• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Necromantical Invocation's Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie contains a tidy four songs of creepy black metal with a variety not often encountered in this style. The opener is full of haunting organ music and even more haunting female operatic vocals which transition into "Necromantical Ritual", a typical melodic black metal song, lengthy and with just an undercurrent of keyboards to keep the atmosphere unsettling. The next song up is the title track, which features quiet, yet chilling vocals and moody bass guitar which together creates a sparse and desolate soundscape sure to raise the hairs on the back of your neck. The song, which runs over 15 minutes, ends with the addition of a saxophone, completing the feeling that you're listening to the soundtrack from some indie horror movie where you have no clue what might happen next. The album is capped by another song like the intro with keys and operatic singing, completing an unsettling yet entertaining, by virtue of its non-conformity, listening experience. The saxophone's presence will surely invite comparisons to Sigh, but Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie is nowhere near as avant-garde as anything that band has done. Still, if you like black metal and want to try something different, but not too different, I say give this a spin. You may want to leave the light on, though.