The Necromancers are a raw, gritty rock 'n' roll doom metal band from France. Their sound is similar to Black Sabbath infused with Jimi Hendrix, and has resonated with many people already. Their first release, Servants of the Salem Girl started gaining ground and the number of shows they started to play all over Europe increased. The gritty vocals give a good contrast to the light and airy guitars and I love the incorporation of the dirty guitar sound in a synchronous melody with the lighter guitar. They don’t follow typical song writing styles and focus heavily on the instruments. This has been the balance I’ve needed for more gritty, but mellow doom metal.
There’s sincerity in the guitars opening the album with “Salem Girl Part I”, until the instruments come together and deliver an instant rockin’ riff. This song, like the rest of the album, hits you with punches you really don’t expect but sound great. I really liked the small breakdown in the song. The jam out session near the end was evocative of a band in the 70’s with a dirty tone. It really stood out and I was hooked from then on. “Lucifer's Kin” has lots of great, different parts to the song writing that made for amazing listening. You never knew what to expect next, it would sound different but flow well with the rest of the song. “Black Marble House” features these cool guitar tones leading the song, almost like you’re outside alone at night. It quickly gets upbeat though, before alternating between the two pieces of music, and switching up every measure with something new added.
The bands’ namesake song “Necromancers” was more straightforward than the previous songs, but I liked having a condensed, shorter song for variety. It was shorter but still fit perfectly in the cohesiveness of the album. I love the really awesome guitar tone and the continuous trippy guitar tune sprinkled throughout “Grand Orbiter”. The style of singing and vocal tone flowed so well with it for a slower tune. There is almost a feeling of mysteriousness or suspense in the air incorporated that I really like and feel it makes the song complete. There is also a really cool part where everything changes completely just when you think it’s near the end, and it’s like a new song. I loved the interesting intro to “Salem Girl Part II”, and I love the outro riff before the lyrics began. This song seemed like the perfect way to end Servants of the Salem Girl. It featured another fresh musical element that threw me for a loop, and relished in the fact I was continued to be surprised up to the end of the album.
I thoroughly enjoy the theme behind the record and the band. It makes it effortless to complete an album when you’re really enjoying it. This band has a lot of juicy writing skills up their sleeves and I’m going to keep an eye on them. I first discovered this band shortly after Servants of the Salem Girl was released, and after their most recent release, Of Blood and Wine, I am highly anticipating more music and hoping for the chance for Americans to see them play on tour.
Servants of the Salem Girl is now available on vinyl, CD and as a digital download from Ripple Music.
