intervvenominc

VENOM INC.

MANTAS - DEMOLITION MAN - ABADDON

VENOM from Newcastle, U.K. are heavy metal legends, they created a sound and image that no one had heard or seen before. They called it Black Metal and it was the birth of extreme metal as we know it. But also the beginning of thrash metal. With albums like Welcome to Hell (1981), Black Metal (1982) and At War With Satan (1984) VENOM forever solidified themselves as heavy metal legends. But after 1985's Possessed the band lost it's momentum mostly due to lineup changes but in 1989 Jeff 'Mantas' Dunn re-formed VENOM with Tony 'Demolition Man' Dolan, Anthony 'Abaddon' Bray and Al Barnes who was later replaced by Steve 'War Maniac' White, this time without the charismatic front man Conrad 'Cronos' Lant.

Dunn, Bray and Dolan released three studio albums and one EP under the VENOM name between 1989 and 1992: Prime Evil (1989), Tear Your Soul Apart EP (1990), Temples of Ice (1991) and The Waste Lands (1992) before disbanding in the early nineties. Venom reformed in the late nineties and Abaddon and Mantas was once again back in Venom but things didn't work out and they left the band and Conrad 'Cronos' Lant kept the band going without any of the original VENOM members.

In 2010 Tony 'Demolition Man' Dolan and Jeff 'Mantas' Dunn started the band M:PIRE of EVIL who has released two full-length albums as we speak (Hell to the Holy & Crucified). Earlier this year Mantas, Demolition Man and Abaddon revealed that they are all back together for the first time since the early nineties. This time they go under the name Venom Inc. Now over to the band...

We can begin with a small presentation of Venom Inc...

VENOM.Inc is The Demolition Man, Mantas and Abaddon. Mantas of course began a band which with the addition of Abaddon became VENOM. He wrote most of the first two VENOM albums, Welcome To Hell and Black Metal. The well known VENOM logo being drawn and created by Abaddon. After many turbulent years from 1979 to the 1990's and some incredible music, which influenced a generation of Metal the band lost shape and true spirit.

Now they are back with the Demolition Man to bring that true spirit back in a perfect way. The name incorporates not only that these three men that were all part of the amazing legacy, including the founders themselves but also to show that simply selling a BRAND to fans to make cash is not honest or indeed respectful of those same Legions that supported and spent their lives investing themselves and their money in...as well as incorporating ALL music they do with respect to this band, M:PIRE of EVIL, ABADDON, DRYLL and all else.

Is it correct that the Keep It True-Festival brought you guys together again?

It is true yes. Oliver the organizer saw a performance of Tony Dolan with his band ATOMKRAFT at a festival in the UK called BROFEST and afterwards contacted him to invite M:PIRE of EVIL (which features Mantas and The Demolition Man) to appear at his festival in Germany the following year. The interesting offer came because Oliver saw Tony Dolan invite Mantas onstage to join in with ATOMKRAFT to do two numbers. Oliver had noticed Abaddon in the crowd and wondered what it would have been like had HE also joined onstage with Mantas and The Demolition Man. So he had an idea to invite M:PIRE of EVIL to play and asked if Abaddon would join them at the end of the performance to perhaps play a few VENOM classic for the 2000 strong crowd.

Tony Dolan worked the idea with both Mantas and Abaddon and it came to fruition. Without possibility of rehearsals, as M:PIRE of EVIL had shows to do prior to the festival, they agreed some songs and met on the day in Germany....the rest is history...and here they are..

Following the performance and because of social media...footage and word spread quickly and before leaving Germany offers for more shows were coming in from as far apart as Brazil and Japan. So they thought ok...let's not plan anything, lets just say yes to whatever comes along. The joy is it is fan driven and that is the best thing. It is honest and pure...fans, band, music....and that's it.

Prime Evil (1989)

Temples of Ice (1991)

The Waste Lands (1992)

So you're doing both Venom Inc. and M:PIRE of EVIL now? Or will all focus be on Venom Inc.?

Mantas and Tony D are doing both yes, although VENOM.Inc are taking up much time at the moment, they are working to complete the new M:PIRE of EVIL album to have released 2016. There are other music projects all three are doing also but because they are not planning for VENOM.Inc they are just accepting offers to go where they are wanted the planning is...as it comes along. The focus is on the day and if that is this then good and if it is that then also good..

Speaking of M:PIRE of EVIL, Why wasn't Abaddon a part of the band?

M:PIRE of EVIL is a different animal to VENOM.Inc. I can understand why some people would think, isn't it simply the same band with a different drummer?? LOL...BUT those people have not listened to either or actually seen either live...those that have see the difference...

Two different band with different playing styles really...it is only that M:PIRE of EVIL performed some VENOM songs, for fans that requested it, live that made people think, isn't it the same...but even those songs are different with Abaddon playing them.

Another drummer (even a good one) can play the songs but they can't BE Abaddon, he IS the sound of VENOM regardless of what you think from the spirit of those seminal albums...

Venom Inc. has done a lot of gigs in the last couple of months, how has it been being back together again?

