History
1984–1988
Necrophagia was officially formed in May 1985 with a lineup of Frank "Killjoy" Pucci on vocals, Larry "Madthrash" Madison on guitar and Jason "Dagon" Moloch on drums. [1] Prior to this, Pucci and Moloch had recorded the demos Death Is Fun and Rise from the Crypt under the moniker in 1984, on which Madison was credited despite not performing. [2] After a few months, Moloch was replaced by Joe "Voyeur" Blazer, and in January 1986 the band added Bill "Bork" James as its first bassist. [3] A string of demos followed, before the band signed with New Renaissance Records and released its full-length debut Season of the Dead in February 1987 (July in the United States). [2]
Killjoy fired the rest of the band in January 1988, [4] claiming that the other members "just didn't want to do the sorta stuff [he] did, so we're going in different directions". [5] He briefly worked with a new lineup on a second Necrophagia album called Compelled by Fear, retaining James on bass and replacing Madison with a guitarist known only as "Dave", [6] [7] but later confirmed the group's disbandment and formed his own solo band. [8] Killjoy later released an album called Compelled by Fear in 1990. [9]
1997–2008
In 1997, Killjoy reformed Necrophagia after encouragement from Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo — with whom he had been working as part of the group Viking Crown — who he claims "resurrected" the band by writing "some truly dark, horrific music". [10] The new lineup included Anselmo (under his alias "Anton Crowley") on guitar, Dustin Havnen on bass and Wayne Fabra on drums, who together released the comeback album Holocausto de la Morte in 1998. [11] After the video Through Eyes of the Dead and the EP Black Blood Vomitorium, [12] Havnen was replaced during the summer of 2001 by Jared Faulk. [13] By the fall, the band's lineup had expanded with the addition of second guitarist Fred "Frediablo" Prytz and keyboardist Opal Enthroned (Stephanie Weinstein), both of whom performed on the EP Cannibal Holocaust issued before the end of the year. [14]
In June 2002, Anselmo, Faulk and Weinstein were replaced by Knut "Fug" Prytz, Stian "Iscariah" Smørholm and Mirai Kawashima, respectively. [15] A couple of months later, Fabra was also replaced by Giovanni "Titta" Tani. [16] This lineup remained stable for several years, releasing fourth studio album The Divine Art of Torture in 2003, [17] EP Goblins Be Thine and video Nightmare Scenarios in 2004, [18] fifth studio album Harvest Ritual, Volume I and video Necrotorture/Sickcess in 2005, [19] [20] and finally live album Slit Wrists and Casket Rot in 2006. [21] In September 2005, Prytz announced his departure from Necrophagist, as well as several other bands, claiming that he "desperately need[ed] to distance [himself] from a large portion of this scene in order to maintain any love at all for metal music". [22] He was replaced almost a year later in July 2006 by Undead Torment. [21]
2008–2018
Necrophagia's lineup continued to change over the next few years — Opal Enthroned returned in March 2008, [23] Boris Randall replaced guitarist Fug in January 2010, [24] and by July 2010, Iscariah and Titta Tani had been replaced by Damien Matthews and Shawn Slusarek, respectively, while Opal Enthroned had left again. [25] This lineup released the band's first studio album in six years, Deathtrip 69, in May 2011. [26] Just over a year later, the band confirmed a new lineup including guitarists Abigail Lee Nero and Scrimm, plus returning keyboardist Mirai Kawashima. [27] "The Wicked" and WhiteWorm Cathedral followed in 2013 and 2014, respectively. [28] [29] Nero left during 2015. [30]
The band toured with stand-in guitarist Steve Lehocky during 2015, [31] later adding Kathryn Flesher on bass for shows in 2016. [32] In January 2017, a new lineup featuring guitarist Serge Streltsov and bassist Jake Arnette was unveiled. [33] On March 18, 2018, frontman Killjoy died, marking the end of Necrophagia. [34] In 2024, the band's final album Moribundis Grim was released, featuring recordings from the 2017–2018 lineup completed in 2022 with the help of former members Titta Tani and Mirai Kawashima. [35]
