Songfacts®:

• Written by lead singer Conrad "Cronos" Lant and guitarist Jeff "Mantas" Dunn, this piece of British speed metal is about a man who is possessed by the Devil. Satanism is a common theme in Venom's oeuvre, but it's all in good fun. Cronos said in Kerrang!: "I don't preach Satanism, occultism, witchcraft or anything. Rock & roll is basically entertainment and that's as far as it goes."
• This song landed on the "Filthy 15" list distributed by the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) to demonstrate particularly offensive songs and how they should be labeled (this one is "Occult"). A Senate hearing was held on the matter and eventually the music industry agreed to voluntarily label albums with explicit content. For Venom and other metal acts that were implicated, the controversy provided a nice boost in sales.
  
  Cronos shared his thoughts on the matter in an interview with Newsweek: "When I found out they were real, I couldn't understand how supposedly intelligent people could be so ignorant. Of course rock and roll has all of the subject matter they accused it of having. It's rock and roll! It's supposed to be hard-core and edgy"