VENOM Frontman CONRAD 'CRONOS' LANT Dead At 63

Conrad "Cronos" Lant of black metal pioneers VENOM has died at the age of 63.

The vocalist/bassist's passing was confirmed in a post earlier today (Thursday, October 1) on VENOM's official social media, although no cause of death was revealed. The message reads as follows: "IN MEMORIAM — CONRAD 'CRONOS' LANT. It is with profound sadness and broken hearts that we share the news that Conrad 'Cronos' Lant has passed away.

"For more than four decades, Conrad's voice, bass and vision were at the heart of VENOM. From the first dark rumblings of 'Welcome To Hell', through 'Black Metal', 'At War With Satan', 'Possessed' and beyond, he created something that changed heavy music forever.

"VENOM never followed the rules. They forged their own path. And Conrad was there at the centre of it all — uncompromising, fearless and unmistakable.

"The Legions have always been an important part of VENOM. To everyone who stood with the band through the years, bought the records, came to the shows, wore the shirts, shared the music and kept the flame burning — Cronos was always grateful for your loyalty and support."

Nathan, Conrad's son, said: "I want to thank all of the Legions for all of the support you have given my dad over the years. I know he really appreciated you all. He has laid down his soul, and his music will live on. The legend of Cronos will never die."

VENOM's latest studio album, "Into Oblivion", came out in May via Noise/BMG.

The most recent lineup of VENOM consisted of Cronos alongside guitarist Rage (a.k.a. Stuart Dixon) and drummer Danté (a.k.a. Danny Needham).

"Into Oblivion" was VENOM's sixteenth studio album and marked the band's first new recordings since 2018's "Storm The Gates" LP.

Prior to Cronos's death, there were three different bands using variations of the VENOM name for their live shows. In addition to the new collaboration between Jeff "Mantas" Dunn and Anthony "Abaddon" Bray, VENOM's iconic co-founders — who recently announced that they would celebrate the 45th anniversary of VENOM's classic debut album, 1981's "Welcome To Hell", at various festivals in 2026 — there was the Cronos-fronted version of VENOM, in which he was the sole remaining member from the band's classic era, and there is VENOM INC., which is led by Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan, who was a member of VENOM between 1989 and 1992, appearing on the albums "Prime Evil" (1989),"Temples Of Ice" (1991) and "The Waste Lands" (1992).

In June 2024, Cronos filed a lawsuit against Abaddon and Plastic Head Music Distribution Ltd in which he accused the distributor of selling merchandise with Lant's copyrighted VENOM designs and Bray of approving the infringement through a licensing agreement. The dispute revolved around the fact that both parties were licensing and selling official VENOM merchandise featuring the contested designs.

According to Law360.com, Lant testified in court last year that he joined VENOM in late 1979 and came up with the Satanic-themed designs used in the band's logo and album covers, which included goat heads, pentagrams and inverted crosses. Bray filed a counterclaim for infringement against Lant and Lant's distributor, Razmataz.com Ltd., arguing that Bray was the real author of the works. Because Lant was able to produce numerous sketches which demonstrated his design process and Bray was unable to do the same, Bray was deemed the owner of the original logo, while Lant was found to be the creator and copyright owner of all but one of the other artistic works in dispute.

VENOM's classic lineup trio of Dunn, Lant and Bray recorded four studio LPs, "Welcome To Hell" (1981),"Black Metal" (1982),"At War With Satan" (1984) and "Possessed" (1985),and live album, "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" (1986). Often cited by bands such as METALLICA, BEHEMOTH, CELTIC FROST and MAYHEM as major influences, they are one of the most revered bands of their generation.