A mere glance at the cover art for VENENUM’s self-titled EP: robed figure beckoning to the dark before him, the dark entrance to a cave behind him, olive-green tree roots gnarled at the base of the drawing, and we know we’re not in Kansas any longer. As first recordings go, a band can hardly hope to do better than VENENUM. This is a band who have hit the ground running. ‘Bewitched Craft’ opens the EP with a few bars of slow, but eerie chords, bringing to mind the ever-atmospheric NEGATIVE PLANE. Then the speed picks up into an AUTOPSY-like fury. After the initial assault, ‘Veneficium’ serves as a short, but highly charged acoustic interlude. VENENUM’s attention to building atmosphere is truly something to be grateful for as this practice of theirs yields more than satisfactory results. ‘Veneficium’ transitions into ‘Crown Of Reversion,’ a song impressive for its brutality and sonic architecture. VENENUM’s EP is a thing of contrasts, or seeming contrasts: the uncomplicated, atmospheric interludes of ‘Veneficium’, ‘Deathscent’ and ‘Abominate Ways’ (hard not to think of MORBID ANGEL’s ‘Desolate Ways’ there), contrasted with fierce Death Metal songs such as ‘Crown Of Reversion’, ‘Sacrosanct Transcendence’ and ‘Lunar Tombfields’. Each song, regardless of the style of composition, achieves the same thing in the end: darkness, heaviness, and a sense of foreboding. This pairing of song and interlude has been done before by bands such as ACHERON for instance, however the practice is still rather uncommon and VENENUM deserve praise for doing something slightly different if not completely different there, and praise for their captivating Death Metal. Seriously, do all of yourselves a favor and support this band! They have real potential and it sure would be a shame to see them fall through the cracks like so many who came before! www.munenev.com, www.sepulchralvoice.de

Black candles, winds and bell chimes, echoes from beneath… these are few of the images that come to mind when listening to some real Dark Death Metal and VENENUM are definitely a band that understands how real Dark Death Metal should be delivered. I know it sounds cliché especially nowadays where you get to listen to tons of Dark Death Metal bands that have the image, the skills, the production etc but they miss the most important thing, the real spirit! VENENUM is a brilliant exception to the aforementioned phenomenon and one should not be surprised since the band consists of ex-members of mighty EXCORIATE (RIP), the band that released the killer "On Pestilent Winds…" album. Needless to say that hearing some months / year ago the news about the demise of EXCORIATE was a big letdown mainly because EXCORIATE proved to be one of the very few contemporary bands that truly understood what makes Ancient Death Metal so damn special. Luckily, VENENUM was born and in a way feeled the gap of EXCORIATE’s absence! I admit that I discovered VENENUM thanks to the suggestion of my good German friend Chris "Demonomancy" Grossmeiler who was kind of enough to give me the heads up in order to purchase their limited 222 demo tape before it was officially sold out. I admit that I haven’t regretted the purchase (considering that I had to pay nearly 13 Euro, postage included for Greece!) since I had a feeling that this is one little diamond that needed to be part of my demo collection. In any case, let’s move on the actual content of the demo, the songs. A first comment is that VENENUM sound more diverse, more technical and I dare to say in parts even more crushing than EXCORIATE (and I absolutely worship the band!). I know it sounds hard to digest especially since we are talking about a demo tape, but this is by far the best material that these guys have written, this is fantastic music with skill, killer attitude and a real understanding of how Death Metal should be delivered. There is a lot of Dark atmosphere in the demo, overall great guitar work, a lot of changes in the mood and great song structures, no cheap fillers here! Overall even if you’re remotely interested in Death Metal you should DEFINITELY listen to this black diamond and make up your mind! Luckily this demo will be very soon re-released in CD and LP format, so everyone will eventually have the chance to take a taste of the venom that is VENENUM! www.munenev.com, www.sepulchralvoice.de