Venom - Prime Evil (1989)

In 1987 Venom put out "Calm Before The Storm", an experimental but fairly decent record that saw the band heading in a more commercial route with a more traditional metal sound. Cronos left afterward to pursue a notoriously short-lived solo career, while back on the homefront, the core band unleashed this underrated little devil. The year 1989 saw "Prime Evil", an album with a sound taking the commercial route but with a more thrash-oriented approach settling the boys in with classic thrash acts of latter day. But does it hold up well to the black classics?

First off, the production is awful. Yeah I know how that sounds concerning Venom, but really. On "Welcome" or "Black Metal" the raw production added to the atmosphere (and even still voices and instruments were still fairly clear despite the mish-mashed quality), but here it doesn't sit well with me. Everything, while tolerable, is a bit muffled, particularly the Demolition Man's vocals. Oh, and what of then new frontman Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan (of the NWOBHM band Atomkraft)? He sits well with me, thanks very much. Just because he's not Cronos doesn't mean he sucks; haters get over yourselves. His style is good; he channels some Cronos-type growls and mixes them with Paul Baloff-sounding howls and screams, as well as traditional metal vox. His bass doesn't fare as well, getting lost in the production, but manages to come off strong enough anyway. Other new guy, and weakest link, Al "War Machine" Barnes is on guitar, 2nd to Mantas. He just isn't anything special; his riffing is dull and uninspired, and pales to Mantas' usual aggressive greatness, who on the other hand, shines as usual. Fellow veteran Abaddon rounds it out on the drums. His tenacious but cheeky "I don't give a fuck" attitude while pounding on the skins still makes him and underrated drummer, and one of my personal favorites.

The songs, for the most part, are bloody great. The whole record is consistently interesting and a fun listen. Some nitpicks though: I'm not crazy about cover songs unless they're done very well, and while the cover here of Black Sabbath's "Megalomania" is pretty good (think blackened and more up-tempo), I don't find it necessary. Even more unnecessary is the forgettable, overly fast cover of Venom classic "Live Like An Angel, Die Like A Devil"; what exactly was the point behind this? Another thing that drives me nuts are oddball fx-filled intros of songs like the radio static intro of "Into The Fire" or the incoming fax sounds opening the title track; another odd and unnecessary addition. But overall, most of the songs are a fun listen. The heavy aforementioned title track has good riffage and a catchy groove to it. Numbers like "Into The Fire" or the blazing "Carnivorous", while not terribly original, are so fucking fast that you just won't give a damn! Highly recommended is "Skeletal Dance" for its catchy chorus and some more groovability. A personal favorite is "Harder Than Ever", another really catchy, semi-anthemic song that probably sounds like if Kiss or Bon Jovi made honest-to-balls metal. Even then, they still probably could never touch Venom.

Overall, it's no classic, but "Prime Evil" is damn underrated and shouldn't be forgotten as one of the band's more obscure creations. Be a bit wary of the production and the unnecessary addition of a second guitarist, but have fun with the veterans, a damn fine replacement for Cronos and a (mostly) killer setlist.

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