VENOM paid tribute to Ozzy Osbourne by playing a medley of BLACK SABBATH‘s “Children Of The Grave” and “Symptom Of The Universe” on Saturday, August 9 at the Hellsinki Metal Festival at Nordis in Helsinki, Finland. Fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below.
A few years ago, VENOM frontman Conrad “Cronos” Lant told Metal Hammer magazine that BLACK SABBATH was one of the bands which got him into heavy music. “In the late ’60s, early ’70s, it was LED ZEPPELIN, DEEP PURPLE and BLACK SABBATH,” he said. “Those early SABBATH albums really did something to me.”
Cronos also said that SABBATH was an early inspiration for his role as the frontman of VENOM.
“I always wanted to carry the Ozzy thing to the nth degree,” he explained. “I was always reading up on Satanism and demonology and witchcraft. I went out with a girl who was in a witch coven and that sparked something in me. I loved SABBATH, but I realized that they’d only touched the tip of the iceberg. This could go so far. Ozzy was singing about being chased by the Devil. I thought: I’ll be the Devil!”
Cronos elaborated on his mindset when approaching the VENOM gig during a separate interview with Guitar World. He said: “I used to listen to SABBATH, and Ozzy would be going off about all the fuckin’ witches or elves. And then all of a sudden he would cry, ‘Oh, God, help me!’ And I would think, Oh no! You’re supposed to be the evil bastard. Why are you asking God for help? So I decided I would be the evil bastard. But the music had to be evil, too. So, while all these other groups would get to their lead breaks and play these pretty little leads, I wanted to have divebomb solos and guitars crashing against amplifiers and all this madness.
“Since day one, we said, ‘We are horror movies to music,’ Cronos added. “If BLACK SABBATH were ‘Frankenstein’, VENOM are the ‘Evil Dead’.”
Ozzy died on July 22 of a heart attack, his death certificate revealed. The certificate filed in London also said Osbourne suffered from coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s disease.
A private funeral service for Ozzy was held on July 31 on the 250-acre grounds of the house the legendary BLACK SABBATH singer and his wife bought in 1993 in Buckinghamshire, England. Only 110 of the singer’s friends and family members attended the service, including his SABBATH bandmates, Robert Trujillo (METALLICA),Rob Zombie, Zakk Wylde, Marilyn Manson and Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT).
The day before the private funeral, thousands of fans gathered in the streets of Birmingham to pay tribute to Ozzy. His wife and manager Sharon, along with their children Aimée, Kelly and Jack, joined mourners for the emotional tribute.
