Ask any Metal fan about their memories of first hearing coarse NWOBHM act Venom you will I’m sure receive a forthright and decisive answer. The band ridiculed by some but hailed as cult by most stand out as a defIinitive turning point in Heavy Metal’s evolution. I most certainly recall my first encounter with the cacophonic trio, via the triumphant Neat Records’ compilation album Lead Weight. On this hissing cassette Venom presented their belching extreme delight that is the track Angel Dust. And so the curiosity and calamity began later with the amazing debut Welcome To Hell and then perhaps their finest hour, the defining opus Black Metal in all its cataclysmic glory.
And indeed if there was ever a band best suited to deliver a demonic tribute to Venom then that has to be Japan’s wanton licentious Metal outfit Sigh. It goes without saying that Sigh have Venom inexorably bound up in their metal genes and the vinyl tribute EP (paired up with an integral CD) simply reinforces the irascible black metal resonance with full on affection for the subject matter. What you get on this twisted lump of delicious vinyl is a series of Venom classics served up in Sigh’s very own interpretive juices. 7 tracks ranging from my favourites and yours…Countess Bathory, Black Metal and that fantasty singalong Teacher’s Pet. The latter song royally dished out by corrosive, rabid vocals, which plays upon my most base wants, evoking ideas of the lovely Dr.Mikannibal playing teacher to my errant rascal…I digress of course. It is an enjoyable romp which is truly a labour of love on the part of Sigh, your ears crave the alluring metal assualt of ill repute. Sigh capture all the erratic, eroding, exhiliration of Venom’s style and pay metal homage in a most blackened form.
Sigh’s latest album ‘Scenes From Hell’ is released on The End Records on January 19th.
Sigh – A Tribute To Venom (2008, The End Records TE115-1) (Limited Edition LP release with CD, and digitally online)
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