Kissing the Beast

by Greg Prato By the late '80s, it appeared as though Venom's days were numbered. Having not successfully cracked the U.S. market (while bands that they obviously influenced -- Metallica, Slayer, etc. -- began making their presence felt on the charts), Venom's members started coming and going. But by the late '80s, original guitarist Mantas was back on-board (rejoining original drummer and mainstay Abaddon), while founding member/singer/bassist Cronos was replaced by a new member, Tony Dolan. Additionally, a second guitarist was welcomed on-board as well, Al Barnes. And just like that, Venom was back in business. Although they didn't cause a stir again like they did when they first appeared on the scene, they continued to issue albums and tour regularly -- keeping their loyal cult following happy. The 2002 double-disc set, Kissing the Beast, focuses solely on this lineup. And while the albums from them weren't exactly on par with such early Venom classics as Welcome to Hell and Black Metal, they were easily able to keep pace with most of the burgeoning thrash and death metal bands of the day. Covering the years 1989 through 1993, you get studio standouts ("Cursed," "I'm Paralysed," etc.), as well as live re-recordings of the group's early classics ("Black Metal," "Teacher's Pet," etc.). Since the 2005 four-disc Venom box set, MMV, focuses solely on the group's Cronos era, Kissing the Beast may be a worthy follow-up purchase, especially if you're curious to sample what the band was up to in the ensuing years.