Venom Inc’s Mantas to Cronos: Watch Venom’s Live Videos to “See a Sub-Par Performance”

The schism between classic black metal band Venom and their offshoot Venom Inc. has made for some interesting drama over the years. Having split off from Venom and formed in 2015, Venom Inc. has sought to carve out their own path apart from the OG Venom.

So when asked during a recent interview with Louder Sound, it only made sense that guitarist Mantas would stand emphasize the separation between the two bands and the chances that a reunion could ever take place.

“Venom Inc. are the people who have been asked to do the (Black Metal) anniversary shows, and we’ve done it because this fucking shitshow of three originals can’t get their fucking act together to get together on a stage and give the fans that. Cronos is turning around now and saying, ‘Oh, I’m not getting on stage with those doddery old fuckers to give a subpar performance.’ I’ll tell you what: watch the videos of your own band if you wanna see a sub-par performance.

“This pisses me off to the hilt. I put a call out to everybody who’s been a member of this band; not just the originals. Even me and Tony Dolan (Venom Inc. frontman) had a conversation about this, and we said that to celebrate Venom, there should be a concert where everybody who’s been a member, they should all be on one stage together playing their era of Venom. At the end of the night, the original lineup plays some of the classic songs just for the fans. I put that out. Who contacted me? Fucking nobody, because none of them have got the balls to do it.”

That firey response was to a comment Venom bassist/vocalist Cronos made during an interview with Louder Sound, during which he called out Venom Inc. for being “doddery old fuckers” that regularly “put on a sub-par performance,” stating that the chance for a reunion was “less than zero.”

“I owe them nothing, and they’ve got nothing I want. We still get fans saying, ‘The Venom Legions want the old line-up back together!’ We tried in the 90s and it wasn’t well received. The last thing I want to do is get onstage with those other two doddery old fuckers and put on a sub-par performance. I’m getting better album sales now, so why the fuck would I want to go back to that? I just want Venom to be great.”

Needless to say, there’s no love lost between these two acts.