It is true, infact have not really stopped since the Keep It True festival. How does it feel? REAL, HONEST, TRUE.......the fans have been amazing and the power is incredible..it feels like 1981 all over again for us all...perfect..and it has been fun, onstage and offstage too..no politics, no issues, no EGO's...just pure Music and feeling.

You're touring North America in 2016 with Necrophagia, looking forward to those gigs and have you played any gigs with Necrophagia before?

That is the plan yes, after South America and before Asia. No but they are a great band and we cannot wait. We have to do the USA, we love that place and the fans are some of the best and most loyal and have been denied this band and the live performance for so long. They have had bits a pieces but have also been denies a lot and ignored. We intend to gove all we can for them, after all this is THEIR band too!

Mantas

Demolition Man

Abaddon

So what's the status with Cronos? are you mad that he still continues playing under the Venom name? Does he owns the rights to the name?

The status? You mean his constant disrespect and attacks on his with his Cronos band against us? He has rights like we do, he has spent 10yrs using the name, does he OWN it? No...does he own the logo? No....There is no contract anywhere that says HE owns all....he just decided it was his and is desperate. The fans wanted a reunion, some offers were around and while considered, HE refused based on the fact he did not want to share money with the others or relinquish his control over everything he enjoys with his current guys. They are pay to play guys so he can be dominant, he can never be that with the others in there.

Mad he uses the name as a brand to gain money? Not really but disappointed as VENOM was never about that. It was about anti everything and not giving a fuck...that is who we three are and how we attack this....so if he wants to rape it...carry on....we will do it how is should be.

We tour, he plays only single shows because festivals pay and supply his backline and pyros so he looks ok and he made statements that they don't do clubs (like we have) but he forgets they did try several times...lol...it wasn't successful, that's why he sticks to one off's. He can get big money and play to captive audiences and keep his fantasy and Ego alive. It's the constant re-writing the history, the lies he tells and the constant whining and moaning and mud slinging he does which is tiresome to all. Why he can't just play music, who knows...lol..too much time spent in the bedroom on the internet I think.

So how's it going with the album? I've heard rumours that you're working on it now?

It is true. Tony D wrote a track almost right away and Mantas too...and we have tonnes of ideas and riffs that fit perfectly to VENOM.Inc...It has to be in this style. Not trying to be Pantera or Slayer or Black Label Society clones...just trying to plagiarise all of that may make an ok album and fool people initially but not for ever and besides it is not who you are and for sure not who WE are. The material is written so far in the spirit of those early albums...pure, raw, honest enegry....no frills just hard, heavy and loud...like it was...pushing at the seams never knowing if it will just simply explode in your hands...hahaha

In the first interview we did back in 2003 you (Tony Dolan) said that Prime Evil (1989) was your favourite album from the first era you were together. You also said that things turned for the worse with the release of 1992's The Waste Lands. Is that still your opinion?

It is my favourite yes...as a whole album..production mainly and cover art. I hate the artwork on both Temples and Wastelands...and the production is not good on the latter two.. Tear Your Soul Apart was cool and Kissing The beast ok but...not those two, although there were some good track on and some of my favourite tracks too..

Things did turn yes...for me the production values were reduced, the artworks not so considered and the steam ran out because of it. We hit a high point and didn't capitalise on it but the early 90's were tough...Metal was in a dip but we fought through and did a good job.

It fits someone else's historic ego building to say that whole period was a loss but of course that isn't true it just fits better if it was..hahahaha...This is a point from a previous question also...one minute the albums and my participation are on the 'official' (hahaha) site and the next moment, deleted....I mean...really??

Head, Sand....it's ike a child putting his hand over his ears and humming or hiding under a duvet...if I can't hear or see it...then it isn't real...ahahahaha...it is...and it is part of the history...%100 LEGITIMATE and part of the legacy...sorry...doh...Now as a fan? You like it, then great, you don't then great too...the beauty of all is choice...we all make our own, that is called freedom of choice. Just because he won't accept it, does not mean you can't.

Demolition Man, Abaddon and Mantas - Live 1990.

You were also dissatisfied with management and the band had an inadequate pyro show back then, has that changed now?

Yes it was difficult through that period. I think wrong decisions were made but I guess you learn as you go don't you. You should learn from mistakes and correct them not repeat them so this time....corrected not repeated. Right now we just wanna play where they want us too....if we can get pyro etc...fantastic...if not...do we not go there for fans??? Why? We don't need pyro to play music...or give %100 of ourselves for fans...we give you everything..not just lean on that crutch hoping people think wow...cool...show and forget the lacklustre performance and delivery.

We did two or three big shows back in the day and it showed me that is what we should have maintained not club tours...much like the Cronos band is saying they do now...but that was then...this is now...the world changed...social media...how people buy or listen and it is about live...so you telling me he is right to never allow a fan who may have spent his whole life buying shirts, patches, albums, bootlegs etc,etc...showing support in everyway, never to get to see you...because you won't play a club in Idaho...cos it is small and they won't pay you $20,000 to do it? Fuck that shit...HE (or SHE) is just as important and you trapped festival audience....

