Back On Black are reissuing the first three classic albums from legendary UK black metal band VENOM: 1981's Welcome To Hell, 1982's Black Metal and 1984's At War With Satan. The albums are due in January and all three LPs were remastered and will be repackaged on 180 gram deluxe gatefold colored vinyl.

Descriptions are as follows:

Black Metal: 'Considered a seminal influence for thrash and coming to prominence towards the end of the 'New Wave of British Heavy Metal', Venom have found little mainstream success or critical acclaim, but are widely regarded as highly influential, particularly for their first two albums, Welcome to Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982). The title of Venom's second album would become influential and definitive enough to describe an entire subgenre called black metal, even though the band's music would not be considered 'black metal' by today's standards. The nature of Venom's high-pitch guitars, harsh vocals, use of pseudonyms, and unrelenting emphasis on Satanic lyrics and imagery is considered the template for the subgenre's later successes, and arguably for the broader extreme metal movement in general."

Welcome To Hell: "Welcome to Hell is the 1981 debut album by the British heavy metal band Venom. The sound of the album was very noisy and rough, perhaps in part because the band thought they were recording a demo when they recorded the album over a period of only three days. Geoff Barton stated in his 1981 five-star review of Welcome to Hell the album had 'the hi-fi dynamics of a 50-year-old pizza' and it 'brought a new meaning to the word 'cataclysmic''. However, those comments compared it to other heavy metal from the early eighties. While the term "black metal" may have not been created until Venom's second album, it can be noted Welcome to Hell contains common speed metal elements, and it has a decidedly darker and doomed feel, a characteristic of black metal."

At War With Satan: "At War With Satan is the third album by heavy metal band Venom. With this album, they returned to the more raw, unpolished sound of Welcome to Hell after the more refined albeit darker and heavier sound of Black Metal. This is especially emphasized with the raspy vocals. Shortly after its release, the HMV and WH Smith record chains withdrew the album from their shelves due to its 'controversial content'. The inspiration for writing a track comprising an entire side of the album came from RUSH's 2112, one of bassist Conrad Lant's favourite albums of all time. The epic title track was actually never played live until bassist Conrad Lant rearranged it, shortening it by more than half, for his solo project Cronos. It has since then been played live several times by the reformed Venom."

For more info visit Backonblack.com.