Venom – 05.09.2014 – Fall Of Summer Festival, France
Event Notes
The 1st edition of the Fall of Summer Metal Festival will take place on Fri the 5th and Sat the 6th of September 2014, in Torcy (30 km from Paris, France). The line-up, ranging from traditional Doom to Extreme Metal.
Poster
Review
Venom is my drug. Nothing makes me feel better than that. As nerdy as that sounds. I went to Paris for another Venomous injection and since this would be my first Venomgig since last summer I was extremely impatient and ready. The area around Blackwaters Stage at Fall Of Summer Festival was getting packed with an energetic crowd of knowing hardcore fans eager to see and hear an assault of pure metal delivered an onslaught of heart-pounding tunes during a performance full of awesome head-banging action.
A sea of Legions rushing to lay claim to the prime front row territory. Before the kings of evil took stage, a steady chant of “Venom! Venom! Venom!” began to rise from the depths of the energized masses. And for the best feeling and experience, the frontrow certainly is the place to be. Nowhere else give you the same kick. You wanna get into it, with a few other crazy Venom-maniacs and just feel it – the proper way.
As the introtape begins, that electric feeling races in front of the stage as everyone suddenly becomes twitchy in anticipation. Pounding straight in with live staple BLACK METAL, the audience begins screaming along and it´s obvious, that the power trio are at the top of their game.
Venom continued their aural assault with one of my personal favorites, HAMMERHEAD, the superheavy new classic from the excellent FALLEN ANGELS album. BLOODLUST let the awesome fretboard talents of guitarist Rage shine through. Rage performs an incredible flawless set, playing the new stuff with confident and all of the old classics with dedication and respect that is deserved. He has now been in the band for seven years and is a perfect side-kick to Cronos.
It´s all guns blazing and the only real break being at the beginning of the creepy claustrophobic BURIED ALIVE.
Their set serves as a perfect mix of old and new, showing just how many brilliant songs they made through the years. Songs like ANTECHRIST, HAIL SATANAS and PEDAL TO THE METAL all fit alongside each other like old friends, while Cronos is every bit the confident frontman, commanding the crowd with absolute ease.
I normally take some pictures every show I go to. This was one of the few times that I didn’t care – I took maybe 10 pictures, all of the show I just let the music take control of my body and just LIVE it, experience it.
RESURRECTION, followed by THE EVIL ONE, followed by WELCOME TO HELL, followed by HELL followed by….it´s the stuff dreams are made of. Next up is LEAVE ME IN HELL. One of my all-time favourites that has been put back in the set the last years, it always causes me to go completely nuts! A suitably lightshow greets an superheavy rendition of WARHEAD, Cronos vocals soaring, accompanied by the entire crowd during the chorus. He may be half a century in age but Cronos is unstoppable, his shrill cries still as memorable as they were in the early years. He amaze me, he must have found the fountain of youth or something. He never grow old, he still look cool in tight leather pants and studded boots, and he owns the stage like it’s still 1984.
I’m a sucker for drums, always have been. Dante is nothing short of amazing. We’re talking slam, strength, groove, power and the ultimate backbeat. He puts 100% into every beat and with both rock and metal influences he kind of drive the songs along, creating a foundation for Cronos and Rage. A drummer who just sits back there tapping along like a metronome will ruin the song and Dante is not one of those guys. By the look he reminds me of “Animal” of the Muppet show and in my book that´s a compliment! Sure one of the ultimate drummer entertainer of today.
Venom sounding tight, loud,clear and spacious tonight and that due to an unseen member of the band is having a good night, too. That person is Paul, the sound engineer, and he's responsible for getting every subtle tweak of voice and instrument into our ears in a balanced way. He really gives the band a killer sound tonight and his performance is a big reason for this tremendous gig.
Cronos trademark bass tone and sliding notes are noticeably present, and on the title track of their 2011 release the mainman takes the lead, ripping out a Cronos-esque intro on the 4-string before the horns-out metal assault comes right back again.
The band played two of their most loved tunes as encore, starting with IN LEAUGE WITH SATAN and then following that with the incredible and relentless WITCHING HOUR to end a ground-shaking evening of metal mayhem. A sweaty and satisfied crowd heads from the stagearea with grins beaming across their faces knowing that Venom still reign supreme!
Setlist
Black Metal
Hammerhead
Bloodlust-Black Flame
Buried Alive
Antechrist
Hail Satanas
Pedal To The Metal
Resurrection-The Evil One-Welcome To Hell-Hell
Leave Me In Hell
Warhead
Fallen Angels
Encore:
In Leauge With Satan
Witching Hour
Videos