Customer Reviews
AAARRGGGHHH! - By: I. A. Mcfarlane, 29 May 2008 
I first encountered this opus at a time when I was both young & impressionable, & at that time I was completely oblivious to the fact that Venom had a wry sense of humour which permeated pretty much everything they did. Hence, the leather bound gatefold sleeve (complete with burning inverted crucifix), scant information on the band & general subject matter, had a fairly profound effect at the time - & that was before I'd actually dared to play the thing. Coupled with this was the general view that Venom were `the worst bandin the World' & the sense of trepidation was intense. So how does it, & did it, sound? The title track kicks off proceedings with a crack of thunder before the ominous drone of Cronos' bass leads into the first of many enormously memorable riffs. Cronos literally roars into action before the struggle between good & evil is played outin a 20 minute long tale that is totally enthralling, both musically (?!) & lyrically. The spoken peroration at the close of the first track still sends shivers down the spine as it is delivered with apparent total conviction - if you didn't know the group this would all be rather disturbing. Put simply, it's a masterpiece - great lyrics, huge riffs & a great story line.
The rest of the album? Who cares, it's not really important. But for the record, Genocide & Rip Ride are cracking tunes & there is the album closer AAAAAAARRRGGGGGHHH!, which only serves to emphasise the fundamental truth that Venom don't take themselves too seriously.
Early Venom at their peak - By: , 28 Mar 2002 
Part concept album, this release was quite ambitious for Venom, especially when you consider that earlier releases from these thrash metal pioneers featured short, punk-influenced songs. With this album, their third, they introduced a greater sense of dynamics & melody into the fledgling thrash/death genre.
The song "At War With Satan" itself is close to twenty minutes long, telling a grandiose tale of a war between Heaven & Hell. A triumph - although Venom's musical skills were at times rudimentary, the listener can hear them being pushed to the limit, & displaying many original ideas.
The other songs are shorter songs but no less enjoyable for that. Rip Ride, Cry Wolf & Genocide are three of Venom's finest moments, displaying the level to which the band had honed their trademark ferocity.
Certainly a very different album to any over-produced thrash or death metal album you might find nowadays, but for anyone interestedin where Slayer, Metallica & Celtic Frost got some of their inspiration, this would be a fine choice.
