The year 1986 was a turning point in the career of British black metalists Venom. After assaulting people’s ears (and souls) for four albums, their lineup suffered a massive hit when guitarist Mantas took leave of the trio. However, his work would be featured on one more album, the two-disc set Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, the first full-length live album from Venom.
Captured over multiple nights in two locations, this release finally does something that no Venom album had been able to do to that point: capture their sound without muddling it with tremendous amounts of distortion. You can finally hear each instrument and vocal come through. It’s not always the most interesting live album out there, but it’s—to this point, at least—Venom’s most listenable and most approachable.
The first half captures Cronos, Mantas and Abaddon invading Hammersmith Odeon, and for the better part of a half hour they tear through fan favorites like “In Nomine Satanas,” “Nightmare” and “Countess Bathory,” all the while showing that, yes, they could play their instruments. Mantas is even given a guitar solo, which honestly sounds like something created in the studio, but sets itself apart by not being an overbearing six-string wankfest.
Set two features Venom in New York, where tracks like “Satanichist,” “Black Metal” and “Welcome To Hell” get their turn in the spotlight. The production is a little murkier, but still far more clear than the four studio efforts to that point, so bonus points to Venom for this.
It would seem, therefore, that Eine Kleine Nachtmusik would be the epitome of everything Venom had been aiming for to that point. If only this disc didn’t commit the cardinal sin of fading in and out between every single song, thus breaking up the live experience for the listener.
Also, this disc proves to be a bit tedious over time; it’s hard to stay interested in what Venom do over the course of roughly 75 minutes. Even casual fans will find one or two tracks that pique their interest, admittedly, but the overall picture just feels overbearing. Maybe, had this been cut down to a single disc, it would have had more power
Still, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik does close the chapter of the first incarnation of Venom with a fairly decent (if occasionally boring) effort. While there is some charm in, say, Welcome To Hell and Black Metal for the roles these discs played in the history of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, if you could only own one of Venom’s albums from their classic ’80s period, this would be the one.
