Customer Reviews

Hell

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As good or better than Metal Black. Deep drums, better bass sound, Cronos sounds as good as ever. Definite buy.

Wow...I don't give a dam about original members and the bass being too loud. You got to be out of your mind to love this music like I do, (30+ years of it) but your got to be stupid (or worse) to be a Venom fan and not realize that this is one of their best recordings. This version of Venom is as good (the guitar work is a R.I.P Ride!) or better than the old days.

Thanx Cronos for not being afraid to tell the truth in a word full of liars!!!!!!

Long Live The METAL!!!!!!!!


JRK

Another release from the mighty Newcastle trio, though only Cronos remains from the original line-up and former american guitarrist Mykus (who had previously played in the excellent but underrated Calm Before The Storm album in '84) has been replaced by competent brit-colleague Rage. Excellent lyrics with a touch of realism addressing wars, the USA and other socio-political issues....in a very satanic manner BTW .

The album is less convincing than Metal Black, has yet MORE filler in it, and although production is better since it has more upper treble than MBlack and fortunately lacks the double kick-drum abuse of that album, now it's Cronos's bass guitar that ruined it all for me. He's improved his playing skills beyond belief and I applaud that fact; but was it necessary to mix it that loud in the mix ? The bass is so obnoxiously loud it literally drowns the drums. To make matters worse, you can't possibly compensate it by rolling off the bottom end because punch simply goes, so it's a matter of listening to that groovy dirge that equals the volume of the guitar almost for the entirety of the duration of the album (57' ! ), which by the way reminds a lot of the awful Ressurection.

Buy at your own risk.

The mix on this album is much cleaner than Metal Black, which is a plus. There's far less distortion, you can actually make sense of the riffs throughout. Cronos has improved his playing on this album. Although the only remaining member from the original lineup is Cronos, I don't think it hurts this album. The closest thing you're going to find to their first three albums is Hell. Venom has returned!

Bottom line: If you like Welcome To Hell, Black Metal, and At War With Satan I think you'll be pleased with Hell. Although Cronos can't possibly go back to the old days, this album is deserving of the Venom name.

What can I say....one of my favorite bands of all time with a fresh,brutal,heavy release.Much better than "Metal Black",but not as good as "Resurrection"(in my opinion).Either way a must have for Venom fans!!

So far, many of the reviews I've read mark this as Venom's return to their old style. I disagree - I think Metal Black probably comes closer. This album, despite the bass guitar's prominence in the mix, sounds far too polished to be compared to the first four albums. However, it is the best album they have recorded since the good old days, and is far from disappointing. Basically, if you took the best tracks from Resurrection and Cast in Stone and added a couple fillers and silly tracks like "U.S.A. for Satan," you would have an album that sounded like "Hell!" The album is probably closest to Resurrection in terms of the style, with a few tempo-changes here and there, but the band actually pulls it off on this album without losing too much of the aggression.

Highlights include "Straight to Hell," "The Power and the Glory," "Evil Perfection," and even the silly-titled "Stab U in the Back."

Venom's new album, "Hell" is along the same lines as "Ressurection" and "Metal Black". It's not bad but, it isn't gonna knock your socks off either. I love Venom and every time I can't give them a 5 star review I feel bad. But let's get down to why I think Venom haven't delivered. I think it is because Abbadon and Mantas are not in the band. In no way am I saying that Antton and La Rage are bad musicians. Far from it. Musically, Antton is a way better drummer than Abbadon and La Rage is somewhat similar to Mantas. But therin lies the problem. The original members are not in Venom anymore. So, the same ideas and growth that a band goes through grinded to a halt in 1985 with the departure of Mantas. If anyone knows anything about Venom, after Mantas had left, thier music had changed dramatically. With the addition of 2 guitarists instead of one, Venom trudged on albeit in a different way. Gone was a crucial element to Venom's music (Mantas). Eventually, Cronos left the band soon after and Now the fans had to listen to Venom with a different vocalist and bass player, oh no! Sadly, the incarnation of Venom without Cronos was a hard pill to swallow. I am really not familiar with Venom's music after Cronos had left. Sure I've heard some of it and it is o.k. But, that's just it. It was just o.k. "Hell" is just o.k. It is a far cry from Venom's glory days. I think the only way we will get a great album out of Venom is if the original unholy trinity reunites. Until that happens, we will have to settle for albums like this. "Hell" is definitley a heavy album. If you want some heavy music, this is the cd for you. If you are looking for classic Venom, listen to thier classic albums. At this point in thier career, Venom is a different band. They really don't sound like Venom anymore and the reason why is because Cronos, Mantas, and Abbadon are not playing together. You can only catch lightning in a bottle once.