80's #12: Venom - Welcome to Hell

80's #12: Venom - Welcome to Hell

Author: Vince Guglielmi March 16, 2023 Duration: 14:13

This week's album is a huge stepping stone that bridges the gap between the NWOBHM and extreme metal -- Welcome to Hell by Venom. This record takes everything Motorhead was doing and ratchets it up in terms of sheer unapproachability. The results are quite fun.


The resurgence of death metal's aesthetic in hardcore circles is undeniable, but the music's dense history often gets lost in the trend. Death Metal Discharge is a guided excavation, moving beyond the vintage longsleeves to the vinyl itself. Host Vince Guglielmi is providing a crash course for the curious, using a specific and contentious map: the Top 40 Death Metal Albums list from the venerable British magazine Terrorizer. This podcast is a structured yet personal journey, with each episode dedicated to one of these foundational records. You'll hear Vince's raw, first-time reactions to many of these classics alongside his seasoned commentary, bridging the gap between hardcore punk's immediacy and death metal's complex brutality. It’s less a dry lecture and more like flipping through a well-worn magazine with a knowledgeable friend who isn't afraid to question canon. The goal is to build a real understanding of why these particular albums resonate, how they shaped a genre, and what they actually sound like when you strip away the mythology. For hardcore kids, punks, and total newjacks, this series offers a focused entry point into the caverns of death metal, one landmark album at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 60

Death Metal Discharge
Podcast Episodes
80's #16: Misfits - Walk Among Us [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:03
The Misfits are a band that I was always weary of checking out because their fans were on some bullshit when I was a kid. Now that I'm older and removed from it, I really love the simple brilliance of Danzig and co's bra…
80's #15: Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:25
I was excited to get into this record after really liking Priest's last record, British Steel. Screaming For Vengeance takes a bit more of a polished, hard rocking approach than the previous record and kinda left me want…
80's #14: Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:25
This week we're tackling what I believe to be one of the quinessential NWOBHM records -- Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden. The band reaches a different level on this one in terms of technical and songwriting complexity…
80's #13: Discharge - Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:33
1882 was a pivotal year for underground music, and to kick it off we have one of the most important punk records in history - Hear Nothing by Discharge. This album perfects a simple but effective formula that would go on…
80's #11: Motorhead - No Sleep Till Hammersmith [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:53
Motorhead's No Sleep Till Hammersmith has the unique distinction of being (to my knowledge) the only live record on this list. That makes it kind of hard to talk about in one sense, but also brings up some unique points…
80's #10: Iron Maiden - Killers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:35
The NWOBHM bands are starting to pick up the pace in 81. Killers by Iron Maiden sheds a lot of the classic hard rock stuffiness and meandering that bogged down their first record and goes straight for the throat with spe…
80's #9: Black Flag - Damaged [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:37
This week's album is one of the most influential records of the 80's across genres. It had an immediate impact on the hardcore scene, but also brought some ideas into the fold that were so ahead of their time, it would t…
89's #8: Motorhead - Ace of Spades [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:12
This week's episode dives into an extremely influential and important record from Motorhead -- Ace of Spades. Unlike some of their British metal contemporaries, Motorhead weren't afraid to get down and dirty with the mix…
80's #7: Judas Priest - British Steel [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:30
Today we're reviewing one of the most important and so far, to my taste, best NWOBHM albums, British Steel by Judas Priest. This delivers on the promise a lot of its contemporaries showed in 1980 by being straightfoward…
80's #6: Joy Division - Closer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:14
Joy Division's Closer is a cold, distant album that has been influential and critically acclaimed since its release. When metal music was too afraid to let their guitar tones get out of hand, albums like this were pushin…