South Of Salem

South of Salem hail from Bournemouth, England, where they layer horror-strewn lyrics over blistering, hook-laden hard rock and metal steeped in 1980s influences, yet anchor the results in the present through contemporary production values. The group came together in 2018 after players from several likeminded local outfits gathered for an informal jam session. Vocalist Joey Draper and guitarist Kodi Kasper quickly established themselves as the principal songwriting partnership, with the remaining positions filled by Fish MacDonald on guitar, bassist Dee Aldwell, and drummer Pip Sampson. Shared admiration for Rob Zombie, Motley Crue, Guns n' Roses, and Avenged Sevenfold, coupled with a deep affection for classic horror films, shaped their aesthetic. Their inaugural live appearance arrived in February 2020 as a hometown support slot for Saints of Sin, by which time the debut album had already been completed. Working with Scott Atkins at Grindstone Studios in Suffolk, they recorded The Sinner Takes It All, issued on their own Spider Party imprint that September. The release secured them a slot on the Bloodstock 2021 bill, and in the post-lockdown months that followed they refined their stage presentation, frequently entering to the Halloween theme and occasionally inserting covers of Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" and Velvet Revolver's "Slither." A December 2022 hometown headline show billed as The Nightmare Before Xmas marked both Pip Sampson's departure and the arrival of replacement drummer James Clarke. Another personnel shift occurred in 2023 when Denis Sheriff took over guitar duties from Fish MacDonald ahead of sessions with Romesh Dodangoda in Wales for the follow-up record. The first single, the riff-heavy "Left for Dead," surfaced in October, preceding the January 2024 arrival of Death of the Party, which registered on the lower reaches of the U.K. album chart.