The volatile history of black metal pioneers Venom has taken another turn, with guitarist Jeff “Mantas” Dunn confirming that frontman Conrad “Cronos” Lant was formally invited to participate in the band’s upcoming anniversary celebrations—and bluntly declined.
As previously reported, Mantas and original drummer Anthony “Abaddon” Bray are set to commemorate the 45th anniversary of their landmark 1981 debut, Welcome To Hell, with a series of festival appearances in 2026, including a showcase at Germany’s Keep It True festival. While the duo prepares to revisit the music that laid the blueprint for extreme metal, Mantas revealed in a new interview with MetalKaoz that an olive branch was extended to their estranged bandmate.
“I’ll tell you right now that for 2026, the 45th anniversary of Welcome To Hell, Cronos has been invited,” Mantas stated. “He was invited by me. He was invited by the lawyers in the [recent] court case [involving Cronos and Abaddon]. His answer was, ‘It’s not worth my time.’ That was his answer.”
The rejection comes amidst a backdrop of intense legal and personal acrimony. In 2024, Cronos launched a lawsuit against Abaddon and Plastic Head Music Distribution Ltd, alleging that unauthorized merchandise featuring his copyrighted designs was being sold with Bray‘s approval.
Given this legal warfare, Mantas admitted that he isn’t exactly mourning Cronos‘s absence. He drew a sharp comparison between the fans’ desire for a reunion and the reality of navigating a deeply damaged interpersonal dynamic.
“What I say to people is this. Fair enough, everybody wants to see their favorite members back together. We know that. ‘And, oh, yeah, just travel separate. Just go in separate hotels.’ We’ve done all that,” Mantas explained. “Think of the most toxic relationship you’ve ever been involved in, how it made you feel. At your age now, invite it back into your life.”
Despite the current hostility, Mantas took time to reflect on the band’s formative years, describing a time when Venom operated as a unified force before business interests drove a wedge between them.
“We were three young guys in a band, happy to be in a band and jamming. And that was it,” he recalled. “And to us, at that particular point, it didn’t matter who wrote the songs or who did the drawings or whatever. It was one for all and all for one. And that’s why everything went the three ways for the first two albums.”
He continued, noting how the industry eventually eroded that camaraderie: “But then, when you get a bit wise at the business and everything like that, it’s, like, you think, ‘Wow. I wrote all that stuff and everybody else is still getting a share.’ I don’t mind that. That’s the songs. That is the songs. And at the end of the day, you put those songs out into the world and you are giving them to the people.”
Mantas emphasized that the enduring power of Venom lies in the music rather than the image, arguing that a band’s legacy is defined by its songs, not its merchandise.
“Now, it doesn’t matter what your logo looks like. It doesn’t matter how good your album cover is. It doesn’t matter what your image is, how much leather you are wearing or what guitar you are playing, if someone puts that album on and doesn’t like the songs, you are done. A band isn’t about logos and t-shirts and stuff like that — it’s about music.”
While the reunion will proceed without the classic lineup intact, Mantas did acknowledge Cronos‘s role in the band’s history, praising his former bandmate’s lyrical abilities despite their differences.
“Now, I’m not saying that Cronos didn’t write anything. He wrote some phenomenal lyrics, and I’ve said this. The lyrics to ‘Manitou’, I think they are stunning. The lyrics to ‘Nightmare’ — amazing. We came up with some great songs together in the later stages, where we just bounced the ideas, and some of it just happened. We didn’t have to look for it.”
However, regarding the origins of their debut, Mantas claimed primary authorship: “And Welcome To Hell is my first attempt at writing songs. I hadn’t written anything before that — not a thing.”
When pressed on whether he and Abaddon would record new material under the Venom banner, Mantas remained hesitant, suggesting the focus for 2026 remains strictly on celebrating the past.
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