Jeff ‘Mantas’ Dunn recently commented on the status of a potential Venom reunion. He addressed the band’s efforts to bring back original members for a significant milestone. According to MetalKaoz, Mantas discussed the invitation extended to Conrad ‘Cronos’ Lant for the band’s 45th-anniversary celebration of their landmark album ‘Welcome To Hell’ in 2026.
Mantas explained that Cronos had been invited to participate in the anniversary event. The invitation came from both himself and Anthony ‘Abaddon’ Bray, as well as the legal representatives involved in a recent court case. However, the response was not what the band had hoped for.
“I’ll tell you right now that for 2026, the 45th anniversary of ‘Welcome To Hell’, Cronos has been invited,” Mantas said. “He was invited by me. He was invited by the lawyers in the recent court case. His answer was, ‘It’s not worth my time.’ That was his answer.”
Mantas went on to address the broader challenges of reuniting the band. He acknowledged the desire fans have to see classic lineups perform together while also highlighting the personal difficulties involved.
“What I say to people is this. Fair enough, everybody wants to see their favorite members back together. We know that. ‘And, oh, yeah, just travel separate. Just go in separate hotels.’ We’ve done all that,” Mantas explained. “We’ve done that. We did it on the first reunion. Okay, think of the most toxic relationship you’ve ever been involved in, how it made you feel. At your age now, invite it back into your life.”
The tensions surrounding the potential reunion are rooted in a significant intellectual property dispute. This dispute has divided the band’s founding members. New Noise Magazine reported that Mantas and Abaddon initiated a fan-funded legal campaign in 2025 to help cover their legal fees. They aimed for fair compensation and recognition for their contributions to Venom’s legacy.
The court case escalated in June 2024 with a key judgment issued in July 2025. It centered on copyright ownership and compensation related to Venom’s early artwork and logos. Michel Mores detailed that the dispute determined Bray is the creator and copyright holder of Venom’s original 1980 logo painted on the Welcome to Hell drum riser. Lant was ruled the copyright holder of most other iconic band designs, such as the goat heads, pentagrams, and inverted crosses.
The legal proceedings highlighted the difficulty of intellectual property disputes stemming from informal arrangements in the band’s early years. The absence of definitive documentation compounded these challenges. Walker Morris noted that the case relied heavily on witness testimony from events occurring over 40 years ago. This underscored the complexities of legacy band disputes when early creative credits and agreements were informal or undocumented.
Bray and Mantas emphasized the importance of resolving the dispute to ensure their families receive rightful benefits from Venom’s enduring legacy. The ongoing legal battle remains active into late 2025 and beyond. It has clearly strained relationships within the band and may be contributing to Cronos’ reluctance to participate in the 2026 anniversary celebration.
The comments from Mantas underscore the ongoing tensions within the band. They also reveal the broader complexities of orchestrating a full reunion when personal grievances and legal disputes have created deep rifts among the founding members.
