Remembering Cronos of Venom – The Architect Who Defined Black Metal
The tragic loss of Venom’s iconic frontman and bassist Conrad “Cronos” Lant at just 63, as announced on October 1, immediately provoked outpourings of grief and respect from throughout the metal community. Pantera’s Phil Anselmo, for example, penned on social media: “He was the King of Black Metal, hands-down.” As Cronos' son Nathan Lant stated of his father’s immortal legacy: “His music will never die. His voice will never fade.”
READ MORE: Venom Co-Founder Mantas Pays Tribute to Cronos
Cronos’ influence was so grand that the chances are your favorite artists would not be who they are without his cultural contributions. Pain and Hypocrisy’s Peter Tägtgren, has, of course, more than cemented his own status as a pioneering performer, songwriter, and producer of the most elite caliber. He quickly posted: “One of the biggest influences in my lifetime.”
Tägtgren now kindly speaks to us directly:
I remember the first time I met Cronos, Wacken early/mid 2000s.
I ran into him during the day, they’d been up all night building the stage.
First thing he asked me, ‘What do think about the production of the new Venom album?’ I was stunned… he knew who I am.😱
All the memories sitting in Mom n Dad’s basement in the '80s watching the Hammersmith show on VHS and Combat VHS. It blew my mind.
I heard the Welcome to Hell album in early 1982 and was thinking, ‘this is the music I wanna play.’
Indeed, Venom opened a door into a previously unheard brand of sonic darkness, blowing and forever transforming the minds of youths across the world. Even our brilliant friend Scott Conner of Xasthur, who doesn’t typically like to discuss extreme metal at this point in his journey, tells us that, as an adolescent, he had a gold Venom live tape that he enjoyed.
On Venom’s Beginnings & More on Their Pioneering Status
Venom, who hail from Newcastle upon Tyne, assumed their immortal banner in 1979. In 1980, Cronos moved from rhythm guitar to bass after learning that Alan Winston did not wish to continue. Attempting only to fill in for him during a live gig, Cronos played a borrowed bass through his guitar stack, with its effect pedals — this spawned his renowned “bulldozer bass” sound.
Soon, after mainman Clive Archer, or “Jesus Christ,” who actually sported what might be interpretted as a primitive form of corpse paint, failed to attend a rehearsal (because, as Classic Rock reported, he was mourning the loss of his garden due to Venom’s pyrotechnics tests), it became apparent that Cronos should take over as their helmsman. The boot given left Venom with what is fondly remembered as their classic three-piece lineup, featuring Mantas on guitars and Abaddon on drums. That golden roster would endure unbroken in the studio through Possession (1985); the trio would later reunite for a time, birthing the likes of the Venom ’96 EP and Cast in Stone (1997).
Venom clearly arose at the end of the NWOBHM, and while it may be tempting to call them a heavy metal outfit, they rejected the watered-down nature of what they witnessed unfolding — heavy metal had fallen victim to compromise and was becoming increasingly soft, mainstream and boringly acceptable in places.
In defiance of banality, Venom earned the status of godfathers of extreme metal and more; they pioneered black metal, thrash, speed, and we can add death metal to the equation. Slayer and Metallica, who both opened for Venom; Megadeth; Celtic Frost; and Bathory are among the countless giants that have been shaped by them. With an eye to their predecessors as well, Venom kept the essence of rock 'n' roll burning and Cronos brought a compelling punk flair.
Right from their pleasantly abrasive, adrenaline-boosting, lo-fi debut, Welcome to Hell (1981), Venom made a massive impact (even if not every reviewer is capable of understanding revolutionary records at the fateful moment of their release). Preeminent black metal historian Finn Håkon Rødland shares an anecdote with us regarding Euronymous of Mayhem’s famous shop, which has become a landmark and is now occupied by Neseblod Records: “They played the Welcome to Hell LP as a routine when they opened the Helvete store every day and they had two picture discs on the wall.” Welcome to Hell’s fourth track, “Mayhem with Mercy,” had actually inspired Mayhem’s name.
Along similar lines, Venom’s sophomore album, Black Metal (1982), quite literally provided the black metal genre with its name. Granted, some of the movement’s first practitioners, such as Mayhem, have expressed that they didn’t initially call their extreme metal “black.” Rather, this was a label that was sometimes applied from the outside, though the groups themselves often came to the realization of just how fitting the term was.
While Venom’s early work has, unsurprisingly, been referred to as “first-wave black metal” and “proto-black metal,” to become too wrapped up in such jargon is to reduce and therefore limit Venom’s mission. The bottom line is that Venom, even considering different stylistic eras and shifts, were and always remained originals through and through.
In combination with their audial rawness and aggression, these blacksmiths generously treated fans to grand-scale theatrics, delivering fire in excess. Cronos’ larger-than-life charisma and outrageous persona will continue to bring warped smiles to future generations. (Even offstage, he was a colorful character who, as he confided in Classic Rock, loved birdwatching, Kate Bush, growing chili peppers, worked as a rave-blasting fitness instructor for a time, and so forth...)
While manifold forms of vice and the Satanic, of course, impregnate Venom’s lyrics and imagery, Cronos viewed himself as an entertainer, as opposed to the character that he embodied while onstage. “We’re not really preaching Satanism, we’re just writing fantastic rock ‘n’ roll lyrics about anti-Christianism, lyrics that would scare the ignorant deliberately,” he remarked to author Dayal Patterson. Cronos has clarified that he disapproved of the destruction caused by certain black metal entities (Yes, a Venom shirt appeared during black metal’s most high-profile court case...) and, rather interestingly, told Blasting Zone, “Burning churches has nothing to do with Satanism, really.”
