Fire Petting Zoo

As the opening track on Welcome to Hell, “Sons of Satan” was ostensibly where it all began for Venom.  And although “Witching Hour” and “In League with Satan” were eventually the more popular tracks on the debut, this song was an apt introduction to the very specific qualities and peculiar charms of the band. The tune had it all: Cronos’ unhinged barking, Mantas’ rudimentary riff, Abaddon’s Muppet drumming, and an overall air of haplessness.  For all of the hype and purported danger and menace, Venom’s first few albums were marked by their cluelessness as musicians and songwriters. “Sons of Satan”, like pretty much everything else they did in the early ‘80s, wasn’t so much written as belched out, and in hindsight the most shocking thing about it was that more than a few actually took the Satanic content remotely seriously.  And this is where we caveat all of it by noting that the ridiculousness was also rather lovable- it was a trainwreck, but a highly entertaining disaster.  Cronos would later take exception to the belief that Venom’s early material was defined (and charmed) by how much they sucked, but they did suck, and what they had going for them was that not only did they plow ahead anyway, but did so with such gusto.