– 1980/81 –
The beginning of the decade witnessed the recording debut of the band that the consensus deems to have started the whole genre, the almighty Venom. The influence of this band was perhaps more germane to the development of thrash than to later black metal itself; beginning life as a sort of sped up Motörhead clone that focused on Satan instead of crank, Venom lacked the technical proficiency of even a sloppy street punk band like Motörhead, so they traded in sheer velocity instead.
Although the band began recording as early as April 1980, their first single would come the following year with "In League With Satan" b/w "Live Like an Angel", twin mission statements purposely designed to make bands like Black Sabbath look like abject pussies by comparison.
Still, at this point Venom's music was still firmly rooted in the NWOBHM tradition, albeit in a scrappy, under-produced form that wouldn't have been possible prior to the rise of punk rock a few years before. In 1982, the band released their sophomore album and inadvertently christened a new genre: Black Metal.
