VENOM Drummer On New Material: 'I Am Really Happy With The Way Things Are Going'

Metal Hell magazine recently conducted an interview with VENOM drummer Antony "Antton" Lant (brother of VENOM frontman Conrad "Cronos" Lant). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

On the addition of "Rage" on guitar:

"We have known Rage for quite a while now; just like (when) I used to rehearse with my brother before I was in the band we used Rage to rehearse when Mykvs was in the states Rage would come along to rehearsals and we would go through the set. Rage is a great guy and a great guitarist; he plays the old songs very much like the early VENOM guitarist, (with) lots of dive bombs."

In regards to how the new VENOM material is shaping up;

"I am really happy with the way things are going. It's great to get in and blast through the tracks as a band. You hear of so many bands now writing bits and pieces and sticking them together in ProTools. I think you loose the energy and enthusiasm like that."

On what type of production he might prefer on the next album;

"We were really happy with the production on 'Metal Black'. Some people used to complain about the production on the early albums and when we recorded 'Resurrection' people said it was too produced. You can't please everybody. For 'Metal Black' we went in like bands would years ago and basically recorded the tracks. Some of my favorite albums to date are older albums like AC/DC or VAN HALEN or even KISS."

On his opinion on the current releases by HELLYEAH and MACHINE HEAD:

"It's great to see Vinnie [Paul, ex-PANTERA and current HELLYEAH drummer] playing again; he is one of, if not THE, biggest influence on my playing. I started playing drums along to Phil Rudd, Tommy Lee and Eric Carr, but Vinnie made me get heavy for sure. I play drums in another band called DEF-CON-ONE and we used to do 'Fucking Hostile' live then we started doing 'Strength Beyond Strength'. Vinnie rules and he is a really good friend. MACHINE HEAD are awesome. I think Dave McClain should have some serious coverage in the drum magazines. He is an awesome drummer. He has his own style. When you put a MACHINE HEAD album on you can tell it's them even before Robb [Flynn] starts singing; now that's rare. There are too many metal bands out now with the same guitar sound, the same drum sound and the same production. You get these free CDs in metal mags and sometimes it's hard to know who's who without checking the cover."

Read the entire interview at www.metalhellonline.com.