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Conrad ‘Cronos’ Lant, the legendary frontman, bassist and driving force behind Venom, has died at the age of 63. His death was announced by the band today, bringing an extraordinary chapter in the history of Extreme Metal to a close.
As the unmistakable voice and presence at the heart of Venom, Cronos helped create a sound and attitude whose influence stretched far beyond the band itself. Albums including Welcome To Hell and Black Metal became foundational records for generations of Thrash, Death and Black Metal musicians.
Earlier this year, Cronos was still very much looking forward, with Venom releasing their sixteenth studio album, Into Oblivion, in May.
“It is with profound sadness and broken hearts that we share the news that Conrad ‘Cronos’ Lant has passed away,” a statement from the band read.
“For more than four decades, Conrad’s voice, bass and vision were at the heart of VENOM. From the first dark rumblings of Welcome To Hell, through Black Metal, At War With Satan, Possessed and beyond, he created something that changed heavy music forever.
“VENOM never followed the rules.
“They forged their own path. And Conrad was there at the centre of it all — uncompromising, fearless and unmistakable.
“The Legions have always been an important part of VENOM. To everyone who stood with the band through the years, bought the records, came to the shows, wore the shirts, shared the music and kept the flame burning — Cronos was always grateful for your loyalty and support.”
A message from Nathan, Conrad’s son, read, “I want to thank all of the Legions for all of the support you have given my dad over the years. I know he really appreciated you all. He has laid down his soul, and his music will live on. The legend of Cronos will never die.”
“His music will never die,” the band said. “His voice will never fade. And the legacy of VENOM will live on through the music he created and through the Legions around the world who continue to carry that flame.
“Thank you, Conrad.
“Thank you, Cronos.
“Thank you for the music. Thank you for the memories.
“Our deepest love and condolences go to Nathan & Hel, friends and everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.
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IN MEMORIAM: Conrad “Cronos” Lant, The Voice That Helped Change Heavy Metal Forever
VENOM Frontman, Bassist and Creative Force Behind Some of Extreme Metal’s Most Influential Records Has Passed Away
By Metal Devastation Radio October 1, 2026
Heavy metal has lost one of its most important and unmistakable figures.
Conrad “Cronos” Lant, the legendary vocalist and bassist of VENOM, has passed away.
VENOM announced the news today in a statement to the band’s Legions around the world, describing the loss as one felt deeply throughout the VENOM family. Cronos’ son, Nathan, also shared a message thanking fans for the support they had given his father throughout the years.
“He has laid down his soul, and his music will live on. The legend of Cronos will never die.”
For generations of metal musicians and fans, those words carry enormous weight.
Because the music Cronos helped create is not going anywhere.
THE SOUND THAT CHANGED THE DIRECTION OF METAL
VENOM formed in Newcastle, England, in 1978 and eventually settled into the classic lineup of Conrad “Cronos” Lant on vocals and bass, Jeff “Mantas” Dunn on guitar and Tony “Abaddon” Bray on drums.
Together, they created a sound that pushed heavy metal toward something faster, harsher and more extreme.
Their 1981 debut album, Welcome to Hell, immediately established VENOM as something very different from the polished hard rock and heavy metal dominating much of the era.
Then came Black Metal in 1982.
The album’s title would eventually become the name of an entire genre.
VENOM’s music became a major influence on the development of black metal, while the band’s aggressive approach also helped pave the way for the rise of thrash and later extreme metal. AllMusic describes VENOM’s influence on the subsequent thrash scene and notes that Black Metal ultimately lent its name to the genre.
That is an extraordinary legacy for any band.
And Cronos was at the center of it.
WELCOME TO HELL
VENOM’s first four studio albums with the classic trio remain central to the band’s history:
Welcome to Hell — 1981 Black Metal — 1982 At War With Satan — 1984 Possessed — 1985
Those records helped establish the foundation for the band’s reputation and influence.
The music was raw and aggressive. The production was abrasive. The imagery was deliberately dark and provocative. VENOM didn’t sound like a band interested in smoothing off the rough edges.
That approach resonated with musicians who were looking for something heavier.
Cronos’ bass and unmistakable vocals became a defining part of that sound.
His voice wasn’t designed to be pretty.
It was designed to be heard.
And decades later, it still is.
A NAME THAT BECAME A GENRE
There are few moments in music history where a band’s album title becomes the name of an entire musical movement.
Black Metal was one of those moments.
The influence of VENOM’s early work spread throughout the underground metal world, particularly among musicians who would go on to develop the first waves of black metal and other forms of extreme metal.
Cronos himself later discussed the impact of VENOM on the emerging Norwegian black metal scene, including bands such as Mayhem and Burzum, and reflected on how hearing that music helped him reconsider what VENOM represented.
