Review VENOM INC. ‘There’s Only Black’

As with some of the older bands, there are a kind of two versions of Venom these days. There is Venom with Cronos at the helm while Venom Inc. is a project of Jeff ‘Mantas’ Dunn and Tony ‘Demolition Man’ Dolan. Back then, when another former Venom member, Anthony ‘Abaddon’ Bray, joined the project as well, the timing was right to form Venom Inc.

However, Bray left in 2018 and since then it is drummer Jeramie ‘War Machine’ Kling who provides the musical heartbeat of the band. Venom Inc’s sophomore effort is also the first record to feature Kling, and his massive drumming gives the band a solid punch.

‘There’s Only Black’ is the name of the new record and fans get served plenty of riff power in the form of twelve songs. With ‘How Many Can Die’ Venom Inc. go right into the full swing. The rude metal song is a brute start; wild and fierce. Even if Venom Inc. are completely committed to metal, you can still hear various punk references which give the sound an anarchic feel. Here is also the link to the mothership, because Venom united different music influences and created thereby their signature sound.

This melange also comes into its full effect in thunderous songs like the mighty ‘Come to Me’. Venom Inc. have packed three massive metal anthems at the beginning of the record, songs that do not reach the four-minute mark. Nevertheless, Dunn, who wrote the songs by himself, has also given the epic songs a chance. One of them is ‘Don’t Feed me Your Lies’. Starting gloomy, the song develops into a powerful colossus that increases in intensity. Here it is the changes between furious parts and thundering sections that create a field of tension which serves the song well. ‘Burn Liar Burn’ follows a similar pattern, whereby the atmospheric elements are clearly more prominent. The fact that this track is followed by another wrecking ball with ‘Nine’ is definitely intentional.

Venom Inc. have created with their second album a record that lets the roots of the musicians involved shine through, sounds modern and at the same time contains an oldschool vibe. It”s not the big surprises here that set ‘There’s Only Black’ apart from other releases. Rather, it’s the boisterous power that makes this record a very enjoyable release.