Katalógové číslo:
6412651
Dátum vydania: 28. 3. 2025
1 Sons of Satan
2 Welcome to Hell
3 Schizo
4 Mayhem with Mercy
5 Poison
6 Live Like an Angel
7 Witching Hour
8 One Thousand Days of Sodom
9 Angel Dust
10 In League with Sata
11 Red Light Fever
12 Angel Dust (Lead Weight Version)
13 In League with Satan (7„” Version)
14 Live Like an Angel (7„” Version)
15 Bloodlust (7„” Version)
16 In Nomine Satanas (7„” Version)
17 Angel Dust (Demo)
18 Raise the Dead (Demo)
19 Red Light Fever (Demo)
20 Bitch Witch (Outtake)
22 Snots Shit (Outtake)
In 1981, the band's debut album, Welcome To Hell, was released - the sonic equivalent of rubbing a tab of salt into a gaping wound. What many people don't realize is that the album was actually nothing more than a collection of demos! It wasn't a proper album, which is why there's such a big difference in sound quality between 'Welcome To Hell' and the next album, 'Black Metal'."
In a strange way, the demo quality of the album probably helped boost Venom's growing popularity as the uncrowned kings of the fast-growing metal underground.
"Neat Records were very surprised at how well the single sold and asked me if we had any more songs. "Loads," I said, so Neat asked if we would record everything we had so they could hear all our tracks. We went back into the studio and recorded what we thought were a bunch of demos. Then Neat Records said, 'You know, we could put a cover on it and put it out as an album'. We thought, 'Great idea. We'll go back and re-record the songs properly, with more care and attention and so on, and then we'll make a proper record out of it'. Uh, that's not how Neat saw it. They literally meant that they wanted to release our demos, with all the mistakes, as the first album!"
Despite the lack of production values, the album gave Venom a strong foothold in the metal scene. The fearsome trio were no longer just another band for the masses - they had substance and real potential. Their roar was ferocious, unnerving and absolutely biting.
Welcome to Hell and Black Metal rose to prominence towards the end of the new wave of British heavy metal and had a huge influence on the whole genre of thrash and extreme metal. The band is often regarded as the first black metal band and even helped a certain band called Metallica make their first breakthrough in Europe almost 30 years ago.
Lars Ulrich once said: "[The first Venom album] Welcome To Hell was a classic! Black metal, speed metal, death metal, whatever you want to call it, Venom started it all with that one record!"