Conrad “Cronos” Lant of black metal pioneers Venom has died at the age of 63.
The vocalist/bassist’s passing was confirmed in a post earlier today (October 1st) on Vemom‘s official social media, although no cause of death was revealed. The message reads as follows: “In Memorium — Conrad ‘Cronos’ Lant. It is with profound sadness and broken hearts that we share the news that Conrad ‘Cronos’ Lant has passed away.
For more than four decades, Conrad‘s voice, bass and vision were at the heart of Venom. From the first dark rumblings of Welcome To Hell‘through Black Metal, At War With Satan, Possessed and beyond, he created something that changed heavy music forever.
Venom never followed the rules. They forged their own path. And Conrad was there at the centre of it all — uncompromising, fearless and unmistakable.
The Legions have always been an important part of Venom. To everyone who stood with the band through the years, bought the records, came to the shows, wore the shirts, shared the music and kept the flame burning — Cronos was always grateful for your loyalty and support.”
Nathan, Conrad‘s son, said, “I want to thank all of the Legions for all of the support you have given my dad over the years. I know he really appreciated you all. He has laid down his soul, and his music will live on. The legend of Cronos will never die.”
Venom‘s latest studio album, Into Oblivion, came out in May through Noise/BMG.
5 Responses
Cronos and Venom were certainly not household names, but they were profoundly influential to serving as the foundational blueprint for extreme metal subgenres like black metal, thrash metal, and death metal.
When I was in high school, Venom’s music scared me cuz of the satanic themes and imagery. And I considered their music to be noise, not music. I later learned it was just a gimmick and eventually started to love their music. RIP, Cronos.
“Lay down your soul to the gods rock n roll”
Been listening to Venom all day today, and will be all night! Venom has been one of my favorite bands of all time ever since I bought the album At War with Satan. That album just blew my young mind. I had just started getting into the more extreme side of metal when I found them. Think I might have had a Slayer record, couple Metallica records and maybe a couple other thrash albums at the time. Fresh out of my “hair metal” days. So needless to say, that music was just insane to hear for the first time back then. I remember going upstairs to my friends apartment and dragging him down to my room making him listen to the title track. I must have played it ten times in a row that day. To this day I can still recite the narration part at the end lol
For me, Venom was very overlooked and underrated. Sure they weren’t the most talented band on the planet, but they knew how to write some damn good riffs, and some of the most crazy lyrics you’ll ever see. 1981 and they were writing music that nobody had the balls to write. Opened up the abyss for all the black and death metal that followed.
So sad today. I had hoped one day the original lineup would get back together for at the very least a tour. Venom Inc fell apart, Venom have been putting out albums, but nothing really solid until their final album released earlier in the year, so I figured the time was right for a reunion soon.
Losing Cronos feels like losing a good friend. For forty plus years I’ve been listening to him growl thru my speakers, just doesn’t seem real he’s gone. Such a sad day, but thankful for all the great tunes he left behind.
RIP
Oh man, that’s too bad. Sorry to Rattle and those that are loyal fans. RIP too originals.
Got in trouble in high school in ’84 for wearing a Venom patch on my denim jacket. I refused to remove it and got 15 detentions lol
Damn, did you got to a private Christian school or live in the deep south or something?