Venom Inc, w/ Necrophagia at Turf Club, St Paul (12 January 2016)

Necrophagia

Ohio based metal band Necrophagia opened up the show. They are on tour in support of their newest release Whiteworm Cathedral. These guys have been around since 1983 (although they have had many lineup changes) and are hailed as pioneers in the “horror metal” genre. Although their live shows have calmed down quite a bit from the olden days where they had blood, guts and gore involved, they are still, hands down, instrumental in the progression of horror metal.



From the second Necrophagia took the stage, the frozen crowd quickly warmed up to the sounds of some good old fashioned metal music. Singer Frank “Killjoy” Pucci had the entire crowd in the palm of his hand as he growled the lyrics at them. He would frequently grab fake body parts that were strewn across the stage and would frequently act out the lyrics. The forty five minute set just didn’t seem long enough. You could tell that the band had a lot more material they could have played and it was obvious that the crowd wanted more.



The music of Venom Inc. made any sorrow over the fact that Necrophagia had to get off the stage fall to the wayside. Even the Bite Squad delivery guy that came in half way through their set couldn’t get enough as he dinked around after getting the delivery just so he could keep listening.



Venom Inc. features original members of Venom which is an English heavy metal bands that dates back to the late 70’s. Venom Inc has only been a project since April of last year but they typically play sets full of classic Venom songs. Last night was no exception. They played only classic Venom songs and the crowd was eating it up.



Their music is fast and hard but nowhere near as extreme as some of the metal you hear these days. That being said, this is more than an example of just how influential this band was/is to many other metal bands. Their set seemed short even though they played nearly twenty songs, their repertoire is just so expansive that really nothing would have been enough other than playing their entire discography.



Last night was Venom Inc’s first time in Saint Paul. At this rate, it will only take them another thirty five years to make the trek back. For all of the people that missed the show, I feel bad for you. It was quite a sight to see such legendary bands perform in such an intimate setting.



Venom released From the Very Depths last year.



Venom Inc’s remaining US tour dates: