Conrad “Cronos” Lant, the unmistakable voice and bassist behind pioneering British metal band Venom, has died at the age of 63.
Venom announced Lant’s death on October 1, bringing an end to a career that stretched across more than four decades and helped establish the blueprint for some of heavy music’s most extreme forms. A cause of death was not announced.
Lant joined Venom in 1979, initially playing guitar before moving to bass and taking over lead vocal duties. Alongside guitarist Jeff “Mantas” Dunn and drummer Tony “Abaddon” Bray, Cronos became part of a trio whose sound was considerably more abrasive than much of the heavy metal emerging from Britain at the time.
Venom’s 1981 debut, Welcome to Hell, introduced the band’s collision of speed, distortion, theatrical darkness and deliberately confrontational imagery. The following year brought Black Metal, an album whose impact extended well beyond the record itself. Its title eventually became the name of an entire metal subgenre.
The band continued its early run with At War With Satan in 1984 and Possessed in 1985, further establishing a style that would influence generations of musicians across thrash, death and black metal.
Venom never needed mainstream domination to leave a sizable footprint. The band’s raw approach helped provide inspiration for musicians who pushed heavy metal into increasingly aggressive territory during the 1980s and beyond. Metallica, Celtic Frost and Mayhem are among the acts connected to the musical trail Venom helped blaze.
The band experienced lineup changes, breakups and reunions over the decades, but Cronos remained its defining presence. By 2007, he was the sole original member of a more stable incarnation of Venom and continued carrying the band’s name and music forward.
That work continued until shortly before his death. Earlier in 2026, Venom released Into Oblivion, its 16th studio album, with Cronos once again handling vocals and bass.
Following his death, Lant’s son Nathan thanked Venom’s devoted followers, known collectively as the Legions, for the support they had shown his father throughout his career. Venom also paid tribute to the musician whose voice, bass playing and creative direction had been central to the group for decades.
For a musician who built his reputation by pushing heavy metal beyond its established boundaries, Cronos leaves behind more than a catalog of records. The sound Venom helped unleash became part of the foundation for entire branches of extreme metal.
More than four decades after Welcome to Hell first arrived, that influence remains loud.
