// BBC ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS — MODA & SOCIETÀ
Black metal mourns pioneering Venom frontman
Conrad Cronos Lant and his band Venom are widely credited with creating an entire genre of music
The co-founder, frontman and bass player of pioneering heavy metal band Venom has died at the age of 63, it has been announced.
For almost 50 years Conrad Lant, known by his stage name Cronos, led the Newcastle band credited with inventing the black metal genre and cited as a major influence by thrash metal bands including Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax.
In a tribute, the group said Lant's "voice, bass and vision were at the heart of Venom" and described their bandmate as "uncompromising, fearless and unmistakable".
His son Nathan thanked the band's fans down the decades "for all of the support you have given my dad over the years, I know he really appreciated you all".
Venom began in Newcastle in 1978, formed by musicians from three other bands, but it was their second album - Black Metal released in 1982 - that cemented their status in the rock world.
Playing a fast style mixed with Lant's dark imagery and lyrics, the album gave its name to an entire subgenre and influenced bands on both sides of the Atlantic.
Speaking to BBC Newcastle, rock journalist Simon Rushworth said: "They were massively influential [and] spawned a whole genre of what I'd call extreme metal.
"The likes of Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax, they all cited Venom.
"Venom took Metallica out on the road in the mid-80s before anybody knew who they were. Then Metallica returned the favour and took Venom on the road with them.