The Coffin Daggers at Otto's Shrunken Head

Viktor Venom

Victor Dominicis, better known by his stage name, Viktor Venom, in the late 1980s was a member of two New York City hardcore punk bands. He was the bassist for Reagan Youth and more notably the guitarist in Nausea. Leaving behind Nausea's fusion of anarcho-punk and thrash metal in 1992, Venom reappeared on the scene in 1999 playing psychedelic surf music with the Coffin Daggers. The Coffin Daggers' third and most recent studio album is 2016's Aggravatin’ Rhythms. The quartet presently consists of Venom and keyboardist Rob Morrison, bassist Peter Klarnet, and drummer Alex Rochinski.

The Coffin Daggers' set tonight at Otto's Shrunken Head was nearly as intense as Venom's earlier work as a punk rocker. Venom's rich, reverb-soaked guitar work was complemented by Morrison's rolling organ rolls and supported by a fast and furious garage rock rhythm section. The music was harder and heavier than the average surf rock band, with Venom occasionally investing in enough deep distortion to rival a grunge band. Otherwise the music was clean and sparkling, yet darker than most instrumental rock music. The Coffin Daggers' performance was a new hybrid we might call hardcore surf.

Visit the Coffin Daggers at www.coffindaggers.com.