VENOM frontman CONRAD “CRONOS” LANT dead at 63

VENOM frontman CONRAD "CRONOS" LANT dead at 63

01-10-2026

VENOM reports the passing of their frontman Conrad “CRONOS” Lant. CRONOS fronted the band on their first albums, including ‘Welcome To Hell’, ‘Black Metal’, and ‘At War With Satan’. He was the sole remaining member from the original recording in his incarnation of VENOM, which later lead to former members forming VENOM INC and now a third live band with MANTAS and ABADDON is active. The three members have publicly fought out their disputes for decades, yet MANTAS have made several failed attempts to get the original trio back together.

IN MEMORIAM — CONRAD “CRONOS” LANT

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.

REST IN PEACE, CONRAD

THE LEGEND LIVES ON

VENOM

CRONOS’ VENOM is known for only playing a small number of shows a year. His former band mates Antony “Abaddon” Bray and Jeff “Mantas” Dunn have announced a series of celebratory shows with former MORBID ANGEL and current I AM MORBID and VLTIMAS frontman David Vincent at the front. Dunn has previously forfeited his position in VENOM INC because of the heavy touring schedule, after 2 heart attacks. VENOM INC in turn seemingly has no dfficulties playing the US and just returned from a 22 dates US tour with aforementioned FORBIDDEN. On the tour, VENOM INC invited guest musicians from FORBIDDEN, MACHINE HEAD, AUTOPSY, BODY COUNT and GOATWHORE on stage on selected dates. That concept was also excecuted by Bray and Dunn at this year’s Keep It True festivals, where other bands on the bill supplied guest singers.

“Into Oblivion” is CRONOS’ VENOM‘s sixteenth studio album and features the long-standing lineup of Conrad “Cronos” Lant on bass/vocals, Rage (a.k.a. Stuart Dixon) on guitar and Danté (a.k.a. Danny Needham) on drums,. It marks VENOM‘s first new recordings since 2018’s “Storm The Gates” LP.

Watch the previously released “Lay Down Your Souls“and “Kicked Outta Hell”, “Lay Down Your Soul” below.

Cronos stated: “I think it’s healthy to recognize things from back in the day and bring them into a new setting that gives it a whole fresh approach. The fans are going to go mental for it!”

“Into Oblivion” is VENOM‘s sixteenth studio album and features the long-standing lineup of Conrad “Cronos” Lant on bass/vocals, Rage (a.k.a. Stuart Dixon) on guitar and Danté (a.k.a. Danny Needham) on drums, and marks VENOM‘s first new recordings since 2018’s “Storm The Gates” LP.

The album has been in the works for some years now, but a number of factors held back its completion until now; the COVID pandemic, recording setbacks and the hunger to nail it to perfection, but in the words of Cronos: “This album has really pushed the boundaries, but if you want to make a killer album, you pay for it in blood, sweat and tears.”

Into Oblivion was be released on May 1st 2026 via Noise/BMG and is available in these formats:

– Double, gatefold smoke vinyl
– Double, gatefold clear, black & red splatter vinyl (Limited Edition)
– CD digisleeve with 16-page booklet
– Digital

“Into Oblivion” track listing:
01. Into Oblivion
02. Lay Down Your Soul
03. Nevermore
04. Man & Beast
05. Death The Leveller
06. As Above So Below
07. Kicked Outta Hell
08. Legend
09. Live Loud
10. Metal Bloody Metal
11. Dogs Of War
12. Deathwitch
13. Unholy Mother

Preorders of both vinyl and CD will come with a limited photo card, signed by Cronos, Dante and Rage only from the Noise Records store, while stocks last!

Pre-order here https://venomslegions.lnk.to/intooblivionPR

There are now three different bands using variations of the VENOM name for their live shows. In addition to the new collaboration between Jeff “Mantas” Dunn and Anthony “Abaddon” Bray, VENOM‘s iconic co-founders — who recently announced that they will celebrate the 45th anniversary of VENOM‘s classic debut album, 1981’s “Welcome To Hell”, at various festivals in 2026, including Germany’s Keep It True — there is the Cronos-fronted version of VENOM, in which he is the sole remaining member from the band’s classic era, and there is VENOM INC., which is led by Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan, who was a member of VENOM between 1989 and 1992, appearing on the albums “Prime Evil” (1989),“Temples Of Ice” (1991) and “The Waste Lands” (1992).

In June 2024, Cronos filed a lawsuit against Abaddon and Plastic Head Music Distribution Ltd in which he accused the distributor of selling merchandise with Lant‘s copyrighted VENOM designs and Bray of approving the infringement through a licensing agreement. The dispute revolved around the fact that both parties were licensing and selling official VENOM merchandise featuring the contested designs.

According to Law360.com, Lant testified in court last year that he joined VENOM in late 1979 and came up with the Satanic-themed designs used in the band’s logo and album covers, which included goat heads, pentagrams and inverted crosses. Bray filed a counterclaim for infringement against Lant and Lant‘s distributor, Razmataz.com Ltd., arguing that Bray was the real author of the works. Because Lant was able to produce numerous sketches which demonstrated his design process and Bray was unable to do the same, Bray was deemed the owner of the original logo (Based on a variety of logos made by renowned artist Roger Dean), while Lant was found to be the creator and copyright owner of all but one of the other artistic works in dispute.

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