There is no doubt that Jeff ‘Mantas’ Dunn has a lot to answer for, as there are very few bands can say they released an album which created such an impact it spawned a whole new genre, but that is exactly what happened with Venom’s second album, ‘Black Metal’. Their first three albums were huge as they burst out of the NWOBHM scene, influencing bands across the world, but after their fourth, ‘Possessed’, Dunn decided he had had enough and left the music scene to work at Freeman Hospital in Newcastle where his girlfriend was a nurse. It took a phone call from a studio boss asking what he was doing to get him back into writing music, which then led to this album, which was only ever a studio project, with the vast majority of the material recorded by Mantas alone who provided guitar, bass, keyboards and drum machine (only the instrumentals feature live drums by Mark Savage). Producer Keith Nichols added some additional keyboards, Al Barnes (who was later in Venom himself) provided some rhythm guitar while vocals were by Pete Harrison ( I find it hard to believe this is the only album he ever recorded as his has a great set of pipes).
I have seen this album denigrated quite a bit over the years, but I believe the only reason is that it is not Venom, and any Venom fan who came to this expecting to hear “Warhead” was going to be hugely disappointed. This was released in 1988, and is very much an album of its time, far more into the glam metal and hair metal scene with influences from melodic bands having a huge influence, and apart from that the biggest distraction for me is the use of a drum machine. Harrison is a revelation, and one can only wonder what might have happened if this had become a touring entity as opposed to just a studio experiment. I am sure that if they had got out on the road and weathered the change which was taking place in the scene they would have been recognised as a valid entity in their own right as opposed to a side project which many seemingly wanted to fail. If Mantas had used a different name they may have been given more opportunity, but this album will always be linked the man who gave us the riffs for “In League With Satan” or “Welcome To Hell”. This shows a very diverse side of Mantas, who states in the very interesting booklet that he was a huge fan of Mahogany Rush and Frank Marino, Gary Moore, and Uli Jon Roth, and that the instrumentals “Hurricane” and “Desperado” were his homage to Colosseum II.
It is true that this album has not dated well, but if you enjoy late Eighties metal and can get past the drum machine then this is worthy of attention, as singer Harrison should definitely be much more widely recognised. The reissue also includes two bonus tracks from the ‘Deceiver’ 12”, one of which is his take on “Green Manalishi”.
Rating: 6/10
—-
Track list:
1. Let It Rock
2. Deceiver
3. Hurricane
4. King of the Ring
5. Western Days
6. Winds of Change
7. Desperado
8. Nowhere to Run
9. Sayonara
10. I’m on Fire
11. The Green Manalishi
Links:
https://mantas.website/
https://www.facebook.com/DissonanceProductionsUK