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Those of you who are regular visitors to greeklish.org have probably noticed that these days I don’t post articles as frequently as I have in years past. This is certainly not for lack of interest or because things are boring at our end. In fact, things have been pretty busy here, as we have been hard at work launching our new project, Erythrós Press and Media.
If you woke up this morning asking yourself, "Does Mike still think CM Punk is awesome?" then I am here to tell you that the answer is a resounding "YES!"
On the January 19 edition of Monday Night Raw, CM Punk beat William Regal to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship. The match was not as thrilling as Punk's September 2007 victory over John Morrison for the ECW title, but there were some pretty amazing moments, including the scary sight of Punk landing almost head-first after a "counter" by Regal that looked kind of like a botched Dragon Suplex. The sight of Punk's head hitting the mat was reminiscent of the time when Chris Benoit accidentally broke Sabu's neck during a match back in the glory days of the original ECW. Punk's finishing move, known as "Go To Sleep" or "GTS," is still my favorite finishing move in pro wrestling and it was a terrific end to the match with Regal.
Punk's win has been the subject of some debate over the question of whether or not he has actually made wrestling history with the quickest "Triple Crown" victory in WWE history. But irrespective of which side you favor in that particular debate, one thing that's clear is that this guy is making his mark in the industry. CM Punk is the future of professional wrestling.
A few years ago, the band Slayer released a career retrospective box set called Soundtrack to the Apocalypse. I kind of lost interest in Slayer a short time after I started college many years ago but I still remember seeing the box set in record stores right after it was released. I was intrigued by the rather lofty title of the collection, but not enough to actually spend a crapload of money to buy it at the retail price (After reading the Amazon.com reviews for it, I think I made the right decision). Anyway,a few months ago, I was picking up our yard the morning after the remnants of Hurricane Ike had blown through Ohio. I had just purchased Venom's most recent album Hell on CD a day earlier, literally hours before the windstorm hit. As I cranked the volume on my portable CD player, I looked the dark sky above and all of the destruction around me and I thought, "If any there was ever a band that could write a soundtrack to the apocalypse, it’s got to be Venom." It's the freakin' truth.
Over the last few years, I have acknowledged my admittedly strange affection for Venom a number of times on greeklish.org. I've also written a bit on my penchant for mixtapes now and again. But after over two decades as a Venom fan and the creation dozens upon dozens of eclectic mixtapes and CD compilations, it is almost unbelievable that I have never even tried to compile an Ultimate Venom collection. Until now, that is. Indeed, I have finally created the true "soundtrack to the apocalypse."
I tried to make Ultimate Venom a single-disc compilation, but there is just no way to contain the awesomeness of this band, so I ended up with a 2 CD set at the end of it all. I have pretty much every major Venom album at my disposal, including the Tony Dolan stuff, but I limited my selections for Ultimate Venom to the Cronos-fronted albums because it's his voice and lyrics that have made Venom a legendary force in heavy metal. In addition to all of the studio albums, I also have the Venom box set MMV (one of my favorite Christmas gifts ever!) as well as a bunch of live CDs and videotapes. As much as I love the live performances, I pretty much stuck to the studio albums for this compilation because the production quality on the live stuff is somewhat less than stellar.
Before spelling out my track listing for disc one of Ultimate Venom, I have one last caveat for folks that are not really hip to Venom or to heavy metal in general: Venom is an act. It's like watching a scary horror movie or hearing a dirty joke. It's just not the kind of thing that anyone should take too seriously. The band members themselves have acknowledged this time and time again in their self-deprecating jokes about being "the worst band in the world" and their attempts at "killing music." Now if you’re easily shocked or offended, then Venom isn't the band for you. But if you don't mind being a just a little uncomfortable now and again and you're up for a good creep-fest, by all means, check ‘em out.
Hail Venom! Ultimate Venom, Disc One: Life Death, Immortality
Cronos, still rocking hard after 30 years!
