Necromandus

A small time English band from Cumberland (now Cumbria), UK that formed in 1970. They were discovered by Tony Iommi on the Master of Reality tour. He took the band under his wing, and they ended up supporting Black Sabbath on numerous occasions. After a failed attempt to record an album in 1972, Tony offered to produce them and they entered the studio to record Orexis Of Death, which featured Iommi on several tracks. However, the release went unissued until the late 90's.

The line-up consisted of:
BILL BRANCH - Vocals (R.I.P.)
Barry Dunnery - Guitars (R.I.P. 2008)
Dennis McCarten - Bass (R.I.P. 2004)
Frank Hall - Drums

They split up in the fall of 1973, with the members continuing to have involvement in the music industry, most noticeably as a prototype solo band for Ozzy Osbourne in the 70's before he returned to Black Sabbath for Never Say Die.