The influence wasn’t limited to black metal.
VENOM’s music became an important part of the lineage leading into thrash metal as well. Metal bands that followed took elements of VENOM’s speed, aggression and attitude and pushed them in their own directions.
Metallica, Slayer, Celtic Frost, Mayhem and Behemoth are among the bands and artists that have been associated with VENOM’s influence.
That chain of influence continues to this day.
CRONOS KEPT THE FIRE BURNING
VENOM’s history was complicated.
There were lineup changes, periods of separation and different incarnations of the band over the decades. But Cronos remained the central figure in the version of VENOM that continued recording and performing into the modern era.
In 2026, VENOM released Into Oblivion, the band’s sixteenth studio album.
Cronos remained heavily involved in the record, handling vocals and bass while also receiving songwriting and arrangement credits. Official album information also credits him as producer and composer on tracks from the record.
The album arrived more than four decades after Welcome to Hell.
That alone says something about the endurance of the music.
While entire musical movements rose and fell around him, Cronos continued making VENOM records.
As recently as August 2026, Louder published a feature interview with Cronos discussing his life, music and the release of Into Oblivion.
Now, only weeks later, that interview becomes part of his final chapter.
MORE THAN A VOICE
Cronos’ contribution to VENOM went beyond performing.
He was involved in the band’s songwriting and creative direction, and his work extended into the visual identity surrounding VENOM as well.
The band’s imagery became just as recognizable as its music, helping establish the dark aesthetic that would become deeply associated with extreme metal.
On Into Oblivion, Cronos is officially credited with bass, vocals, songwriting, lyrics and arrangements.
That creative involvement stretched across decades.
He wasn’t simply the person standing behind the microphone.
He was one of the people who helped define what VENOM was.
THE LEGACY OF CRONOS
It is difficult to measure the influence of a musician solely through record sales, chart positions or awards.
Sometimes the better measurement is what happens afterward.
How many bands formed because somebody heard Black Metal?
How many guitarists picked up an instrument after discovering Welcome to Hell?
How many musicians decided they wanted to make something heavier, darker and more extreme?
That’s where Cronos’ legacy becomes enormous.
VENOM helped show musicians that heavy metal didn’t have to remain within established boundaries.
It could become something uglier.
Something faster.
Something more extreme.
Something completely its own.
The generations that followed took that idea and ran with it.
Black metal.
Thrash metal.
Death metal.
Extreme metal in countless forms.
The music evolved, but the fingerprints of VENOM remained.
And at the center of those early recordings was Cronos.
THE LEGION CARRIES ON
In its announcement, VENOM thanked the Legions who supported the band through the decades.
Those fans are an important part of the story.
They bought the records.
They went to the shows.
They wore the shirts.
They passed the music to their friends.
They formed bands.
They introduced another generation to VENOM.
That’s how heavy metal survives.
Not because the musicians live forever, but because the music keeps getting passed down.
A kid discovers Black Metal decades after its release.
That kid starts a band.
Someone hears that band.
They start another band.
The chain continues.
And somewhere in that chain, there will always be VENOM.
There will always be Cronos.
THANK YOU, CRONOS
There are musicians who make great records.
There are musicians who influence their peers.
And then there are musicians whose work becomes part of the foundation upon which an entire generation of music is built.
Cronos belongs in that conversation.
He helped create the sound and identity of VENOM during one of the most important periods in heavy metal history.
He helped produce records that would influence black metal, thrash and extreme metal for decades.
And he continued carrying that legacy forward until the very end of his career.
The man is gone.
The music isn’t.
The records aren’t.
The influence isn’t.
And the Legions aren’t going anywhere.
Metal Devastation Radio extends our deepest condolences to Nathan, Hel, Cronos’ family, friends, bandmates, and the VENOM Legions around the world.
Thank you, Conrad.
Thank you, Cronos.
Thank you for the music.
Thank you for the noise.
Thank you for helping make heavy metal what it is today.
REST IN PEACE, CONRAD “CRONOS” LANT.
THE LEGEND LIVES ON.
ESSENTIAL VENOM LISTENING
Welcome to Hell — 1981 Black Metal — 1982 At War With Satan — 1984 Possessed — 1985 Calm Before the Storm — 1987 Cast in Stone — 1997 Resurrection — 2000 Metal Black — 2006 Hell — 2008 Fallen Angels — 2011 From the Very Depths — 2015 Storm the Gates — 2018 Into Oblivion — 2026
REST IN PEACE, CRONOS.
HAIL VENOM.
Venom singer/bassist Conrad Lant, better known as Cronos, has died at the age of 63.
His band confirmed his death in a statement today (Tuesday, October 1). No cause of death has been given.
On Venom’s social media, Lant’s son Nathan thanks fans for the support they gave his father during his more than four-decade career.
