Pioneers of black metal and extreme metal in general, Venom Inc finally made their way to Australia for the first time ever this past few weeks and ended their run in Perth on Saturday night. It was a much anticipated tour for those that either follow the extreme sides of metal or simply grew up with Venom in the early 80’s when their brand of music scared the shit out of people. As satanic as it is, it sure is a hell of a fun show to watch as we found out in our first glimpse of Venom Inc live.
For the first time ever in Australia the legendary Venom Inc. came to our shores to tour the country. Ending their Avé Australis tour with their Perth show on Saturday at Amplifier bar with supports from local thrash metal band Psychonaut and Melbourne thrashers Desecrator.
Local thrash metallers Psychonaut opened the night with their energetic stage presence and Slayer like sound, this three-piece speedy outfit packed full of fast paced, technical riffs and mind-blowing solos. Having such a fun outlook on their performance they really brought life to the stage and the crowd, pumping us up for the night to come. Playing songs like Wolf Man and Thrash Metal Zombie, which was dedicated to the mighty Desecrator, sung by Bassist, Simon Hallett, giving their set a whole new sound with his Dio like vocals backed up by front man Mark De Vattimo.
Melbourne thrash metal band Desecrator were up next coming to the stage with their true rock and roll attitude. Having toured the country with Venom Inc. for every show, these guys really proved to us that thrash isn’t dead, and it’s far from it. This four-piece band packed full of groovy, headbanging riffs, amazing solos from both rhythm and lead guitarist and topped off with the luscious flowing skullet from vocalist Riley Strong, these guys were great to see play and really got the fans involved making us feel like part of the performance.
As they played the track, Red Steele Nation, they had the crowd chanting “Red Steele” during the chorus, this song was written about their love for Melbourne Bitter and all things alcoholic, in true thrash form compelling us all to get lubricated for the main performance. Towards the end of their set they played their popular track, To The Gallows, in which the fans were singing along to while banging their heads and starting circle pits as we couldn’t get enough of their awesome work. At the end of their set guitarist, Anthony Finch, ripped the strings from his axe and threw it to the floor with his “no fucks given” attitude after a long and tiring tour with one of the greatest metal bands of all time, despite it all these guys gave it everything they had and pulled off an amazing performance packed with heavy metal greatness and astounding energy.
The moment we’ve all been waiting our entire lives for has finally arrived with the legendary Venom Inc. playing their first ever show in Perth after all these years, along with the band who have also been wanting to reach our country for so long. As soon as they came to the stage the crowd went wild, screaming out to the thrash/black metal gods. They wasted no time in showing us what they’re made of, opening their set with the track Avé Satanas off their new album, Avé. Immediately the fans were headbanging and windmilling to the greatness of these pioneers, there wasn’t a still being in sight as we were possessed by the dark lords themselves.
We were treated to their hour and a half long set while drummer, Abaddon, managed to play flawlessly despite drinking an entire bottle of Jack Daniels during his time behind the kit and continuing to pump up the crowd in between songs. Towards the end guitarist, Mantas, had a few words for us about a song he wrote back in ’82 which spawned forth an entirely new genre of metal named after the title track of their album, Black Metal. We were privileged to bear witness to them playing this legendary track for us and most of us who new the lyrics were compelled to sing along to it. it’s safe to say that this performance was well worth the wait and we’ll all be waiting eagerly for their return in the future.
After they went off stage the fans started chanting “Venom” while hoping for them to return to the stage for an encore, in which we were all so happy to see them march back on stage to blow our minds one last time before ending their set and leaving us all with sore necks. It was such a breathtaking experience seeing them perform and I’ll be looking forward to their next Australian tour, along with everyone else who was there.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Tammie Molotov – Molotov Enterprises & Photography
