Ελληνικά
Genre: N.W.O.B.H.M./ Speed/ Extreme Metal
Country: England
Label: Spinefarm Records
Year: 2015
The day when Venom announced their return brand new single followed by a new record about a month later, the skies turned black. “Long Haired Punks” was an instant success due to that punkie tunes and catchy lyrics, a fact that raised our expectations as days passed and “Punks” were engraved in our minds. On first hearing, I was excited as at last we could listen to some new material (Venom’s last release was “Fallen Angels” in 2011). As time passed and the album was on repeat for at least 2 weeks, I wasn’t satisfied.
The album kicks off with “Eruptus” as an introduction for what’s to come, fitting nicely with “From The Very Depths” in which we have nice solos and Cronos calls us to worship Satan! “Smoke” must be the weirdest Venom track ever. Ever. It’s a marriage between power metal and stoner tunes. I’m not kidding. But, it’s surprisingly enjoyable, with a sticking refrain and catchy sounds. Probably Venom tried once to retrofit their sound. “Long Haired Punks” is obviously one of the best moments of the record, maybe its highlight. It was the first track released as a promo for “From The Very Depths”, dropping like a bomb a few days after New Years Eve. Lyrics may sound a bit childish and make you think “Are they serious? Is this really Venom?”, but you put all this aside as you get carried away by the tune. “Stigmata”, “Crucified” and “Grinding Teeth” are in a more classic route, with fast guitars and really heavy sound, with a bit Motörhead – ish, groovy feeling. The tunes are getting slower and more melodic in “Overture” decompressing the volume so far, only to lead us into “Mephistopheles” and “Wings of Valkyrie”, more fresh, more modern tracks; different from the usual patterns. “Rise” is a very well-fitting track for the end of the record. Along with “Long Haired Punks” they are the fastest, most punk – thrashy tracks, with a catchy concert – like refrain. Generally, the sequence of all the tracks is coherent and everything falls into place. There is a variety of tunes and many surprises, but this doesn’t seem to do the trick. The record could have been smaller in duration, as well. I caught myself thinking “There’s more??” As a record, it is decent, solid, with good tracks and obviously a lot of effort, but it is not something Venom should release. The days of glory are long gone and certainly “From The Very Depths” will not brings them on top again. It’s just pretence to book a tour. And enough with those “worship Satan”, “praise Lucifer”, “die heathens”, fury – anger – darkness – Dark Prince of Hell – ish lyrical themes; they sound more traditional than Oktoberfest. Instrumentally, even though Dante (Danny “Dante” Needman) has a characteristic style of playing the drums, not showing – off or something stilted, Rage (Stuart “rage” Dixon) on the other hand has fresh ideas but will always come second after Mantas.
The artwork of the record depicts souls of warriors, skeletons, spirits; call it whatever you like, which seem to spiral down to hell. On a closer look, I think those souls are actually being unleashed. So hell breaks loose again. Some may say it looks plain, especially due to the title’s poor choice of lettering and shading, making it kinda indistinguishable.
“From The Very Depths” is Venom’s 14th studio album and was released on January 26th 2015 via Spinefarm Records on CD format and digital download with a double vinyl format to follow shortly after the digital release.
A good record, but not for the almighty Venom.
3/6