“I want to thank all of the Legions for all of the support you have given my dad over the years,” he writes. “I know he really appreciated you all. He has laid down his soul, and his music will live on. The legend of Cronos will never die.”
Born in London in 1963, Lant moved to Newcastle aged eight, where he joined Venom in 1978, during the burgeoning New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Inspired by the rough, DIY nature of punk rock, the trio – completed by guitarist Jeffrey ‘Mantas’ Dunn and drummer Tony ‘Abaddon’ Bray – brought a raw fury to the UK heavy metal scene, first heard on 1981’s controversial yet ultimately seminal debut album, Welcome To Hell, which UK music magazine Sounds hailed as “possibly the heaviest record ever allowed in the shops for public consumption.”
“I loved Motorhead,” Cronos said in 2019, “they were a huge inspiration, but I wanted to have the Black Sabbath satanic thing too, and Alice Cooper‘s theatricality, and punk’s aggression. I wanted us to be evil.”
Recorded in six days, Venom’s second record, Black Metal, was released in November 1982, and received a five star review in Sounds from future Classic Rock editor Geoff Barton. The album’s title track became the band’s signature song, influencing the namesake extreme metal genre, featuring such bands as Mayhem, Emperor and Darkthrone.
Lant left Venom in 1987, launching a solo career as Cronos, but returned in 1995, and fronted the reunited band on 1997’s Cast In Stone, the first Venom record in 12 years made by their original line-up.
In 1999, Lant survived an internal coup after Bray failed in a bid to fire him – “I was the guy who put this together, it was my artwork, my ideas, my songs, my vision,” the frontman later commented, “I wasn’t going to be pushed out of something I created” – and from then until his death, he steered the band through multiple personnel changes, the latest lineup being rounded out by guitarist Stuart “LaRage” Dixon and drummer Danny “Dante” Needham. Lant ultimately performed on 12 Venom albums, the most recent being this year’s Into Oblivion.
“To this day, there’s never been another Venom,” he stated proudly in 2019. “No one has come close to what we did.”
Venom’s statement did not say whether the band will continue without Lant.
Slayer/Exodus guitarist Gary Holt is among the musicians who’ve paid tribute to Lant since the news of his passing was announced.
“I’m devastated by this news,” he posted on Instagram. “One of my all time hero’s is no longer with us. The two Bonded era tours @exodusbandofficial did with @venom_band_official have and will always go down as the greatest tours we’ve ever done. Young kids touring with your biggest hero’s ? How do you top that? You can’t . This one has me sadder than you can imagine. Fucking gutted. He helped shape Exodus into what we became. I owe him a debt that cannot be repaid. Thank you brother.”
Decibel is extremely saddened to announce the death of Venom bassist/vocalist Conrad “Cronos” Lant, who passed away on October 1, 2026, at the age of 63.
As frontman of one of extreme metal’s foundational acts, Venom, Lant’s resume speaks for itself, as anyone who has heard the groundbreaking chaos of albums like Welcome to Hell, Black Metal and At War With Satan, which not only went on to inspire other young metal musicians but aid in the creation of entire metal subgenres like black metal and death metal, can attest. Though the group disbanded and reactivated multiple times in the ’90s and early aughts, by 2007 Lant carried forward with a stable Venom lineup in which he would be remain the only original member of until his death.
Decibel sends our hearts out to Lant’s family, his current and past bandmates, and all fans of extreme metal around the world.
Rest well, Cronos. May we all Die Hard in your honor.
A statement from Venom’s official Instagram profile is below:
It is with profound sadness and broken hearts that we share the news that Conrad “Cronos” Lant has passed away.
For more than four decades, Conrad’s voice, bass and vision were at the heart of VENOM.
From the first dark rumblings of Welcome to Hell, through Black Metal, At War With Satan, Possessed and beyond, he created something that changed heavy music forever.
VENOM never followed the rules.
They forged their own path.
And Conrad was there at the centre of it all — uncompromising, fearless and unmistakable.
The Legions have always been an important part of VENOM. To everyone who stood with the band through the years, bought the records, came to the shows, wore the shirts, shared the music and kept the flame burning — Cronos was always grateful for your loyalty and support.
A message from Nathan, Conrad’s son:
“I want to thank all of the Legions for all of the support you have given my dad over the years. I know he really appreciated you all. He has laid down his soul, and his music will live on. The legend of Cronos will never die.”
His music will never die.
His voice will never fade.
And the legacy of VENOM will live on through the music he created and through the Legions around the world who continue to carry that flame.
Thank you, Conrad.
Thank you, Cronos.
Thank you for the music.
Thank you for the memories.
Our deepest love and condolences go to Nathan & Hel, friends and everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.
