After Cronos left, Venom came back with Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan on vocals and bass, Mantas back on guitar and Al Barnes alongside him. Prime Evil is heavier and tighter than Calm Before the Storm, with a thrash edge that comes through most clearly on Blackened Are the Priests and Carnivorous. Dolan co-wrote a large share of the material and gave the band a different kind of voice: lower, angrier and less theatrical. The album originally came out in 1989 on Under One Flag and was recorded at Lynx Studios in Newcastle. It closes with a new version of Live Like an Angel, a song from the 1981 debut. This edition is an LP.