Jeff ‘Mantas’ Dunn vs. Tony Dolan: the Venom Inc. rift runs deep

It appears that Jeff “Mantas” Dunn still harbours feelings for his former bandmate, bassist, and vocalist Tony Dolan after his departure from Venom Inc.. It appeared that he had every reason to hang up his boots and spend the rest of his life in Portugal with his wife, especially since he was sixty-three and had just experienced a second heart attack a few months before leaving the band. However, it turns out that Dunn was irritated by what appeared to be a lack of concern. During an appearance on The Tampa Morgue podcast, information on his now-nonexistent relationship with Dolan was revealed.

Well, I can tell you now that the last fucking conversation that I had with Dolan was March the 26th. That was nearly a month before I had the heart attack. I did not receive one single phone call after that. I got the occasional text saying, ‘How are you doing?’ but he never called me. And you know what it is? I was in a bad way after that heart attack, after the second one. Mentally I was worse than the first one. I didn’t come in studio for months. When I came in, my guitars were, there was rust all over them. I had to repair everything. On that March the 26th conversation, we discussed me returning just for the festivals. And I said, ‘Look, I can do probably do two weeks or something like that,’ but even then that was getting a stretch because [my wife], she had been misdiagnosed with cancer and that went on for fucking months. That destroyed us… Nobody knows what we had went through there. And then, obviously, I had the fucking second heart attack.

He then continues:

[Dolan and I] had that conversation on March the 26th, and then there was nothing after that. I didn’t get a phone call. And like I say, I was in a fucking bad way. And maybe, just maybe, all I wanted to do was pour my heart out to my best friend. And I never got that fucking opportunity, as far as I’m concerned. All this fucking proclaiming he’s my best friend, he’s my brother, the door’s always open. And then I see a private message between him and a person that I know as well, ‘Oh, Mantas’s just stabbed me in the back. Can you help me understand that, how I stabbed you in the back? What? By having two heart attacks and fucking the plans up for touring? I’m so fucking sorry. This really has fucking angered me — really fucking angered me. And if anybody thinks I’m gonna sit back now at my age and just take all that and watch what’s going on — no. Open your mouth once more and the fucking world’s coming down on your shoulders. I’ve just had enough. I’ve had enough.

After Venom Inc. revealed to had been signed to headline the Byker Grave festival in Newcastle, Dunn stated he decided to make the announcement of his departure from the band.

My idea was gonna be, ‘Okay then. I’ll fly to Newcastle. I can see my daughter, I can see my grandkids, I can see a few friends. I’ll play the show, and on that show, at the end of it, I’ll say, ‘Thank you, Newcastle. This is where it started and for me, this is where it ends. I now hand the reins over. And fucking I can’t do anymore, but thank you so much for 40-odd, incredible fucking years.’ Next thing I knew, they’re promoting the show. All right. Okay. So, I decided, ‘That’s it.’ I make the statement. I leave. And then a week later, well, after that, there’s all these fucking interviews just go straight up, like, damage limitation — that’s what I call them; not fucking interviews. And then I put ‘Losing My Faith’, the first clip of the video up, that night when that video went off, he unfriended and blocked me on fucking everything — and [my wife], and her daughter. And that is the truth. Now please help me understand why. Let me know why. As long as I have breath left in me on this planet, I will never speak to him again. Never. Because as much as I loved that guy, and I did, I loved that guy like a fucking brother, I really loved that guy. And then this — okay, you think you’re Venom? Go out there and fucking do it. And I said in a statement the other night, go and play at every arena that you want to, or you can go play every fucking toilet that you want to. I don’t care. Leave me out of it. I’m done. I’m fucking done with it.