Venom – At War With Satan

Venom are an English extreme metal band formed in 1978 in Newcastle upon Tyne. Coming to prominence towards the end of the new wave of British heavy metal, Venom are considered a major influence on thrash metal and extreme metal in general, and helped shape the development of the “Big Four of Thrash” (Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax). Their exact genre has been a topic of debate, but most prominent are black metal, thrash metal, and speed metal. At War with Satan is their third album, released in April 1984. It is a concept album that tells the story of a war between Heaven and Hell which the latter side wins. Shortly after it went on sale, the HMV record chain withdrew the album from its shelves because of its anti-Christian content. Venom became one of the early victims of new policies against the “offensive” content of rock music led by Christian political parties and campaigns: their album was removed from shelves and as a result performed poorly in sales.

2 x LP
Label: Back On Black
Cat. # BOBV199LP