album : Fallen Angels
artist : Venom
genre : NWOBHM/Black/Speed Metal
year : 2011
Influential metal band Venom are back with their thirteenth release, and the copyrights for the term ‘black metal’ still remain with them, courtesy of their 1982 album that is still fresh in our minds. I hope so, for your sake.
We’re here in 2011, and on Fallen Angels, the band appears laid back and I think they wrote their lyrics while strolling in a park. Loud bass scold the listener to reciprocate with respect, as Venom comes out with another album that rightfully classifies to be a part of New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM). It’s been a while since they kept quiet, and three years later the band sounds refreshed and is wanting to be on the crest of the wave all over again.
They’ve rolled the speed/thrash dice on the album in ways that attempts at only producing the maximum count. There are patches on songs where the speed is faster than what we would normally associate with Venom. I’d remember the album also because of the solos, as Venom has written some scintillating ones. A raw sound to take you back to where they began, and the band makes it tough for the dust to settle down. Fallen Angels has a character of it’s own.
Out here, on Fallen Angels, it’s a dark rock ‘n roll party along with some noticeable hard rock. The band is known for talking about Satan and taking the listener to hell all the time but on this particular one you will hear Venom referring to ‘Satan’ so many times that the first person you meet after hearing the album is bound to get introduced to the supreme Satan himself! Relax, relax… Fallen Angels doesn’t touch the finishing line but even today, after all these years, Venom is hard to catch up with. They had a hindsight ahead of time, and they maintain their eminence even today.
Rating : 3.5/5
Not a big fan of BM, except for Enslaved, Melechesh, D666 and Agalloch(If you consider them black, that is. Not many do.). Some friends have been recommending that I listen to ‘tr00 kvlt’ black metal. Will start with Venom’s earlier works today.
And yes, why don’t you review Mastodon’s latest? It does kick some serious ass. Radio ishtyle though.
^He’s already reviewed Mastodon I guess and Agalloch is post-black metal.
Hmm..maybe I will have to start listening to Venom again probably.. You just reminded me of how awesome early black metal was.
Thanks Firdous!
Like I said below, Venom were never pure black, but yes, early black metal was, is and will always remain awesome.
Hey Abhilash, going by the book none of the bands you mentioned are black. Enslaved is progressive black, Melechesh is black/death/folk, Deströyer 666 is black/death/thrash, Agalloch (like Firdous said) is atmospheric post-rock with folk elements and even Venom is not black metal. Venom is essentially a heavy metal band having bits and pieces of black, speed, thrash, rock ‘n roll. They were the first ones to use the term ‘black metal’ (it was the name of their 1982 album), which then went on to become a major sub-genre of extreme metal. But Venom was never a black metal band, but they’ve influenced countless other bands. Since you aren’t a big fan of black metal and are keen to explore I suggest you begin listening to bands like Burzum, Emperor, Darkthrone, Immortal, Mayhem, Ancient, Nargaroth, Sargeist. Once you are done with these, come back and I’ll tell you more. There are a million black metal bands out there doing their own thing but you should begin with the bands I mentioned because then you’ll be able to differentiate.
Also, here’s an article that might interest you – Indian Black Metal Scene.
A documentary on the black metal scene you should watch – Until The Light Takes Us.
And finally, here’s a review for the new Mastodon album The Hunter.
Thanks brother, I’m currently listening to Darkthrone’s Transilvanian Hunger and it’s already giving me the chills! Guess I’ll dig deeper now…
P.S Good review of The Hunter you’ve got there!!
‘Transilvanian Hunger’. Yummy, dude! I love that record. You are going to love this trip since it’s the first time you are hearing something that sounds like this.
And yea, thanks man!