Although he's fronted numerous bands throughout his career, including several incarnations of his solo project, Rob Rock has always returned to sing alongside his old Vice guitarist, Chris Impellitteri, dating back to the eponymous EP in '87. The pair can currently be heard on Venom, a collection of ten quick hitters, most lasting about three 1/2 minutes, not a lot of time for guitar embellishment. "Chris is not like most shredders," contends the singer, who has surrounded himself with a murderers' row of six-string talent throughout his career. "He only wants 30 seconds or a minute to go off, the rest, he tries to write actual songs. When I come up with the melody, if I can remember it the next day, I know we've got something."

Squeezing a ton of notes into a fretboard blast has diminished from the songwriting quality on Venom. The creation process is typically 21st century. "He sends me stuff and I write two idea for melodies. If he says, 'I was thinking it should be more like this,' then I send him the second one. Sometime we use my melodies and his chorus, other times, the opposite." While it has been six years since the Wicked Maiden disc (in the meantime, Chris remained busy with the successful Animetal USA project), Venom came together fairly quickly. "I guess Chris has been writing stuff for the last three years. Last August, I flew out to California (for rehearsals) before we were scheduled to play South Korea (Busan). We got word that a hurricane washed everything out." You might recall the pictures of the large outdoor stage, under feet of water. "Chris said, 'Since you're here, might as well show you what I've been working on." Eight months later, the album is in stores. "For the first time, it's a worldwide release. In the past, it was released in one territory and nowhere else for two years."

Our discussion of Venom (which can be found with a pair of bonus tracks; "Rock Through The Night" and "Reach For The Sky", on the deluxe version) began with "Nightmare," the most atypical inclusion, in that it possesses a heavier, darker vibe, thanks in part to the drumming of John Dette (Slayer, Testament). "I think it sounds more modern," counters Rock, " I sing in a lower register too. There's all kinds on this record," Rock adds, then mentions "Face The Enemy", a track which sounds as if something off one of his last two solo efforts. "That's a more comfortable register for me, not as high as some of the others on the record, so that one's a bit of a rest."

He's already thinking about how the material will translate live, something (sadly) few on these shores will probably witness. Other standouts, include 'Domino Theory", a Carpal Tunnel inducing string bending frenzy: "I was watching a TV show and they said domino theory and my ears perked up. They went on to explain how, in war, if you take one town, there's a momentum and the next one will probably fall, easier. Filed that term away and when I heard what Chris had come up with, I thought, 'That will be the perfect one to start writing about terrorism and modern warfare." Those who are a little older, especially anyone still purchasing music, will identify with 'Time Machine'."Chris gave me that one, with the working title," starts Rock, "Time machine? I was thinking, Time machine, what can I write about...going back in time? When I hear a Boston song, it takes me back to a certain time, when I was living in Massachussetts and I started thinking that songs link to specific points in my life. So music serves as a time machine, taking us back to times/places."

Artwork, at least in the glory days of vinyl, was often the gateway to those musical memories. The current Victorian pose (albeit with a sinister undercurrent) on the cover is a little different. "The label manager at JVC Japan sent Chris the photo and said, "You should use this for your next album.' I saw it and thought it was OK, but I suggested they put some snakeskin or serpent tongue in there, a whole bunch of ideas, some of which they used. I like it. It's not your typical metal cover (art)." Then again, Impellitteri, the man, rarely opts for a conventional image.

That extends to his Animetal USA alter-ego, which has taken on a life of its own over the last couple of years. While the Impellitteri band has yet to do much touring, a situation they all hope is about to change, the guitarist's perspective on playing live has expanded. "If you're asking me," says Rock, "I'd say yes, he's definitely loosened up.Not that he was tense or anything, but you know...before Animetal, he was like, 'We can't do that. I won't work,' but since then, he's like , 'We have to tour!' When I heard him in rehearsal, I was blown away how much his playing improved. It got me thinking about playing live too." So where do they sit, in terms of live dates? "We have a string of Japanese dates in May, which should be great. Chris told me he just got a booking agent here (in the States) and they're going to see if there's any interest. Of course it's a question of money. Will we make any, or will we have to pay to go out? We're both from Massachusetts, so maybe we can do a show there, at least."

Rob also has a vibrant solo career, although he's quick to point out, "I'm all in with Impellitteri now and eager to tour, so we'll see how it (solo deal) goes. I'd like to have something out next year. I have an offer from AFM, but it's not enough of a recording budget. We played Bang Your Head (German festival) last year and the band was like, 'We've got to make another record.' I hate to ask for money, but I might have to go the crowd-funding route to get it done. It's sort of like pre-financing. You were going to buy the album anyway, so help me record it." 

Amazing amount of talent in one band. Venom, a little bit is deadly!