Formed by guitarist/frontman Rob the Witch, NecronomicoN is one of the more bizarre death metal acts to come along. They really do capitalize the last "n" on their name, and Rob the Witch really does go by that name and doesn't put his real name on any of their material. Although the lineup has changed many times, the original incarnation of the band started in 1991, when they recorded and released the Morbid Ritual single using songs that Rob had been working on. The following years led up to several lineup changes and one more single until 1995, when engineer Pierre Rémillard agreed to help them record their first official album, The Silver Key. Taking a few songs from their early singles and filling it out with new material, the album was a significant step up and allowed the group to perform with Mercyful Fate and Cradle of Filth, among others. In 1998, they returned to the studio to record another album, Pharaoh of Gods. The record was released in Canada in the summer of 1999, but the band had to wait almost three years until it saw a stateside release from Unique Leader. In the meantime, the group had been touring and stepped back into the studio at the beginning of 2002 for their next recording sessions, which yielded 2003's well-received Sacred Medicines. 2010's Return of the Witch saw the group expand their listener base on an international level, with festival appearances at Inferno (Norway), Ragnarok (Germany), and the Barge to Hell metal cruise among others. 2013's Rise of Elder Ones and 2016's Advent Of The Human God, both of which elicited praise on an international level, saw the veteran band's stature within the underground metal community continue to grow. ~ Bradley Torreano