I went all-out on this compilation, coming up with some special artwork for the CD labels (more on that in the track listing for Disc Two) and giving each CD in the set its own title. Disc One is called Life, Death, Immortality after a line in the lyrics of "Burstin' Out": Hell has granted me three wishes/Life, death, immortality. The line seems to be drawn from the full title of Edward Young's 18th century Christian apologetic, Night Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality. I have a small cache of antiquarian volumes of Night Thoughts. I started collecting them after I read a story about Robespierre's love for the work. He was supposedly so taken with Night Thoughts that he slept with a copy of the book under his pillow during the French Revolution.
Track listing
1. Intro 2. Bloodlust from the 1997 album Cast In Stone (Ltd. Edition Bonus CD) 1996 was a great year for me. Thomai and I got married, which was the best thing that happened that year (of course). '96 was also a year in which there was a kind of "reunion fever" going on in the music world. The biggest reunion of them all was the Kiss "Alive/Worldwide" Tour, which featured a return to glory (and makeup) for all four original band members. It was a huge deal for sure and it certainly lived up to its hype, although it's too bad that the band couldn't stick it out and stay together indefinitely. Around the same time of the much-anticipated Kiss reunion, Venom announced its own reunion of the vintage lineup, featuring the complete power trio of Cronos, Mantas and Abbadon. I think I first found out about the reunion when I saw the cover of a UK metal magazine called Terrorizer. The news was almost every bit as big as the Kiss reunion to me.
Cast In Stone was the only post-reunion studio album featuring the original lineup. In addition to a powerful collection of new tracks, the first issue of the CD included a bonus disc full of new versions of Venom classics. All too often, bands fall short when they try to "update" their best work for re-release, but the bonus disc for Cast in Stone is so fierce and so tremendous that I think it's safe to say that Venom really outdid itself with the new versions. After decades of listening to heavy metal, I honestly consider the "Intro" track from the bonus disc to be the greatest heavy metal intro track ever. Slayer's introduction to Hell Awaits is a close second, but the magnitude and complexity of the Venom track makes it so much better. There is so much stuff going on in the track, from the air-raid sirens to the haunting chants, rolling thunder and mysterious voices...It's the perfect crescendo that concludes with the demonic intro: "Ladies and Gentlemen! From the very depths of Hell...VENOM!" What a great way to start an album!
From the "Intro" track, Venom slams into "Bloodlust," which originally appeared on the Black Metal album. It's a savage, driving track that was always one of my favorites. I know Venom used to end their live sets with this song, but I always thought it would be a great way to kick off a show.
3. In League With Satan 4. Welcome To Hell from the 1981 album Welcome To Hell I think the first time I ever heard "In League with Satan," I was listening to the compilation album The Singles: 80-86. I was totally freaked out by the drums that start out the track because they sounded to bizarre...almost unearthly in a way. It was kind of like they're being played backwards, but they weren't being played backwards at all. Really difficult to explain. The song itself reminds me of the 1992 film Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which was something of a mainstream, goth-meets-gore creepshow. "Welcome to Hell" is just a straight-out great Venom track that sounds something like Black-Sabbath-influenced punk rock.
5. Black Metal 6. Countess Bathory from the 1981 album Black Metal Black Metal was the first full-length venom album I ever bought. I think that was back in 1989 or so. That metallic scraping, static-like noise at the beginning of the track really makes the song stand out to me. I always kind of figured that is the sound you would hear if you were actually going to Hell or something like that. "Countess Bathory" was the second Venom song I ever heard. The first time I heard the song was when I was watching the Ultimate Revenge: Combat Tour Live home video. The clip on that compilation was from Venom's Seventh Date of Hell concert video. "Countess Bathory" has one of simplest Mantas solos ever. I'm not sure how many distinct notes are played in the solo, but I am guessing it's less than 10. The underlying riff throughout the song is probably one of my favorite metal riffs of all time.
