Jeffrey "Mantas" Dunn (born 22 April 1961) is a British guitarist best known as one of the founding members of

thrash Thrash may refer to: *Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work *Thrash (surname) *Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers *''Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video game ...

speed metal Speed metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It ...

band

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

, with which he played as a guitarist from 1979 to 1985 and 1989 to 2002. He currently plays in

Venom Inc. Venom Inc. is a British heavy metal band from Newcastle upon Tyne. Formed in 2015, the band features former Venom members Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan, Jeffrey "Mantas" Dunn and previously Anthony "Abaddon" Bray. History The history of Ve ...

alongside fellow former Venom member bassist/vocalist

Tony Dolan Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan (born 1964) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and vocalist of heavy metal bands Atomkraft and formerly Venom. He currently plays in Venom Inc., alongside fellow former Venom member guitarist Manta ...

and drummer Jeramie Kling.

Career after Venom

In 1986, Dunn left Venom to form the band Mantas which has recorded two full-length albums, ''Winds of Change'' in 1988 and ''Zero Tolerance'' in 2004. In 1992, he played guitars for Warfare, a

NWOBHM The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term i ...

band from the United Kingdom. In 2006, Mantas toured with German hardcore techno act Scooter in Germany as an additional member on guitar. In 2007, he worked with the band Dryll. In 2009, he guested on German

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

band Last One Dying's debut album ''The Hour of Lead'' and released the Dryll EP ''Digital Surgery'' which was available at live shows only. In 2010, Dunn and former Venom members Antony "Antton" Lant (drums; brother of Venom frontman Conrad "Cronos" Lant) and Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan (bass, vocals) formed a band, initially called Primevil and then M-pire of Evil. In 2015, the Venom '89/'90 line-up of Dunn, Dolan and Bray reunited for a concert at the Keep It True festival in Germany, which was the start of what became the band

, which released the album Avé in 2017 and toured extensively. The year after, Bray was replaced by Kling. In May 2018, Dunn underwent emergency heart surgery (double bypass) in Lisbon following a life-threatening incident. Dunn played guitar on the track "Hold On" by Scott Michael Cavagan (2019). When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in early 2020, Dunn became active on the social media platform Facebook, releasing tutorial videos of how to play many Venom and Venom Inc. songs. This later developed into livestreams, usually twice a week (Monday and Friday nights), first on his private Facebook page, later on his official Jeff Mantas Dunn page. These livestreams transmissions are referred to as "GRTV", an in-joke that started off due to a glitch that repeatedly stated "Gareth Richards is watching". In February 2021, Dunn launched a Jeff Mantas page on

Patreon Patreon (, ) is a membership platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service. It helps creators and artists earn a monthly income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers. Patreon charges a co ...

. 25% of the profits goes to a local cat and dog sanctuary and his own cat sanctuary, both in Portugal, where Dunn currently resides.

Equipment

* CSL Flying V * Ibanez Roadstar with Hardrock'r tremolo system * Ibanez RG (Black Finish) * Ibanez RG (Blue Finish) * Ibanez Xiphos (Black Finish) * Steinberger Synapse (Black Finish) *Ibanez Destroyer DT 555 (Black Finish with White Pickups) Mantas now uses Caparison guitars.

Discography

With Venom

* ''

Welcome to Hell ''Welcome to Hell'' is the debut studio album by English extreme metal band Venom. It was released in December 1981, through Neat Records, at the culmination of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. The album was re-released by Sanctua ...

'' (1981) * ''

Black Metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

'' (1982) * ''

At War with Satan ''At War with Satan'' is the third album by the British Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Venom (band), Venom, released in April 1984. It is a concept album that tells the story of a war between Heaven (Christianity), Heaven and Christian views ...

'' (1984) (chart position #64 UK, #48 SE) * ''

Possessed Possessed may refer to: Possession * Possession (disambiguation), having some degree of control over something else ** Spirit possession, whereby gods, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body *** ...

'' (1985) (chart position #99 UK) * ''Eine Kleine Nachtmusik'' (double live album) (1986) * '' Prime Evil'' (1989) * ''

Tear Your Soul Apart Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

'' (EP) (1990) * ''

Temples of Ice ''Temples of Ice'' is the seventh studio album by English heavy metal music, heavy metal band Venom (band), Venom. The album was originally supposed to be produced by ex-Child's Play (band), Child's Play producer Howard Benson; however, he was u ...

'' (1991) * '' The Waste Lands'' (1992) * ''

Venom '96 Venom are an English heavy metal band formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1978.Kahn-Harris, Keith''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' Oxford: Berg, 2007. . Coming to prominence towards the end of the new wave of British heavy metal ...

'' (EP) (1996) * ''

Cast in Stone ''Cast in Stone'' is the ninth album by British heavy metal band Venom, and their first album in 12 years to feature the original lineup. Recorded at Lartington Hall Studios near Barnard Castle, it was released on SPV/Steamhammer in 1997. It is ...

'' (1997) * ''

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...

'' (2000)

With Mantas

* ''Winds of Change'' (1988) * ''Deceiver'' (single, 1988) * ''Zero Tolerance'' (2004)

With Dryll

* ''Digital Surgery (EP, 2009)''

With M-pire of Evil

* ''Creatures of the Black'' (EP, 2011) * ''Hell to the Holy'' (2012) * ''Crucified'' (2013)

With Venom Inc.

* ''Avé'' (2017) * ''There's Only Black'' (2022)

With Warfare (as guest)

* ''Noise, Filth and Fury'' (EP, 1984) * ''Pure Filth'' (1984) * ''A Conflict of Hatred'' (1988)

With The Mugshots (as guest)

* ''Children of the Night / The Call'' (maxi single, 2021)

References

External links

MANTAS
Solo projects {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Jeffrey Living people Black metal musicians British heavy metal guitarists 1961 births