Watch: UNLEASHED Pays Tribute To Late VENOM Frontman CRONOS With 'Countess Bathory' Cover In Athens

Swedish death metal veterans UNLEASHED paid tribute to VENOM frontman Conrad "Cronos" Lant by playing a cover version of the VENOM classic "Countess Bathory" during UNLEASHED's October 7 concert at Gagarin 205 in Athens, Greece. Fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below.

On October 2, the day after Cronos's death was announced, UNLEASHED bassist/vocalist Johnny Hedlund shared the following message via social media: "Back in the day, when I came home from the record store with the LP 'Welcome To Hell', I thought, wow!! Like hardcore punk, but Metal with some serious attitude. Then 'Black Metal' came and I still never had a chance to see them live. A few years later, a VHS copy from a show at the Hammersmith Odeon hit me like a bomb. I recall thinking, that if I ever become a musician and form a band, I wanna be a frontman just like that. Damn, the presence, the aggression, the sheer power, right in your face!!

"Thank you for everything Mr. Cronos. See you in Valhalla!"

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 collaboration between Jeff "Mantas" Dunn and Antony "Abaddon" Bray, VENOM's iconic co-founders — who have been celebrating 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).

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.

In a tribute on social media, Dunn said: "Despite the turbulent history of this band, it was at the end of the day the three of us, who started something so special and changed the direction, the movement and the history of metal as we know it.

"At times like this the thing I remember is the friendship that we had in those early days, that one for all, all for one mentality, that rebellious quality and the absolute driven urge to be something so different whether it was accepted or not."

UNLEASHED was formed in 1989 by Hedlund in Stockholm. Common lyrical themes found in the band's music include Viking culture, recollection of a pre-Christian world, and Norse folklore. A number of their songs also contain references to J.R.R. Tolkien.

UNLEASHED — along with DISMEMBER, ENTOMBED and GRAVE — is considered one of the "big four" of Swedish death metal.