Venom's 1995
Album Possessed
7. Satanachist from the 1985 album Possessed 8. Nightmare (12" Mix) from the 1985 album Possessed (bonus track from UK reissue) In the liner notes to Dave Grohl's 2004 Probot album, he said this about Venom: "Few bands have ever sounded truly haunted." I bet Dave was thinking about the intro to "Satanachist" when he wrote that. I first heard both of these songs on the Alive in '85 home video. Buying that video is a great memory for me. This was way back in the days before Internet shopping and I had to place a special order through a local video store. The day I went to pick it up, the clerk got it out from behind the counter, looked at the cover and then he looked at me as if to say, "Really?" Really, dude. I played the bejeezus out of that video and then one day I loaned it to someone and he moved away. It was a long time until I could score another one. I landed my new copy in about 1998 or so. It was the one of the first things I ever bought off eBay.
9. Burstin' Out from the album Cast In Stone [Ltd. Edition Bonus CD] I think I was a junior in high school the first time I heard "Burstin’ Out" and when I listened to the lyrics, I was like, "Ew. Should I be listening to this?" That was something like 20 years ago and I’m still listening to it.
10. Possessed (Remix) from the 1985 album Possessed (bonus track from UK reissue) "Possessed" is an incredible creep-fest of a song that includes some kind of weird introduction featuring a child's voice mumbling something unintelligible through some kind of heavy echo and reverb effects. I think it's one of the kids featured on the album cover photo. Possessed has the distinction of being dubbed Venom's worst album ever by critics. But what do "critics" know, anyway?
11. Sons Of Satan from the 1981 album Welcome To Hell "Sons of Satan" is a tremendous, jarring juggernaut of a song. The song actually kicks off Welcome to Hell, which was their 1981 debut album. It's got a lot of fantastic elements, including a fiery, tremolo-laden guitar solo and some classic moments courtesy of Cronos, such as his cry of "Crank it up!" right before the solo and his "Wooo-ooo!" before the final cacophonic flourish.
12. The Chanting Of The Priests from the 1987 album Calm Before The Storm This a great song off of what is likely my least favorite Venom album. I think it was their first and only single off the album. There's a good live version of it on the Eine Kleine Nachtmusic album.
13. The Evil One from the 1997 album Cast In Stone "The Evil One" is the first track on Venom's only post-reunion album. This song was a great way to resurrect Venom as a band and as an act, as the song captures all of the elements of vintage Venom material while offering a bigger, bolder and more furious sound. Just a terrific song.
14. Witching Hour from the 1981 album Welcome To Hell "Witching Hour" is my favorite Venom song ever and the first Venom song I ever heard. I wrote a whole lot about this song in my "25 Favorites" series a while back.
15. Too Loud (For The Crowd) from the 1985 album Possessed I have always loved "Too Loud (For The Crowd)" because they opened the 1985 Hammersmith show (presented in the Alive in '85 video) with this song. The studio version includes clips of the on-stage banter from the concert.
The track listing for Disc Two is coming soon! Consider yourself warned.
The following article was written for publication by WPI in the early January 2009 edition (issue number 98) of their official Farsi-language magazine, Kargare Kommunist.
The continuing struggle in Greece
On the night of December 6, 2008 at around 9:00 PM, 15 year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos was gunned down in the Exarchia district of Athens, Greece. He was murdered in the street without mercy and without cause, the victim of a government which regularly exercises wanton force with relative impunity in an effort to suppress dissent and maintain the prevailing social order of the day. The executioner in this case was a police officer, 37 year-old Epaminondas Korkoneas, who, with the aid of one or more accomplices, arbitrarily and unilaterally imposed a death sentence on an unarmed and defenseless boy. Perhaps Korkoneas and his cronies thought his position as a cop placed him above suspicion and outside of the bounds of human decency. It’s possible that he believed that the death of one free-spirited teenager would be lost among the cumulative brutality of everyday life on the streets of one of Europe’s most populous cities. Maybe he thought his actions would be well-concealed by the nighttime darkness. But people would soon know the truth of the matter. The police on the scene tried to justify the shooting by claiming they were defending themselves against an attack. But the witnesses on the scene contradicted the claims made by the cops in their cover story and as the witnesses came forward to tell the truth of the matter, a grieving and angry public took notice.