In the end, Cronos wanted fans to think for themselves.
All that said, Venom can be approached in the same way as a horror movie, and Cronos certainly a genuine performer, composer, lyricist, and visual artist.
Norway’s Pioneers Join Us in Celebrating Cronos
Black metal has been dubbed “Norway’s biggest export,” taught to the country’s diplomats as part of their training, featured in exhibitions at their prestigious cultural institutions, etc.
In a sense, black metal is now associated with the land of Munch due to their high number of innovators: Euronymous and Thorns’ Snorre Ruch would invent the genre’s tremolo-picked style of riffing, for instance. As Satyr of Satyricon recently explained in concert, early Norwegian black metal bands had to be unique.
The dazzling ingenuity of the Norwegians, however, does not take away from Venom’s seat on the throne — directly and indirectly, concretely and abstractly, Norway’s bravest certainly absorbed something of Venom’s spirit, which obviously includes that same will toward unapologetic individualism and radical eccentricity that might place listeners under the illusion that those infected owe nothing creatively to anyone.
Granted, Cronos recalled that some Norwegian creators Oedipally attacked Venom,and he responded with his derision for gatekeepers.
Tulus remain one of True Norwegian black metal’s best and most important originators. Their top-notch frontman, Blodstrup, also of Khold, offers us the following words:
Venom were one of the first metal acts I ever saw. Before I got into metal, I liked Slade back in the '70s and I discovered KISS. And the pop music I liked was always filled with saturated guitars.
Then, I saw Venom live on TV from Hammersmith in 1985. It made a huge impact on me. Cronos in his red outfit. It was pure, raw heavy metal. A few years later, when I started middle school, someone had painted a big Venom logo on the school wall. So Venom has definitely made an impression on me. I was fortunate enough to meet Cronos in Baltimore at the hotel when Khold and Tulus played there in 2016.
It’s sad to hear about his passing. I salute you, Cronos!
Venom, Live at Hammersmith 1985 (Full Concert)
The venerable Wraath of the likes of Mare and formerly Celestial Bloodshed not only served as a key figure in the construction of the temple known as Nidrosian black metal, but he is regarded as yet another one of the art form’s greats. He comments:
A legend that outlived legends. Hail to the Chief. The beyond has the stronger lineup now.
Also from the pinnacle of the talent pyramid, the wildly inventive Dødsengel vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and producer Kark too provides an exclusive quote:
Transgressive inspiration is the first thing that comes to mind.
Cronos was one of those people that made such an impact with his work, that he made even the people who don’t like him or Venom have to respect him regardless.
He is one of the rare few who will continue to inspire for generations to come.
The Tireless Persistence of Cronos
Like many bands, Venom valiantly survived internal issues (which, on the bright side, allowed new undertakings, as Venom Inc., to materialize), though I think we can respectfully refrain from parsing them here; Cronos left so much to celebrate.
It can be said, however, that, for a period, Cronos, along with two of his Venom mates, left the group to found his eponymous project, which lasted from 1988 to the mid-’90s. Years after returning to Venom, in 2002, he would be forced to place the powerhouse on hiatus due to injuries sustained from a falling rock during a climb.
At the time of Cronos’ passing, guitarist Rage and drummer Danté had been by his side since 2007 and 2009 respectively.
Cronos’ final album and Venom’s 16th as a band, Into Oblivion, premiered earlier this year on May 1. Leading extreme metal photographer NecrosHorns was elated to collaborate with Venom in support of this effort in February, describing it as a “crazy honor.”
NecrosHorns reflects:
Cronos was the kind of person that tested you from the first moment you met, but if you earned his trust, he was the easiest person to work with.
Last February, when we worked for two days in London for the promo shoot for the new album, was such a pleasant experience. I will treasure forever having shared it with such a legend. We joked, ‘I don’t understand his accent; don’t worry, I do not understand yours either’, and shared thoughts I’ll never forget.
R.I.P. Titan!
Cronos’ Legacy
Venom’s works have been covered by endless heavyweights: Melvins, Slayer, Machine Head, Mayhem, Sodom, Voivod, Entombed, Carpathian Forest, Asphyx, Sigh, Samael, Sabbat, Necrophobic, Massacre, Obituary, Marduk, Vader, Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Behemoth, etc. Right in Darkthrone’s “Raised on Rock,” Fenriz urges us, “Well fucking listen to Venom’s ‘Acid Queen.’” Even the Beastie Boys have honored Venom in their own way on "Mark on the Bus." For a time, Cronos also participated in the project Metal All Stars, physically claiming his rightful place among the gods.
Beastie Boys, "Mark on the Bus" (with Venom sample)
Much of Cronos’ legacy lies in what he leaves to his family.
His cousin Nornagest of Enthroned is an excellent frontman (in addition to a scholar, visual artist, and writer) — I took Ashspawn (2025) as proof that he too ranks among black metal’s finest. Cronos actually guested on Enthroned’s Towards the Skullthrone of Satan (1997), just as he lent his wizardry to Satyricon, HammerFall, Massacre, Cradle of Filth, Dave Grohl’s Probot, and others.
It seems safe to suggest that Nornagest might not have embarked upon the path he has if not for Cronos. When I sat down with that gentleman last year, he kindly told me: “I grew up with black metal, obviously. My cousin introduced me to it back then.”
We send our condolences to Cronos’ family and friends and our thanks to all those who participated here.
More From Loudwire
