VENOM — Calm Before the Storm

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VENOM - Calm Before the Storm cover
2.69 | 13 ratings | 2 reviews
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Album · 1987

Filed under Heavy Metal
By VENOM

Tracklist

1. Black Xmas (2:56)
2. The Chanting of the Priests (4:24)
3. Metal Punk (3:23)
4. Under a Spell (4:08)
5. Calm Before the Storm (4:13)
6. Fire (2:42)
7. Krackin' Up (2:14)
8. Beauty and the Beast (3:49)
9. Deadline (3:16)
10. Gypsy (2:25)
11. Muscle (2:41)

Total Time: 36:16

Line-up/Musicians

- Anthony Bray / drums
- Conrad Lant / bass, vocals
- Mike Hickey / guitars
- Jim Clare / guitars

About this release

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VENOM CALM BEFORE THE STORM reviews

Specialists/collaborators reviews

SilentScream213
There is a certain level of songwriting ability and production quality that Venom never had that prevent their albums from being true masterpieces, and put a real threshold on all their material. Despite that - and despite the very low ratings for this album - I find this their best, most consistent release.

I can understand the low votes, as Venom basically threw away their cult icon status to release much more commercially viable material, but anyone not concerned with status should be able to see this album has some very strong riffs and their best musicianship to date. They also added in some catchy vocal melodies for good measure. All the songs bar "Muscle" are great, sound unique (something Venom has never done) and offer a different side of the band that I think they excel at. There's nothing technical or groundbreaking here, but it's a great joy to listen to front to back, something I can't say even about Venom's great early material.
Warthur
Sometimes less really is more. Take the case of this followup to Possessed, in which Venom have twice the number of guitarists as their previous four albums (in the form of new members Mike Hickey and Jim Clare) but actually sound half as heavy and extreme as they used to. Some may be inclined to blame producer Nick Tauber, who was more used to working with acts such as UFO or Thin Lizzy, but that doesn't quite wash with me - for one thing, the songwriting this time around a serious step down. (Seriously, Black Xmas sounds as though the band were deliberately aiming for a rapid descent into embarrassing self-parody.) Not one of their finest moments.

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