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# Venom Founder Conrad 'Cronos' Lant Dies at 63
- URL: https://www.southboundsignal.com/venom-founder-conrad-cronos-lant-dies-at-63/
- Published: 2026-10-01T18:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T03:31:32.000Z
- Description: Venom founder, singer, and bassist Conrad "Cronos" Lant, whose confrontational sound helped shape black and thrash metal, has died at 63.
- Author: Southbound Signal Staff
- Tags: News, Metal

**Conrad "Cronos" Lant**, the founding vocalist and bassist of influential British metal band **Venom**, died Thursday, Oct. 1\. He was 63.

**Venom** announced **Lant's** death through the band’s official social media accounts. A cause of death was not disclosed.

"For more than four decades, **Conrad's** voice, bass and vision were at the heart of **Venom**," the band wrote, remembering him as "uncompromising, fearless and unmistakable."

Born in London in 1963 and raised in Newcastle, **Lant** joined the group that would become **Venom** while still a teenager. He initially played guitar before moving to bass and assuming lead-vocal duties in 1980\. Alongside guitarist **Jeffrey "Mantas" Dunn** and drummer **Anthony "Abaddon" Bray**, **Cronos** formed the classic lineup responsible for some of extreme metal's most important early recordings.

**Venom** released their debut album, *Welcome to Hell*, in 1981, followed one year later by *Black Metal*. The latter record gave an emerging subgenre its name, while the band's abrasive production, breakneck pace and occult imagery influenced generations of musicians across black metal, thrash, and death metal. **Metallica**, **Slayer**, and **Anthrax** were among the bands that drew inspiration from **Venom's** raw and confrontational approach.

The classic lineup continued with *At War with Satan* in 1984 and *Possessed* in 1985\. **Lant** later left **Venom** and launched the solo project **Cronos**, releasing two albums during the early 1990s before returning to **Venom** in 1995\. He remained the band's central figure through numerous lineup changes and continued recording and touring with guitarist **Rage** and drummer **Danté**.

Outside **Venom**, **Lant** contributed vocals and bass to "Centuries of Sin" for **Dave Grohl's Probot** project in 2004\. **Venom** remained active through the summer of 2026 and released its 16th studio album, *Into Oblivion*, earlier this year.

**Lant's** son, Nathan, thanked **Venom's** devoted fanbase, known as the Legions, for supporting his father throughout his career.

"He has laid down his soul, and his music will live on," Nathan wrote. "The legend of **Cronos** will never die."