Conrad 'CRONOS' Lant

Conrad Lant - better known as Cronos - joined the band Guillotine in 1978. This band contained Cronos on guitar, Alan Winston on bass, Jeff 'Mantas' Dunn on lead guitar and Tony 'Abaddon' Bray on drums, and Clive Archer on vocals. In 1980, Alan Winston left, leaving Cronos to switch to bass duties. It was at this time that the band changed its name to Venom. In 1981, Clive also left, and Cronos took his place singing; this led to the formation of the 'classic' Venom line-up.
Things went well, and the band quickly found fame, going on to influence many metal styles but also being known for their humour. By 1988, things were not so humourous; band conflicts and a feeling that the band was going nowhere led Cronos to leave, and form his own eponymous project. This band included Cronos on bass and vocals, Mike Hickey (who would later be known as Mykvs) and Jimmy Clare on guitars, and a succession of drummers which included Chris Patterson, Ian McCormack, and Mark Wharton.
In 1995, Cronos reformed the classic line-up of Venom. A three record deal was signed, but drummer Abaddon refused to play drums on the second album. This led to Cronos drafting in his brother Antton. Next to leave the band was Mantas, who was replaced by ex-Cronos guitarist Mykvs. A climbing accident in 2002 put Cronos out of action for two years. In 2005, after gaining permission from Mantas to use the name Venom, Cronos once again resurrected the band. The line-up today which includes Cronos, Rage on guitar, and Dante on drums, is the longest running version of Venom to date.

Cronos was born Conrad Thomas Lant on January 15th 1963 in London, to Thomas and Esmee Lant. The family moved back to their hometown in North Shields when Cronos was around nine. It wasn't an easy transition; the young Conrad had to settle into the hardest of schools and his London accent didn't exactly make it easy. During an airgun 'incident' as a teenager, Conrad was blinded in one eye, making it hard for him to read the blackboard in school. Because of this, he was excused from subjects such as maths and English, and was allowed to focus more on art and music.
As a youngster, he had already decided he wanted to be either a musician or an actor. Deciding to go down the music path, he was in the bands Dwarfstar and Album Graecum while still at school, until joining Guillotine as a guitarist. The rest of his band career is pretty much history!
Being a confident and flamboyant stage performer, he soon became something of an iconic figure on the metal scene, which he remains to this day. Cronos, along with Venom, has been an influence - if not an integral part of the forming - of many of the metal styles of today; including death metal, thrash metal, and black metal, which was Venom's original creation.

Never a man to compromise, Cronos remains dedicated to the original Venom ideals of bringing great music and a great live stage show to the Legions.