoffs	Cronos; Venom Inc.;
Members	Conrad "Cronos" Lant; Stuart "Rage" Dixon; Danny "Dante" Needham;
Past members	Jeffrey "Mantas" Dunn; Anthony "Abaddon" Bray; Clive "Jesus Christ" Archer; Mike "Mykvs" Hickey; Jim Clare; Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan; Al Barnes; Trevor "V.X.S" Sewell; Steve "War Maniac" White; Anthony "Antton" Lant;
Website	venomslegions.com

Venom are an English heavy metal band formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1978. Coming to prominence towards the end of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM), Venom's first two albums, Welcome to Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982), are considered major influences on black metal, thrash metal and extreme metal in general. Their second album proved influential enough that its title was used as the name of the black metal genre; as a result, Venom were part of the first wave of the genre, along with Mercyful Fate and Bathory.