Conrad 'Cronos' Lant, bassist and frontman of heavy metal band Venom, dies at 63

Band announcement and background

British heavy metal band Venom announced the death of their longtime frontman and bassist Conrad Thomas Lant, known under the stage name Cronos, on 1 October 2026. Lant died at the age of 63, and the group did not state a cause of death in their public notice. Born in London on 15 January 1963, Lant moved with his family to Newcastle upon Tyne at age seven. Growing up in the industrial north of England during the 1970s, he developed an affinity for hard rock acts including Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Motörhead, and Judas Priest, alongside early punk bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Damned. Music ran in his family, as one of his brothers played drums for Prefab Sprout and another later drummed for Venom in the 2000s.

For more than four decades, Conrad's voice, bass and vision were at the heart of Venom. He created something that changed heavy music for ever. Venom never followed the rules. They forged their own path. And Conrad was there at the centre of it all - uncompromising, fearless and unmistakable.

Formation and early recordings

Lant began his association with the band in 1978 at age 16, joining a group called Guillotine that had been founded by guitarist Jeffrey Dunn, known as Mantas. Initially playing guitar before switching to bass, Lant took over lead vocal duties following the departure of original singer Clive Archer. The lineup solidified with Lant, Dunn, and drummer Anthony Bray, known as Abaddon, adopting the name Venom. In 1981, the trio released their debut studio album, Welcome to Hell, which included the single In League with Satan, featuring reversed speech and horror-inspired lyrics. British music magazine Sounds described the debut as perhaps the heaviest record ever put into shops for the public.

Defining the subgenre

Venom followed their debut with the 1982 album Black Metal, a title that subsequently gave its name to the extreme metal subgenre that spread across Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. The band combined the fast tempos of punk with occult imagery and aggressive guitar distortion, directly influencing the development of both black metal and thrash metal. While the band only entered the UK Top 75 album charts on one occasion, their sound departed sharply from mainstream rock trends of the era. Lant continued to lead the group across subsequent releases, including At War with Satan in 1984 and Possessed in 1985. In a 2019 interview with The Guardian, Lant explained his desire to restore raw aggression to the style rather than following polished trends.

I had that snot and piss and shit element, which I wanted to put back into metal. I saw more and more bands shoving socks down their pants and putting lipstick on, and I just was disgusted by that, to tell you the truth. Fucking hell, if heavy metal was anything it had to be raw and dangerous and in your face.

Tributes from family and supporters

Following the public announcement, tributes were shared across social media alongside condolences for Lant's family, including his son Nathan and his partner Hel. Nathan Lant released a statement addressing the band's international community of supporters, who are traditionally referred to by the group as the Legions. He thanked listeners for their long-standing dedication to his father's work.

I want to thank all the Legions for the support you provided to my father over all these years. I know that he truly appreciated you all. He left his soul behind and his music will live forever. The legend of Cronos will never die.