Alexandros "Alexis" Grigoropoulos (1993-2008)
The gun blast that killed young Alexis was truly a shot heard ‘round the world.
As news of the murder of Alexis spread throughout Athens, the righteous anger of the Greek people gave way to collective opposition and mass action. On December 7, students took to the streets to demonstrate against police and government abuses. The murder of Alexis was the breaking point for thousands upon thousands of students who were already angry about government corruption, budgetary excesses and a campaign to privatize higher education. The massive outcry against all sorts of new and old repression in Greece was met with fear and aggression on the part of the Greek government, who acted quickly in their attempts to suppress dissent. Through the use of provocation and extreme force, the police forces hounded and attacked demonstrators, escalating the conflict and inciting violence in the streets of Athens.
The Greek people showed their solidarity with the students in Athens by taking to the streets throughout the country. In Thessaloniki, Naupolio, Patras and numerous other cities, students and workers engaged in empathetic demonstrations against a government which has marginalized itself through its own incompetence and arrogance. Such expressions of support were not just confined to Greece, as citizens marched in solidarity with the Greek people through the streets of Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, Denmark and the Netherlands. Even the people of Turkey – whose government is historically at odds with that of Greece – organized demonstrations in support of the people of Greece in their struggle against injustice.
The bourgeois media has been all too selective in their coverage of the events in Greece. Mainstream television newscasts are certainly happy to show buildings and cars ablaze, but they seldom show footage of the police conduct which precipitates such events. Even on the day of the funeral of Alexis Grigoropoulos, police harassed mourners as they walked peacefully in the boy’s funeral procession. Moreover, recent photographic evidence suggests that police agents – some armed with truncheons – have infiltrated demonstrations posing as students on more than one occasion, subsequently inciting unrest and violence from within the demonstrations themselves, thus providing the government the opportunity to portray demonstrators as reckless and unruly.
The real story unfolding on the streets and in the universities of Greece is being told through progressive and independent media outlets and through user-generated Internet forums and networks. It is, of course, unfortunately true that violence has occurred in the streets of Athens since the murder of Alexis, but whenever people rise up to challenge their oppressors, it is seldom an orderly or gentle affair. It has been said time and again with complete accuracy that “a revolution is not a dinner party.”
Contrary to the wishes of government officials, the demonstrations in Athens and throughout Greece have not subsided even in the face of police suppression and a government-sponsored anti-student propaganda campaign. A general strike against police and government abuses was initiated on December 10, allowing workers across the country to show solidarity with the students in defiance of the floundering Greek government. The student unions acted as a vanguard in this particular area, taking on the effort to plan and organize the strike. Teachers struck for two days and university lecturers for three days. Even the union of white-collar workers at the Commission of Competition (a service of the Finance Ministry) staged a three-hour strike on December 9. As of December 18, protests continue with sustained fervor throughout Athens, from the historic Acropolis to the gates of the Greek Parliament.
Over the course of the last century, the Greek people have endured repression and brutality in the most extreme forms imaginable, and in each instance they have triumphed through indomitable spirit and resolute determination. From the brutal years of the Metaxas dictatorship to the invasions and occupations by fascist armies during the Second World War to the draconian rule of the Military Junta, the Greek people – led by workers and students – have resisted tyranny, meeting force with force and fighting injustice and exploitation at every turn. The present situation, which originated in Athens and has spread throughout Greece with the might of a prairie fire, is a bold new chapter in the ongoing struggle of the Greek people.
Mike B. resides in the Midwestern United States. He maintains regular contact with many family members and friends throughout Greece. Mike has been an administrator for the Marxists Internet Archive (http://www.marxists.org) since 2001.
Those of you who are regular visitors to greeklish.org have probably noticed that these days I don’t post articles as frequently as I have in years past. This is certainly not for lack of interest or because things are boring at our end. In fact, things have been pretty busy here, as we have been hard at work launching our new project, Erythrós Press and Media. 
If you woke up this morning asking yourself, "Does Mike still think 
