Venom and former bandmates pay tribute to frontman Cronos

Venom and former bandmates paid tribute to Conrad ‘Cronos’ Lant, the Newcastle metal band's frontman and bassist, in statements reported on 2 October 2026 following his death at 63. The band described his voice, bass and vision as central to Venom, whose 1982 album Black Metal gave a genre its name. The cause of death has not been disclosed.

The band's tribute called Lant ‘uncompromising, fearless and unmistakable’. That description, reported by the BBC and The Guardian, adds the group's own account of his role to earlier reports of his death. NewsJaws' earlier report covered his death and career; these subsequent tributes show how his family and fellow musicians have remembered him.

What Venom and Lant's son said

In its statement, Venom traced Lant's contribution from the band's early recordings through later work. It said his voice, bass and vision had been at the heart of the group for more than four decades. The words are the band's tribute to a founding member, rather than an account of the circumstances of his death; the reports cited here give no cause.

Lant's son Nathan thanked the band's fans for supporting his father over the years. ‘I know he really appreciated you all,’ he said in the statement reproduced by Arrow Lords of Metal and reported by the BBC. He added that his father's music would live on. The message places the listeners who followed Venom across decades alongside the musicians paying tribute.

Jeff Dunn recalls Venom's original lineup

Dunn also recalled friendship, shared humour and a determination to do something different in Venom's early days. According to the tribute published by Arrow Lords of Metal, he and Bray had learned the news before the public announcement but waited in accordance with the family's wishes. His account offers a personal perspective on the original lineup without resolving the band's later disputes.

Arrow Lords of Metal reports that Tony ‘Demolition Man’ Dolan, who later sang and played bass in Venom, also posted a remembrance praising Lant's creativity and recalling their early friendship. The site's account does not reproduce Dolan's full remarks, so the detail available from that tribute is limited. Together, the reported statements reach beyond the lineup that made Venom's first records.

How Cronos shaped Venom's influence

Venom emerged from Newcastle in the late 1970s. According to The Guardian, Lant joined the band that became Venom at 16, first playing guitar, then bass, before taking over vocals. With Dunn and Bray, he formed the lineup behind the 1981 debut Welcome to Hell and the 1982 follow-up Black Metal. Those records established the fast, raw sound and dark imagery associated with the group.

Black Metal also supplied the name for a later metal subgenre, according to The Guardian. The paper describes Venom's music as drawing on punk's pace and aggression while pushing the sound and theatrical imagery of British heavy metal. The BBC reports that rock journalist Simon Rushworth credited Lant with bringing much of the early artwork and black metal image to the band, as well as shaping its music.

The group's reach extended to the thrash bands that followed. The Guardian identifies Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax among acts influenced by Venom, and quotes Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian calling Welcome to Hell ‘a new kind of insanity’. Rushworth likewise told BBC Newcastle that those bands cited Venom. Those assessments help explain why tributes to Lant extend beyond his former bandmates and the Newcastle scene.

Venom continued recording after changes in lineup, and The Guardian reports that Lant was still performing with the band at festivals in summer 2026. Its latest album, Into Oblivion, was released in May with Lant on vocals and bass. The cited reports do not establish plans for a memorial or the band's future activity. For now, the public record is the music and the statements from those who worked with him.