In a recent interview with Louder Sound, Venom frontman, Cronos, discusses the birth of black metal, the success of former support band Metallica, and why there’s zero chance of the classic lineup getting back together. An excerpt follows...

Q: You haven’t spoken to Jeff Dunn and Tony Bray in 20 years, so the odds on a reunion are… what?

Cronos: “Less than zero. I owe them nothing, and they’ve got nothing I want. We still get fans saying, ‘The Venom Legions want the old line-up back together!’ We tried in the 90s and it wasn’t well received. The last thing I want to do is get onstage with those other two doddery old fuckers and put on a sub-par performance. I’m getting better album sales now, so why the fuck would I want to go back to that? I just want Venom to be great.”

Q: But after all you achieved together - changing the course of heavy music, and influencing so many great bands that followed - don’t you feel sad that there’s no relationship between the three of you now?

Cronos: “Yeah, of course it’s sad. But we had a blast, and I’ll cherish those memories.”

Read the full interview at Louder Sound.

During an interview with Heavy Culture, Jeff "Mantas" Dunn - who is keeping Venom's legacy alive with Venom Inc. - responded to Cronos' comments, saying "Venom Inc. are the people who have been asked to do the (Black Metal) anniversary shows, and we've done it because this fucking shitshow of three originals can't get their fucking act together to get together on a stage and give the fans that. Cronos is turning around now and saying, 'Oh, I'm not getting on stage with those doddery old fuckers to give a subpar performance.' I'll tell you what: watch the videos of your own band if you wanna see a sub-par performance."

"This pisses me off to the hilt. I put a call out to everybody who's been a member of this band; not just the originals. Even me and Tony Dolan (Venom Inc. frontman) had a conversation about this, and we said that to celebrate Venom, there should be a concert where everybody who's been a member, they should all be on one stage together playing their era of Venom. At the end of the night, the original lineup plays some of the classic songs just for the fans. I put that out. Who contacted me? Fucking nobody, because none of them have got the balls to do it."

Venom Inc. celebrated the 40th Anniversary of Venom's Black Metal albnum by performing it in its entirety on October 2nd at the Keep It True Festival in Würzburg, Germany.

Venom Inc.'s new album, There’s Only Black, is out now via Nuclear Blast. Almost 40 years after their inception, the revitalized 1989 - 1992 Venom lineup of guitarist Jeff “Mantas” Dunn and vocalist/bassist Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan, and the new addition of drummer Jeramie 'Warmachine' Kling have returned with one hell of a follow-up to their acclaimed debut, Avé, and show no signs of slowing down.

Order/save the new album here.

Tracklisting:

"How Many Can Die"
"Infinitum"
"Come To Me"
"There's Only Black"
"Tyrant"
"Don't Feed Me Your Lies"
"Man As God"
"Burn Liar Burn"
"Nine"
"Rampant"
"The Dance"
"Inferno"

"There's Only Black" lyric video:

"Come To Me" lyric video:

"Don't Feed Me Your Lies" lyric video:

"How Many Can Die" lyric video: