The Necromancers

Servants Of The Salem Girl RippLe

French occultist quartet’s splendidly diabolical debut. Devil-fancying in heavy rock has been out of fashion ever since those pesky church-burning Norwegians started actually taking it seriously in the early 90s. But if anyone can bring it back into vogue, it’s this fiendish foursome from Poitiers.

Recently signed to US label Ripple, they prove on this sixtrack debut that there are still a fair stock of tunes in Lucifer’s long-neglected locker.

Salem Girl Part I and Black Marble House benefit from magnificently Maiden-esque twin guitar stings as they channel elements of goth portentousness, doomy vocal grunt and vintage melodic flair. Elsewhere, Grand Orbiter lurches between high-octane tritone-centric heaviness and atmospheric incantations, creating a sound as wealthy and tasteful as Old Nick himself.

Johnny Sharp