Jeff Dunn, the guitarist who has been Mantas since 1979, has written about Conrad Lant, and the first thing worth noting is who he wrote for: himself and Antony Bray, the original drummer, Abaddon. The two of them spoke on the day of the news.
What he said was that despite the turbulent history of the band, at the end of the day it was the three of them who started something so special and changed the direction, the movement and the history of metal as we know it. He also said they had known for two days and would not say anything without the consent and wishes of Conrad's family, and respected that.
The rest of it is not about Venom as an institution. It is about the early days, the one for all mentality, the rebellious quality, the urge to be something different whether anyone accepted it or not, and the early video footage he still has of the three of them laughing at nothing. He noted their sense of humour was an acquired taste.
Tony Dolan, who took the bass and the microphone in Venom after Lant and has been Demolition Man since, posted his own in memoriam about the friendship of those years and about Lant's creativity. Dunn spent years trying publicly to get a final reunion out of Lant while he was in Venom Inc.. It never happened. Lant had his own band and kept it, with Stuart Dixon and Danny Needham, to the end.