BMG announced on Oct. 1 that Conrad “Cronos” Lant, Venom’s founding vocalist and bassist, had died at 63. The Guardian also reported his death that day; MusicRadar stated that Oct. 1 was the date he died. BMG’s tribute described Lant as central to Venom for more than four decades, naming his voice, bass and creative vision as defining parts of the group. His career moved through early records, changing lineups, pauses and returns, with his work tied closely to the band he helped build.
A band formed in Newcastle
Lant was born in London and moved with his family to Newcastle as a child, according to the Guardian. Venom began there as Guillotine. He joined at 16, initially as a guitarist; as the lineup developed, he moved to bass and became its vocalist. Guitarist Jeff Dunn performed as Mantas, and drummer Tony Bray as Abaddon. The Guardian describes Venom as drawing on punk and pushing early British heavy metal toward a faster pace. BMG likewise identifies Lant’s voice and bass as central to the band’s sound.
The records that traveled
Venom’s first two albums, Welcome to Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982), became reference points for later heavy music. BMG says the second album gave its name to the black metal genre and names Metallica, Celtic Frost and Mayhem among artists influenced by Venom. The Guardian also describes the group’s reach among thrash bands including Slayer and Anthrax. With Mantas and Abaddon, Lant recorded At War With Satan (1984) and Possessed (1985), BMG notes, extending the classic lineup’s run. Venom reached the UK Top 75 only once, according to the Guardian, even as later musicians carried its sound into other corners of metal. The Guardian notes that Lant also co-produced Black Metal, placing him behind the album’s making as well as at its center as a vocalist and bassist.
Stagecraft and musicianship
Lant performed as Cronos, a theatrical stage identity that became part of Venom’s presentation. The Guardian describes him as a showman whose stage style helped make the band distinctive. The group’s imagery often aimed to provoke, but its musical history also rests on the work Lant did as a singer and bassist. The Guardian describes Venom as intensifying early British metal with a furious pace; BMG says its records influenced later generations. His 2019 Guardian interview added context to that sound: Lant said he wanted metal to feel raw and direct, reacting to what he saw as the increasingly polished presentation of some bands.
Work beyond the first era
MusicRadar reports that Lant left Venom in 1986 and rejoined in 1995. The Guardian says the band went on hiatus in 1988 and describes his solo period. The Guardian says he considered changing careers to forestry during the hiatus and released two solo albums in the early 1990s. In the 1990s he trained as a fitness instructor and also worked in computer engineering and graphic design, parallel careers that widened his work beyond music. Venom later paused again while Lant recovered from a climbing injury in the early 2000s. He returned to performing, and the group continued to tour, including festival appearances in summer 2026.
A long musical line
In 2004, Lant collaborated with Dave Grohl for the metal project Probot, the Guardian reports. Venom’s career continued into a fifth decade: BMG says the band’s sixteenth studio album, Into Oblivion, was released earlier in 2026 with Lant on vocals and bass. It placed his playing on a new record while the group’s early albums remained part of metal’s history. That span—from Welcome to Hell to Into Oblivion—offers a concrete measure of how long Lant’s work with Venom continued.
The Guardian reported that Lant’s son Nathan thanked the band’s fans and said his father’s music would live on. The family’s words point back to the work itself: records made with bandmates, solo releases, collaborations and performances across decades. Lant’s influence is documented in the artists and musical styles that followed Venom, while his own voice and bass remain preserved in the band’s recordings.
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