NOVEMBRE

Italian band NOVEMBRE is a veteran purveyor of sophisticated metal, with a history going back to 1990 and eight full length albums to their name so far. "Ursa" is the most recent of these, and appeared on UK label Peaceville Records in the spring of 2016.

I'll have to admit that Novembre is one of many bands that have flown under my radar, and that they've had a wee little hiatus lasting nine years as recording artists may possibly have something to do with that. I surmise then that this production will be a welcome and for some unexpected return by a band one might presume have a fairly well established fan base.

I'll give the band credit for exploring a type of metal that is a bit on the side of what other bands are exploring. While I haven't been close in touch with the metal scene for quite some time, Novembre comes across as a band that have ventures into landscapes of a kind not all that often explored by others. The manner in which they alternate between gentle, often folk-tinged escapades and harder edged, more intense arrangements is fascinating, especially when they opt for gradual transitional stages moving from one to the other rather than more abrupt changes or going from one to the other by way of intermissions of varying kinds. Especially some of those gentler passages felt truly inspired for me, and I also rather fancied the instances when that subtle touch of folk music was maintained also into the sequences with more of a metal based foundation.

Other features will be more of a case of subjective taste however, and for me at least also aspects that is a bit more on the negative side of things. Neither the growl style vocals nor the distanced, subtly sleepy but melodic and controlled vocals really managed to intrigue me. Partially due to form and execution, partially due to how the vocals are partially hidden in the mix. The latter details became something of a detrimental aspect for me as well, as the constant loud soundscapes became just too overpowering for me to really be able to focus and concentrate: As someone listening with a fairly total focus on the music itself, the constant presence of massive, loud soundscapes became tiring, despite numerous alterations in style and pace and clever use of minor, subtle details to add contrast and details to hone in on.

The album is well produced, and the above described affects comes across as planned as well as wanted features, but you need to have a mind and perhaps an approach to listen to music a bit different than what I have to be able to fall for the charms of this production. I guess that stating that there's just too much going on too often might be an apt description of this, and that too many details are too loud at the same time is the more detailed description one might give. Especially if you have the tendency to focus on the vocals, which generally have been mixed down to a barely audible level on a fairly consistent basis throughout.

Those fond of loud, majestic soundscapes and arrangements and material that has a tendency to stay massive, majestic and fairly grandiose on a fairly consistent level should take note of this CD, and then especially those who fancy such an approach applied to a band that explores a type of metal that features both experimental and doom-laden arrangements, with a liberal touch of subtly folk-music inspired details on top. At worst a pleasant but well produced affair worth giving an occasional spin, at best and for the right audience most likely a production that will be cherished and praised for it's specific sound and approach.

Novembre's Novembrine Waltz straddles the borderline between gothic metal and symphonic metal - the symphonic aspect of their music manifesting in the band's tendency to to cover classical music standards in the middle of their songs. This, of course, is an approach which was previously taken by the first generation of symphonic prog bands in the 1970s, but on the whole I find it (with a few exceptions) the least interesting approach to symphonic rock or metal, turning what can be a fascinating approach to composing new and original material into a dull exercise in "rocking the classics". Novembre's take on the old, old exercise is no different to my ears. It's a fun listen at points, but the juxtaposition of gothic metal cliche and classical music cliche is too much for me.

'Materia' - Novembre (7/10)

The Italian dark metal group Novembre has never been known for any bone-crushing heaviness, but their first bigger label album 'Materia' would certainly show the band go down a more melodic route than ever. From the same record company that hosts such legendary atmospheric acts as Katatonia, Novembre is in good company with Peaceville, and it has certainly been reflected in their sound. At the sacrifice of vitality and intensity in their sound, Novembre has made a noble choice to take things in a more harmonious direction, but the deep sense of loss and melancholy in the band's formula is stronger than ever.

From the saddening opener 'Verne' onwards, Novembre asserts themselves as a very vocal-centric act. Singer Carmelo Orlando's voice very important both in the songwriting as well as the production mix, and the music therefore relies heavily on his delivery. While evidently not a technically skilled singer in terms of range, Orlando's voice does carry a very distinct tone to it, and an ability to transmit emotion that works beautifully for the bands sound. The musicianship here is rarely dependent on technicality; the instruments instead are focused on emotional dynamic and the context of the songs. That being said, the drums

'Materia' starts off excellently. With absolutely majestic tracks as the hymnal 'Verne', the dynamic 'Reason' and the catchy 'Aquamarine', the first half of the album is real gold. The highlight of the album here however is none other than 'Jules', which is easily the best composed and performed track here. Beginning with an exotic acoustic guitar strum, the piece quickly builds into a grief-ridden riff and strong melodies from Carmelo. Had every track on the album reached this level of strength, I would have no problem deeming 'Materia' a masterpiece. Not all is such gold however.

The second half does take a turn for the worse. While never bad by any measure, it feels as if the same melodic tricks and ideas are being reprised and recycled for a second side, with slight tweaks in the formula. Simply, the melodies here feel less striking than they are in the first half, although a few such as the title track and 'Nothijingrad' certainly keep the album worth listening to all the way through, regardless of the sameness of the sound throughout.

