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After the Cronos-led version of Venom failed to capture the spirit of the original band on From the Very Depths, I turned my hopes to the Mantas/Abaddon-helmed Venom, Inc. and their debut Avé. Sadly, it is no more a return to the roots of Venom than From the Very Depths. Avé is actually pretty similar to ...Depths with Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan barking the lyrics in a proto-Death growl and some bass-heavy compositions that bear little resemblance to "Black Metal" or "At War with Satan." Don't get me wrong, it is decent Death/Thrash but it sounds like most of the other modern stuff around today from the likes of Venom, Testament, Exodus and others. Mantas still rips off a few cool solos and the overall feel is one of crushing heaviness but I miss the wild chaos and tongue-in-cheek nature of those early Venom albums. When Venom, Inc. crank up the speed on tracks like "Metal We Bleed" and "Black N Roll" you can start to hear echoes of how good the past was but then everything slows back down again and is so fucking serious.

If you like modern Thrash with a Death bent, by all means grab Avé. Just remember it isn't Venom any more than Venom is these days.