VENOM INC. Frontman Says Latest Split With Drummer ABADDON Has Turned Into 'A Bit Of A Mess'

Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan says that VENOM INC.'s split with Anthony "Abaddon" Bray has turned into "a bit of a mess."

Earlier this year, VENOM INC. revealed that it was recruiting Jeramie Kling of the Tampa-based melodic death metal band THE ABSENCE to fill in for Bray on a European tour while Abaddon stayed home to spend time with his newborn daughter. VENOM INC. has since completed several tours with Kling without making any announcements about Bray's possible return to the group.

Asked by Tinnitus Metal Radio whether Abaddon's current absence from VENOM INC. was still related to the drummer's desire to be with his family, Dolan said (hear audio below): "It's kind of become something else now. We toured the U.S., and then he was gonna get married, and then we were setting up to play Asia, and then another European tour. And then he decided he wanted to take… he was gonna have a baby, so he wanted to take March off. But at that point, we had the dates, so we could cancel them and delay them, but if we delayed them, we were due to go to America. So it was kind of, 'I'm not sure what we should be doing.' And so the management said we could use Jeramie, because he was our sound guy in America and he also plays drums, [so we thought], 'Well, then that's okay.' What we [were planning] to do is come back from Australia and New Zealand, Abaddon goes and does the baby thing, Jeramie sits in, we continue that tour, and then Abaddon comes back. But the whole thing went sideways. Abaddon went from saying, 'That's great' — with management; he didn't speak directly to me — said that was a great idea, to then we went and did it, and then he didn't like the idea. I don't know… I guess it's a personal thing. So now it's a bit of a mess. He's spending all his time being very negative about everything, and it's pulled us too far apart — too far apart — which is a shame."

VENOM INC.'s debut album, "Avé", was released in August 2017 via Nuclear Blast. Joining Bray in the recording lineup for the disc and all of the band's initial tours was fellow original VENOM member Jeff "Mantas" Dunn on guitar and Dolan on bass and vocals.

Dunn, Bray and Dolan released three albums as VENOM between 1989 and 1992 — "Prime Evil" (1989),"Temples Of Ice" (1991) and "The Waste Lands" (1992).

VENOM INC. is not to be confused with the Conrad "Cronos" Lant-fronted version of VENOM, which is continuing to tour and make albums under the VENOM moniker. Joining Cronos in that group are Rage (a.k.a. Stuart Dixon) on guitar and Danté (a.k.a. Danny Needham) on drums.

Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral