Extreme metal pioneer, sometime fitness instructor, keen twitcher, Kate Bush fan: Cronos was clearly quite a character. See this Classic Rock interview from earlier this year - his last - and this 2020 chat about his formative years and the early days of Venom with John Doran of the Quietus.
Venom emerged in Newcastle in the late 1970s with a ferocious sound that drew in Black Sabbath and Motorhead and took them to darker places. They were a product of a time and place, but they also in turn shaped the fact that the city became a hub - perhaps THE hub - for NWOBHM in the 1980s.
Cronos' death has inevitably prompted a number of obituaries, but it also led Pete Gofton of fellow North Eastern outfits Kenickie and Frankie & The Heartstrings to share a link to Metal City on social media in tribute. The film - a daft post-Spinal Tap documentary pulled together by label Neat Records and featuring Warfare, Saracen and Avenger alongside Cronos' crew - is an absolute hoot. Hammy acting, scorned women smashing up guitars, bands lost in transit/Transit, exploding drumkits, songs called 'Metal Anarchy', Cronos arriving at a country house hotel on horseback and wearing a cape before signing in in blood: it's got it all.
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