We have not done our FULL Pyro show yet...but it is coming...and then you will see the difference.

Is it true that Music For Nations label refused to release any more Venom albums and that led you to disband?

Refused? Well we were contracted for three albums but did an ep and a video also...it came to the end of the contracted albums and they and us had the option...I decided I was done for the time as I was moving to London away from the band and took a job with a theatre company as a technician...to follow my engineering stuff. We also felt (myself and Mantas) we weren't totally giving our best to it any more and that is not good for anyone us or fans...so it was a natural pause actually.

All agreed to leave it as it was. I walked away. I have read a great many things about that and I can say it's ALL total and utter lies to make someone else feel good about themselves...If that's what you need then ok..hahaha...I don't need to bullshit. I'm fine as I am.

Back when Tony 'Demolition Man' Dolan first joined the band Venom moved away a bit from the Satanic themes. But what will Venom Inc. sound like? Are you going back to the early eighties sound or are you more inspired by the late eighties / early nineties Venom?

That's true. His writing was different and we found us changing too a little. Although the dark themes were still there to be fair. Chanting 'Satan' every 5 minutes seemed a little puerile then..he is actually is a member of the Satanic church which was the irony I suppose. For VENOM.Inc? We are taking it back to the very roots and feeling that WAS us all....if that comes as Satanic themes then we go with it.

We don't sit and think, ooh this isn't scary enough, this doesn't mention Satan enough hahahaha...it is just as it comes natural and let's face it, these days there is a reality of scary themes around that ARE more Evil and Satanic than anything before. However think of those themes...covenants of witches, Dracula, Countess Bathory..history is rich with themes built around the none pure and more satanic or dark, so the stories abound and will be included sure.

What do you guys think of this thrash revival that has been going on for a couple of years? Are people more interested in your music today compared to the late eighties and early nineties?

YES they are. The revival is interesting, five years ago Tony D was shopping the M:PIRE of EVIL material and being told it was too old school and now look? Funny but great, he was right on the nail when he told the labels it is coming, the revolution is coming. Somehow Metal was being controlled and now younger fans have realised and do not want to be force fed anymore, the want to explore what is after all their musical history too..

Venom broke grounds for all extreme metal bands of today and I personally think that you guys should be in the rock and roll hall of fame as one of the most important bands of all times. Do you feel that the bands importance has been played down and if so why?

We agree. The band basically punched a hole in a wall that let others flow through. They went against all the was industry. The image, lack of touring, independent label, under produced albums, satanic theme....even calling ourselves Black metal to distance ourselves from all the 'other' metal/rock bands.

Why has the importance been played down? Bad attitude, bickering, childish behaviour...all has affected industry opinion and some fans in regard to the band. If the focus has been more structured, more determined, more about the music and less about name calling them maybe it would be different.

You need respect to gain respect and while the bands and fans for the most part have that and acknowledge the band for it's role, the 'antics' of pissing important people off has worked against the band somewhat. Less Ego more humility was needed. I am fucking GREAT and better than you, as oppose to THANK YOU.

What's the highlight of the bands career?

Of VENOM? Dynamo or Greece where it felt like a real band on form. The reaction following Welcome To Hell's release, the Black Metal album, Prime Evil's release. Playing in Russia to 4 million on Russian TV in front of the Winter Palace, Bonn, Germany with King Diamond which was live on German radio, the chant of VENOM so loud the PA struggled to match the fans... The best is yet to come!

Have you got any funny story to tell, if anything weird has happened while touring or recording?

Lot's of weird things hahahaha...from hand written in blood notes left in the studio in impossible places to getting left in Czech at a venue, where the tourbus drove off with out backline and left us to get home with three shows to go..hahahaha

Too many crazy stories really, we'd be here all day....let's just say...the dark lord loves us it seems and we try to also have a laugh. We have had wheels explode while sleeping on the tour bus..16hr flight delays, buss'almost cresting cliffs, fans meeting and not being able to speak because they are crying too much seeing us..

One guy came backstage to Tony D and asked for a hug (he was about 50), he sad he had to climb under a fence to get there but had to say hello as his life had been changed by the band and this man....and wanted to say thankyou..amazing stories...so many cool cool things.

Any last words to our readers?

Yes, trust yourself not what someone else tells you is real. If you feel it and it affects you then that is all you need. Keep you mind open. WE are a band about a spirit inside, not trying to be commercial like any other version of us, it is US and YOU...if you are in then we will give all we can, if you are not then that is ok...you have another choice but to be fooled into thinking we are something different than we are?

Don't listen to it...it lies and bullshit to try and make you stay away...Are we %100 genuine? FUCK YES....come see for yourself and have fun doing it....this is YOUR band..without fans no band...some people would do well to remember that...I mean not just say it on paper or on a youtube video to look like it's genuine but ACTUALLY mean it and show it in real life.

For all the support for all the years and beyond,

humble thanx and MAXIMUM RESPECT!!

/Ruthless

(26-11-2015)