Cronos of Venom dies at 63

musicOct 1, 202648227

Conrad “Cronos” Lant, vocalist and bassist of black metal pioneers Venom, has died at age 63, the band confirmed on October 1. No cause of death has been given. On Venom’s social channels Lant’s son Nathan thanked supporters, writing "He has laid down his soul, and his music will live on. The legend of Cronos will never die." Born in London in 1963 and raised in Newcastle from age eight, Lant joined Venom in 1978 and helped create the band’s early records, including 1981’s Welcome to Hell and 1982’s Black Metal, whose title track helped name the extreme metal subgenre. Lant left Venom in 1987 for a solo career but returned in 1995, led the reunited original lineup on 1997’s Cast In Stone, survived an internal attempt to remove him in 1999, and ultimately performed on 12 Venom albums, most recently 2026’s Into Oblivion. At the time of his death the band’s lineup included guitarist Stuart “LaRage” Dixon and drummer Danny “Dante” Needham, and Venom’s statement did not say whether the group will continue. Slayer and Exodus guitarist Gary Holt paid tribute, calling Lant one of his all time heroes and saying he was devastated by the news.

maffew going to wXw Grand Prix

@maffewgregg.bsky.social

www.loudersound.com/news/venom-f... Fucking hell, two influential long-haired Geordies in one week? R.I.P. Cronos

932h ago

Quarex3

Never thought about the "presenting as the most evil person alive while being hilarious and goofy" shared between those two perhaps having a regional origin. Or the "showing everyone else how it is done while being like 'aw, it's nothing'" about it

TommyGirard2

Someone keep an eye on Ginger Wildheart!

Jess1

Newcastle having a time of it this week...RIP.

winnerwood.bsky.social1

"Long-haired" at least Shearer's safe.

Stereogum

@stereogum.com

Conrad "Cronos" Lant, longtime frontman of underground metal pioneers Venom, has passed away at 63

212h ago

This Day in Metal

@thisdayinmetal.bsky.social

🖤 RIP CRONOS 🖤 The metal world is mourning the loss of Conrad “Cronos” Lant, legendary vocalist and bassist of Venom, who has died at the age of 63. Thank you, Cronos, for the music, the memories and the darkness. REST IN PEACE, CONRAD “CRONOS” LANT 🖤 www.thisdayinmetal.com/venom-frontm...

142h ago

SangrePaul

@sauzapaul.bsky.social

Lay down your soul to the God's Rock 'n Roll RIP

151h ago

John Doran

@jahduran.bsky.social

Rest well Cronos – true extreme music pioneer, he was a smart, engaging geezer and great story teller to boot. RIP Conrad Lant. (I've put a couple of links in the usual place.)

Conrad Lant, aka Cronos of Venom, live in 2013, raising the metal horns.

172h ago

Quoting this

JR Moores7

Godspeed, Cronos. (Satanspeed, Cronos?) Your contribution will not be forgotten. 🤘⚡️🧙‍♂️

Leigh Jones2

One of the proudest things on my CV from my former life is working on a Venom release. A terrible week for Geordies who were more famous out of Newcastle than in the Toon.

Rob Tyers2

My favourite story is when my friend was trying to sell a moderately rare bass guitar on Facebook, Cronos posted a comment saying it was shite RIP

Andrew O'Neill

@andrewoneillcomedy.bsky.social

RIP CRONOS! Here's footage from the long-lost pilot of 'Venom Babies'. youtu.be/WJt1V1qFSrQ

82h ago

Brent Lockman

@insomniainc.bsky.social

Can this year just fucking stop please? #metal #metalsky www.decibelmagazine.com/2026/10/01/v...

71h ago

⸸ Andrea Celeste ⸸

@andreaceleste.meangirls.online

venom headlined one night at the hole in the sky festival 2010. it was cronos without mantas & abaddon. everyone were skeptical. other bands included autopsy, suffocation, tryptikon and obituary. we thought venom would be a joke but they proved us wrong and delivered the best show of the festival

92h ago

Farm Goth 🇵🇸

@poemsandfungus.bsky.social

Terrible news. I love Venom so much. RIP Cronos, you were one of a kind.

81h ago

revolvermag.bsky.social

@revolvermag.bsky.social

CRONOS, VENOM founder and extreme music icon, dead at 63 revolvermag.com/music/cronos...

32h ago

Memoirs of a Failed Fabric Softener Bear

@scottcrawford.org

Goddamn it. Venom have been The One That Got Away for a pretty long time for me, the band I most wanted to see live but couldn't, and that's gonna stick. They put out an album called Into Oblivion this year that I love and recommend. Love and strength to Cronos' family, friends and other fans.

41h ago

Operation: Mikecrime

@operationmikecrime.bsky.social

RIP Cronos, there are too many Venom albums but those first few are glorious filth. Wouldn’t have a whole world of punk and metal without them.

32h ago

Horns Up

@hornsupfr.bsky.social

Venom vient d'annoncer le décès de son chanteur-bassiste iconique Conrad "Cronos" Lant. Une figure incontestable du metal extrême malgré les bisbilles entre les membres originels du groupe. Ce soir, on va écouter fort "Black Metal" et "Welcome to Hell", pour leur influence immense sur le genre. 🤘🖤