In League with Satan

"In League with Satan" is the first song released by the English extreme metal band Venom. It was released on 19 April 1981 as a single with the B-side "Live Like An Angel" by Neat Records and later appeared on the band's first album, Welcome to Hell.[1] The song has been cited as the first black metal song and is also often cited by critics who claim a connection between heavy metal and Satanism.

"In League with Satan"
Song by Venom
from the album Welcome to Hell
Released19 April 1981 (single)
RecordedJanuary 1981
StudioImpulse Studios in Newcastle, England
Genre
Length7:16
LabelNeat (UK)
Songwriter(s)Conrad "Cronos" Lant
Jeffrey "Mantas" Dunn
Tony "Abaddon" Bray
Producer(s)Steve Thompson and Venom

Writing and recording

"In League with Satan" was written in 1980 and was one of Venom's first original songs. An early version was recorded in October 1980 with the original singer Clive Archer. Unsatisfied with that recording, the band recorded another version of the song in January 1981 with vocals by the bass guitarist "Chronos" (real name Conrad Lant), after which he took on lead vocals full time.[2]

The final version of the song opens with a demonic voice created with the backmasking technique. The voice was created by Lant intoning "Satan, raised in hell, I'm gonna burn your soul, crush your bones, I'm gonna make you bleed, you gonna bleed for me." This is one of the earliest instances of a Satanic subliminal message in a commercially released rock song.[3]

Influence

"In League with Satan" has been widely cited as the first black metal song,[4][5] with a profound influence on later developments in thrash metal, death metal, and extreme metal.[1] It was one of the earliest rock songs to use unapologetic satanic imagery,[5] and it is often cited by critics and moralists who believe that heavy metal music has connections to Satanism.[6] However, some commentators have noticed that the song's allusions to Satan were ironic and used superficially to create an image.[7]

Personnel

References
  1. "Welcome to Hell - Venom". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  2. "The Complete History Of Venom". Official Venom Website. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  3. "In League With Satan Lyrics". Metal Kingdom. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  4. "Stevie Chick meets Venom, the legendary heavy metal group". The Guardian. 26 June 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  5. 8 July 2019, Dom Lawson. "Venom's Black Metal: From metal's black sheep to forging a new genre". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  6. Introvigne, Massimo (2016). Satanism: A Social History. Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill. p. 470. ISBN 978-90-04-28828-7.
    - Larson, Bob (1989). The Seduction of America's Youth. T. Nelson. p. 77. ISBN 9780840730343.
    - Baddeley, Gavin (1999). Lucifer Rising. Plexus. p. 125. ISBN 9780859652803.
    - Fisher, Kieran. "The Devil's Roots: Satanism in Black Metal – Heavy Blog Is Heavy". Heavy Blog is Heavy. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  7. Asbjørn Dyrendal. "Widespread "Satanism" in Black Metal and its Demons". Atmostfear Entertainment. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
    - Chilton, Martin (31 October 2020). "The Devil Has The Best Tunes: How Musicians Discovered The Dark Side". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 9 April 2021.


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