Into Oblivion is the sixteenth studio album by Black metal pioneers Venom, the first since 2018, once again they have kept to the bands long running line-up of Chronos, Rage and Dante who have been Venom for the last 17 years. The album was produced By Conrad Lant and engineered by Big Dix and Raed Farquar that are some top-notch perverse names. I won't raise a glass of lant to this album, but you can if you so choose, while listening to Venom at full volume.
The album opens with Into Oblivion that has the huge metal intro, machine gun drumming, raging guitars, vocals full of anger and bile that the world is sinking ever further Into Oblivion, with dark foreboding and classic thrash metal sound.
The albums main single Lay Down Your Soul rages away like Motorhead on a binge, this is at hypersonic speed, but with a great chant along chorus and belligerent guitars that don't let up, eviscerating everything in front of them.
Nevermore is a journey into darkness, wastelands that can only be reached by hard heavy riffing into the inferno, it's hard to stop headbanging long enough to write this, classic Black/thrash metal to get a huge crowd going.
Man & Beast a colossal riff, humungous drums, chanting Man & Beast this is animalistic heavy metal to groove and head bang too, while we find out what they get up too, like the bunch of fucking whores they are.
Death The Leveller is insanely speedy screed, against the petty differences between us all, that are always levelled when we depart this world for the next, bleeding souls can't help but welcome the embrace of death, to the wailed guitar solos and brutal as can be drumming.
As Above So Below a stop start intro to this journey into the bowels of hell and heaven, they embrace the darkness and despair, along the slower breakdowns, saluting Lucifer and Jesus in the dark embrace from light and darkness, marrying biblical prognostication and Dante's Inferno equally, satanic chorus' backing vocals.
Kicked Outta Hell pulses with insane intensity, ultra thrashy guitars and speedier vocals shows they have once again been 86'd, this time from hell, they are simply too damn evil to stay in hell.
Legend is a full-throated scream of salute from that Legend and the guitars they love to hear, slowed somewhat, almost slow enough to Widdle, but they avoid that trap, bass and drums kick them through into a darker dimension.
Live Loud opens with an instruction to turn that fucker up, make sure your ears bleed and the walls are suppurating with the glory of Venom in full flight, hellacious guitars and drums signal that the only creed they know is to listen and make louder and louder more brutal music, in this they succeed with ease.
Metal Bloody Metal is a call to arms, the need to rock harder than everyone else, to keep on riffing no matter what, make sure you always have skin in the game and know the absurdities of the metal creed so you can be king of them.
Dogs Of War sounds the sirens and leaves no doubt at the brutality and stupidity of still fighting wars, when a good chat and cup of tea would be a better solution, guitars are firing of shards of agony at every chance they get.
Deathwitch is every bit as dark and twisted, built on a monumental riff, a fist pumping anthem for that Deathwitch they want to slay, drums reverberate around the speakers and Hades welcomes them once more.
The album closes with Unholy Mother that is a little leaner and meaner, they ignite the fires, getting ready to burn that Unholy Mother, let the flames lick around her and that sweltering guitar solo will do the rest.
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