English translation from the Swedish Pop Magazine OKEJ. OKEJ was more or less the only music magazine in Sweden during the 1980’s and almost 90% of Swedish youth read it and then talked about in school. Are you interested in the OKEJ magazine phenomena, read more here!
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ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW:
OKEJ's Ulf Waldecrantz got an interview withCRONOS FROM VENOMor was it a scolding? Hard to know…After a week of hard detective work on the part of OKEJ, we finally managed to find the three Newcastle guys in the Black Metal band Venom. The three are currently on an extensive US and Canadian tour. Their first really long tour.
Most recently, the group released the mini-LP "Canadian Assault" which has found its way into the charts in several countries. Back home in Sweden, we found it as high as fifth place. | In Canada, it has already sold gold.
- We screwed up releasing "Possessed" last fall, instead we released "Canadian Assault", but now "Possessed" is coming anyway, says bassist Cronos on a crackly phone line from Winnipeg in Canada.
- We worked on "Possessed" for a whole three weeks, a record actually. But it doesn't sound any better for it, sighs Cronos.
He has his own explanation for why it didn't sound better, despite the extended studio time:
— Not even a master chef can make good food if there's a lump of poo in the ingredients. One explanation is that we are not the best musicians in the world. By the way, you should f**k off, you f**king journalist bastard.
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| March 31, 1985 at The Concert Hall in Toronto, ON (Canada) |
If a normal musician had said those words to me, I would have immediately thanked me and ended the interview. But if you happen to know Venom and their image, you are prepared for all sorts of attacks from them.
Venom is the group that loves to curse and threaten everyone they talk to. When they came to Canada in mid-March, they were supposed to sign records in a large department store in Toronto. It all ended with them running around all the other departments and hurling insults at regular customers. Some older people were shocked and had to be taken to hospital. Cronos about the episode:
- The cops came and grabbed us, we had to sit in jail for a few hours until our manager got us out. That's what I call a strong opening to the tour, he says rightly.
The breakthrough has come for Venom, at least on the other side of the Atlantic.
- Damn, people are so gullible, I would never buy a record with us. It's just crap! But if people want to throw money at me, don't hold it against me.
Cronos, tell me about the tour instead of talking crap about your latest album.
- Forty gigs from mid-March to the end of May. Everything here in Canada is sold out, it's no wonder, "Canadian Assault" is doing really well. We have the biggest facility we've ever had. Twice as big as on "The Seven Dates Of Hell Tour". Come on, you idiot, he says as usual.
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Venom are actually not as dangerous as they sound. They're basically three metal freaks who aren't very good musicians. They decided to start a band and since their attitude is that nothing is so fucking bad that it can't be made worse, that's how it went.
- We started the so-called Black Metal wave. By the way, there are no other Black Metal bands but us. Mercyful Fate are creepy and embarrassing. Just look at the rest of them except for singer King Diamond, look at how they look. They could just as easily be dance band musicians, laughable, says Cronos.
- The world is screaming for us. We're like a horror movie in real life, he says, and pulls out the old classic Venom story about the former Vietnam soldier.
- After a gig in New York, one of the guards came into our box and said "I thought I'd seen everything in Vietnam, but this was worse..." It's hilarious, then you feel like you're fulfilling a function, says Cronos.
When the album "Possessed" is released and has been out for a while, it's time for a long European tour.
- We're going to play festivals this summer. Then it's time for the rest of Europe. We're coming to Stockholm, we're going to scare the crap out of you! I talked to Blackie Lawless in W.A.S.P. and he told me that they had been noticed for their image — ha, ha. Then you would see us live - ha, ha, ha.