Cronos – DANCING IN THE FIRE Compact Disc Digi

Formed in 1978 in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Venom blazed a trail for a raw hybrid of punk and metal, wrapped in an overtly Satanic image that is now credited with starting the Black Metal genre, as well as being an influence on the thrash and speed metal scenes. Derided by the media but beloved of fans wanting a harder and faster fix of metal, Venom release three classic LPs in quick succession: ‘Welcome To Hell’ (1981), ‘Black Metal’ (1982) and ‘At War With Satan’ (1984). When Cronos returned with this solo effort, the material was still heavy with a thrash edge, but less extreme, with no hint of the black metal of Venom, save for a cover of the classic ‘At War With Satan’. The line up for the recording also featured members from Venom’s ‘Calm Before the Storm’ album in guitarists Jim Clare and Mike Hickey. Clare had previously played in Tank, while Hickey later played with Cathedral and these days is guitar tech for blues legend Joe Bonamassa. This release features extensive liner notes from respected writer Darren Sadler who conducted a brand new interview with guitarist Jim Clare, who also contributed rare photos from his own archive. In 2004 Cronos was invited by Dave Grohl to participate in his Probot project which also featured Lemmy, Max Cavalera and King Diamond among others and used the song ‘Centuries of Sin’ featuring Cronos on vocals as its lead single. Lars Ulrich (Metallica) on Venom: “Black Metal, Speed Metal, Death Metal, whatever you want to call it – Venom started it all!” Jon Bon Jovi on Venom: “This is the sort of shit that gives Heavy Metal a bad name.”