Venom is an English extreme metal band formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1978. Venom's first two albums, Welcome to Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982), are considered important influences on thrash metal and extreme metal in general towards the end of the new wave of British heavy metal. Their second album proved so influential that its title was used as the name of the black metal genre; As a result, Venom were part of the genre's early wave, along with Mercyful Fate and Bathory. (Source: Wikipedia.de)