VENOM frontman Conrad "Cronos" Lant is featured in a new interview with CriticalMass.se. An excerpt is available below:

CriticalMass: In the past you've repeatedly said that Venom would never do a show where you couldn't do the full show with the pyrotechnics, the big lights and all that. Nowadays though you're playing plenty of smaller venues as well. What made you change your mind and how are you liking playing the smaller shows?

Cronos: "Well, I'll tell you what it was. Five or six years ago I got a call from Kerry King because SLAYER was playing up in Scotland on the Unholy Alliance tour. It's only an hour and a half from where I live so I drove up there to see the show. I was expecting Slayer to have the blood in the lighting rig and for SLIPKNOT to have their pyro, you know, but there was nothing like that. So I told them 'Fuck, where’s the show,' you know? And they said 'Well, we can't do it in this venue.' So I asked them 'But you do it on this tour?' and they said 'Yes, in the venues where we can do it.' They told me that the fans were okay with that because they knew it was because they couldn't do it in that venue. I always thought that we should only do the full show because that was they way that the fans wanted it, they didn't want Venom without the big pyro and all that. Then I started to get feedback from fans who were saying 'Bullshit, we'd love to have you play our small club here in Poland' and things like that. That's when we decided to give it a try and it's been amazing."

CriticalMass: There's no question that Venom is one of the most important bands in heavy metal-history. The amount of bands you've influenced and keep influencing is substantial to say the least, and so is your legacy. Is this something you think about when preparing for a new album or an upcoming tour? Is it a bit daunting to think about the impact you've had on the metal music genre as a whole?

Cronos: "It would be too daunting now wouldn't it? No, it's not something I think of at all. Look, I'm very humbled by [the fact] that people are influenced by our music and I feel very privileged to be in the position where I can create the music I love to create and to have the kind of job I've got, which to me is the greatest job in the world, but really I'm just glad that Venom were a catalyst to give people the confidence to go out and create for themselves. Like I've said to bands for years, don't just copy Venom, you can create what you want also, you know. I started playing this music when people were saying rock'n'roll was dead, back when even bands like DEEP PURPLE were getting bored with it and everybody was saying it was over. I was having none of that. I said 'Fuck that!' because there was so much still to be said and so much to be done. People ask me how we created Venom. Well, I just wanted to take all the best bits from all the great bands that I loved. A bigger stage show than KISS, more leather and studs than JUDAS PRIEST, I wanted it to be more satanic than OZZY and heavier than MOTÖRHEAD, to combine all these things in one super heavy mega metal band."

Click here for the complete interview.

Venom recently performed at Christmas Metal Festival, which took place November 25th – 26th in Lictenfels, Germany. MetalKaoz.com has posted a review of the Christmas Metal Festival, as well as photo galleries for many of the bands that performed.

Check out the reviews/galleries at this location.

Venom performed the following setlist:

'Black Metal'

'Straight To Hell' / 'Welcome To Hell' / 'Calm Before The Storm' / 'Krakin' Up' / 'Resurrection' / 'Evil One'

'Hammerhead'

'Possessed' / 'Countess Bathory' / '7th Gates Of Hell' / 'Possessed'

'At War With Satan' / 'Too Loud For The Crowd' / 'Nightmare' / 'Rip Ride' / 'At War With Satan'

'Warhead'

'Metal Black'

'Pedal To The Metal'

'In League With Satan'

'Witching Hour'

Check out fan-filmed video from the performance below: