In a new interview with “The Tampa Morgue” podcast, Jeff “Mantas” Dunn spoke about some of the recent shows he has played with fellow VENOM co-founder Antony “Abaddon” Bray to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the pioneering black metal band’s classic debut album, 1981’s “Welcome To Hell”. When the interviewer noted that it must be “overwhelming” for him to see such a positive response from the VENOM fans to him and Abaddon playing together again, Mantas said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It is overwhelming because we just see each other as a couple of guys who have been in a band together. But it’s something special for everybody else. And I do realize now how special it is for people to see us two together. And it’s working.
“I’ve said it at the end of shows that looking back on it and having time to reflect, the partnership that we had should never have drifted,” Mantas continued. “I think a lot of [the bad blood] has been outside influence from other people, just causing that conflict within things. Yeah, myself and Abaddon have spoken, and we’ve both said that there’s a lot of fucking water under the bridge between us, which is between us kind of thing. And when it comes down to the musical side of stuff, I’ve got to admit that — and he’ll say the same thing — that I’m more of a perfectionist than he is. But I don’t know what it is, but together, it just works.”
Circling back to the reaction from the VENOM fans, Mantas added: “Everybody’s saying it. I’m not. Before anybody gets on my case, any fucking keyboard warrior who’s sitting in your mom’s basement with your fucking pizza, shut the fuck up, because I’m not saying this, but other people are saying, ‘This is fucking VENOM.’ That’s your opinion.”
Mantas also once again addressed the fact that there are now three different bands using variations of the VENOM band name. In addition to their new collaboration, there is the Conrad “Cronos” Lant-fronted version of VENOM, in which Cronos is the sole remaining member from the band’s classic era, and there is VENOM INC., which is led by bassist/vocalist Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan, who was a member of VENOM between 1989 and 1992, appearing on the albums “Prime Evil” (1989),“Temples Of Ice” (1991) and “The Waste Lands” (1992).
“Me, when I’ve been asked about it, ‘Oh, what do you think of the current VENOM situation?’ I always go, ‘What VENOM situation? There isn’t a fucking VENOM situation,'” Mantas said. “There’s bands out there playing VENOM music. There’s two bands out there playing VENOM music, and there’s one band who [says], ‘We’re not VENOM.’ Okay, you’re not VENOM. Don’t play the music anymore. Simple as that. Just don’t bother. We’re just going out there and celebrating the thing.
“I think the only time people will say, like, ‘Oh, VENOM,’ and all that, the VENOM thing, is if the three of us [members of the classic VENOM lineup] ever came back together. [But it’s] never gonna fucking happen… I can’t see it [ever] happening.”
Asked if there is a possibility of him and Abaddon working on new VENOM music with Blake “Bulldözer” Arendell (a.k.a. Blake Arenvurst; INTERCEPTOR),who has played bass and handled lead vocals, along with various special guests, at their recent shows, Mantas said: “There’s a possibility. [Laughs] When I first got the question, I was a definite no. I said, ‘No. Who needs it? Who needs another VENOM album?’ But then people were saying to me, me in particular, they were, like, ‘Yeah, but you wrote the original stuff, so we need this originality, we need this authenticity. And you and Abaddon together,’ it’s like fucking hell. And I was, like, ‘Yeah, yeah. Whatever, whatever.’ And then Blake was saying that some of his buddies had been saying, like, ‘Wow, are you gonna do an album with these guys, something retro?’ So we’ve spoken and we’ve said, ‘Right, okay, let’s just take our time. Whatever happens, happens.’ And I think the initial plan is to just get one song and debut it live and see what happens. Blake has already started sending me riffs. [Laughs] Fucking hell.”
Last August, Mantas and Abaddon went public with their legal battle against Cronos. The legal battle intensified in June 2024, with Cronos suing Abaddon and Plastic Head Music Distribution Ltd, accusing the distributor of selling merchandise with Lant‘s copyrighted VENOM designs and Bray of approving the infringement through a licensing agreement. The dispute revolved around the fact that both parties were licensing and selling official VENOM merchandise featuring the contested designs.
According to Law360.com, Lant testified in court that he joined VENOM in late 1979 and came up with the Satanic-themed designs used in the band’s logo and album covers, which included goat heads, pentagrams and inverted crosses.
Bray filed a counterclaim for infringement against Lant and Lant‘s distributor, Razmataz.com Ltd., arguing that Bray was the real author of the works.
Because Lant was able to produce numerous sketches which demonstrated his design process and Bray was unable to do the same, Bray was deemed the owner of the original logo, while Lant was found to be the creator and copyright owner of all but one of the other artistic works in dispute.
Nearly a decade ago, Dunn formed VENOM INC. with Bray and Dolan.
In December 2024, approximately eight months after suffering his second heart attack, Dunn announced that he was leaving VENOM INC., explaining in a statement that his “health and wellbeing are of paramount importance to myself and my family,” but adding that “there are also more personal issues which have influenced my decision.”
Dunn suffered his first heart attack in May 2018 and underwent a double bypass surgery.
Mantas sat out VENOM INC.‘s fall 2023 U.S. tour after revealing that his wife had been diagnosed with cancer. He was replaced on the trek by Mike Hickey, known for his work with VENOM, CARCASS, CATHEDRAL and CRONOS.
VENOM INC. is not to be confused with the Lant-fronted version of VENOM, which is continuing to tour and make albums under the VENOM moniker. Joining Cronos in that group are Rage (a.k.a. Stuart Dixon) on guitar and Danté (a.k.a. Danny Needham) on drums.
VENOM‘s classic lineup trio of Dunn, Lant and Bray recorded four studio LPs, “Welcome To Hell” (1981),“Black Metal” (1982),“At War With Satan” (1984) and “Possessed” (1985),and live album, “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” (1986). Often cited by bands such as METALLICA, BEHEMOTH, CELTIC FROST and MAYHEM as major influences, they are one of the most revered bands of their generation. VENOM is still fronted by Cronos and headlines festivals all over the globe and continues to release new music while Dunn and Dolan had joined forces in the similarly named VENOM INC.
Abaddon was part of VENOM‘s classic lineup from 1978 to 1992. He then returned to the band in 1995 and stayed with them for four years before joining VENOM INC. alongside Dunn and Dolan. VENOM INC. released its debut album, “Avé”, in August 2017. A year later, VENOM INC. revealed that it was recruiting Jeramie Kling of the Tampa-based melodic death metal band THE ABSENCE to fill in for Bray on a European tour while Abaddon stayed home to spend time with his newborn daughter.
Dunn, Bray and Dolan released the aforementioned three albums as VENOM: “Prime Evil”, “Temples Of Ice” and “The Waste Lands”.
In September 2022, Bray revealed that he had been diagnosed with lymphoma.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source blabbermouth.net ’
