According to journalist and record label owner Bart Gabriel, when Venom submitted their demo to EMI in 1980 (the year after Iron Maiden was signed to the same label), they were met with the following response from the label. Of course, getting rejected from EMI seems to have not affected the band that much. The three songs on the demo wound up being part of their first album, Welcome to Hell, and they went on to, at least lyrically, help spawn the black metal scene with the 1982 release of Black Metal. Also of note is the fact that EMI’s stationary once read “The Greatest Music Company in the World.” That’s about as cocky and awesome as their response to Venom.
