Necrophagia ( ) was an American death metal band formed in Wellsville, Ohio in 1983. The band is credited as one of the inaugural groups within the death metal genre, along with Possessed and Death.
History
Early years (1983–1997)
Necrophagia was formed by Frank "Killjoy" Pucci in 1983. The band name is derived from the act of cannibalizing, or eating a corpse. The word is a combination of the Greek words ' (corpse), and ' (to eat). Necrophagia was a popular group in the underground extreme metal "tape trading" scene. Their first full-length album, Season of the Dead, was recorded and released in 1987. The band split up sometime after the album's release. In 1990, an album named Ready for Death (recorded in 1986) was bootlegged by the label Embalming Records, and was given an official release of 500 on clear green vinyl when New Renaissance came to an agreement with Embalming Records. Ready for Death was later included as part of the A Legacy of Horror, Gore and Sickness compilation album in 2000.
Phil Anselmo era (1997–2001)
Killjoy befriended Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo, shortly after Necrophagia's demise. Phil wrote and shared some music with Killjoy, which persuaded him to resurrect Necrophagia in 1997. Killjoy and Anselmo (who played guitar under the pseudonym Anton Crowley) were joined by Wayne Fabra on drums and Dustin Havnen on bass guitar. Necrophagia released Holocausto de la Morte, as well as the Black Blood Vomitorium EP, with the reformed line-up. Havnen was replaced by Jared Faulk in 2001. In addition, the group enlisted Opal Enthroned, Anselmo's wife, on keyboards. Necrophagia released the Cannibal Holocaust single in 2001, along with their first DVD, Through Eyes of the Dead.
Following the recording of Cannibal Holocaust, the band added Fred "Frediablo" Prytz as second guitarist and announced he would be starting on the next full length release; Prtyz's solo project, Gorelord, had recently been added to Killjoy's Baphomet Records label with its debut in October 2001. Shortly after, Anselmo, Opal and Fabra would depart the group. In addition, the Housecore/Baphomet Records label founded by Killjoy and Anselmo was dissolved, due to extreme scheduling conflicts and previous commitments. Necrophagia supported 1349 on their "Chaos Raids North America" tour in May and June 2015.
On March 18, 2018, vocalist and founding member Killjoy died at the age of 51.
The band's final studio album Moribundis Grim was released on May 10, 2024. It features Killjoy's final recordings before his death and contains eight tracks. Moribundis Grim features the final line-up of Necrophagia and has ex-necrophagia members such as John McEntee from Incantation, Titta Tani (ex Goblin) and Mirai Kawashima from Sigh assisting in its release.
Members
Final lineup
- Frank "Killjoy" Pucci — vocals , guitar
- Shawn Slusarek — drums
- Serge Streltsov — guitar
- Jake Arnette — bass
Other members
Timeline
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Discography
Studio albums
- Season of the Dead (1987)
- Ready for Death (1990)
- Holocausto de la Morte (1998)
- The Divine Art of Torture (2003)
- Harvest Ritual Volume I (2005)
- Deathtrip 69 (2011)
- WhiteWorm Cathedral (2014)
- Moribundis Grim (2024)
Other releases
- Death Is Fun (compilation) (1995)
- Black Blood Vomitorium (EP) (2000)
- A Legacy of Horror, Gore and Sickness (compilation) (2000)
- Cannibal Holocaust (EP) (2001)
- Reverse Voices of the Dead (split EP with Antaeus) (2001)
- Goblins Be Thine (EP) (2004)
- Slit Wrists and Casket Rot (live) (2006)
- Here Lies Necrophagia: 35 Years of Death Metal (compilation) (2019)