A great album, with a convincing sound from these Italian metallers. Here, the band shows they can write some great music and make a fitting performance to back it up, but the consistency of the work does leave something missing.

'The Blue' - Novembre (6/10)

Beginning their musical journey as a death metal band called Catacomb, the musical collective now known as Novembre has more recently turned to a style of depressive melodic metal, most readily associated with the latter era music of Sweden's Katatonia. While 2006's 'Materia' showed the band straying their furthest from the metal sound they grew up on, the follow-up to that album seems to take the band back down to a darker sound. While the band creates a fine listening experience here, and gets the sense of melancholia and despair down beautifully in most cases however, the album does feel in far too many instances as if it could have used some more edge and variety to it.

'Anaemia' starts the album of on a very strong note, really showing what 'The Blue' is all about, emotionally stirred vocals, atmosphere, melody and sadness all over the course of a song.More than often, the music will be fuelled by dark guitar riffs that are usually quite simple and are little merit on their own, but almost always work well in the context of the song. On top of this are the vocals of Carmelo Orlando, who often switches between clean vocals and death growls, much like MIkael Akerfeldt of Opeth does. Here then, is an aspect of 'The Blue' that is entirely inconsistent. While his growls are always powerful and give their respective sections a heaviness to them, the clean vocals certainly emphasize emotion over any technical accomplishment. Orlando's vulnerable croon works incredibly for the more mellow moments of the album, but when he is forced to use his higher register, things can be very hit-or-miss. Quite often, the usually powerful baritone of Carmelo will be forced out of its confomrt zone, resulting in something that sounds a tad whiny and thin for a metal record.

Unfortunately, the weaknesses of this record do not stop there. With the exception of the first track and the largely instrumental piece 'Zenith', the songs on 'The Blue' don't really stick out from one another. Most often, they sound like one another, always seeming as if they are tapping into the same tricks and no matter how good the musical ideas Novembre has here are, they do end up feeling tired by the end of the album. That being said, all of the ideas on 'The Blue' are quite strong, and while there may not be so much of a variety to the music here to warrant what feels like an incredibly long album experience, it stands its ground, for the most part.

Let me start out saying that I only review albums that I'm really passionate about; maybe it's a band I love or maybe it's a band who's talented but still needs to work some things out. Well, right away, Novembre is one of my all-time favorite bands, so this is going to be a good review.

Now, I honestly had not heard of Novembre until Materia came out, but I had read (and listened) that this band was generally a very italian-influenced progressive rock-death-metal band. It's impossible not to put them in the exact same league as Opeth, Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, Cradle of Filth...Novembre came from this exact era and has all the influence and creativity to fit right in, with the 'unique twist' being they sound very italian in the musicianship. The only difference is, Novembre never got the recognition they deserved, partially because they stayed a little more 'weird' and 'experimental' than some of the others, they've evolved, but haven't made a 'mainstream album', if you will. Now, this was never a bad thing for Novembre, this has given them a very, very loyal, albeit smaller, fanbase, but if I'd had known about this band sooner, I probably would have definatly wanted them to make at least ONE album which really exposed them. Luckily, this was Materia...

Right away, there's many changes with Materia. The first, and most important, is this album is very prog rock influenced, really, really taking taking the direction of the soft parts on Novembrine Waltz. Mostly, there's no growling here, but that doesn't mean this isn't Novembre. The drummer still uses the same 'metal style' drumming, which makes you know this is the exact same band, the guitars are just as intricate and progressive, the singing is just as artistic, and the lyrics of coarse, are Novembre and even better. The main difference is instead of having a heavy sound, everything is generally soft prog rock with a very distinct death metal twist. This is truly a death metal band doing a soft album, this is definatly Novembre, it definatly is not the mega-huge change like between Opeth's Deliverance and Damnation (although that was no bad thing.) The second most important thing is the production, this album is more clear, stereo-worthy, and evolved sounding than a pop record. This is a first for Novembre, their production is usually a little muddy, and I have to say, I NEVER want them to give up this new production technique, it sounds amazing.

But for the metal lovers who just cannot enjoy a album without at least one growled part, fear not; half of this album has small growled parts. And what's better, is the growled parts are more distinct, clear, upbeat, powerful, and generally amazing than Novembre's heavy parts have ever been. Remember Love Story from years back? The heavy parts sound really distinct and punky almost, such as that song. And trust me, it is better than Novembre have ever sounded. This is one of my favorite albums of all time, and it's really the formula they need to stick with; the rest of their stuff ends up sounding really 'washed out' and 'drone' compared to this cd =/. But no fuss really, because their past albums are not bad either.

Great album!

A well-composed and occasionally interesting set of ominous and deep-sounding metal tunes limited in their impact due to a bland, repetative delivery and unremarkable playing.

"Materia" has a dark, brooding feel which persists throughout its length, with excellent dynamics to carry the listener along in a sort of somber boyounacy. The quite moments reverberate with beautiful textures, and the heavy stuff bombards one with slow-tempo, sonic walls of sound. "Materia's" sound isn't nearly as heavy or intense as some of Novembre's metal peers, and is very easy to listen to, but that might not be a good thing in the end. There are many layers to unravel, with the band member's musicinaship coming across as understated (or unambitious). The drummer is the standout member, and plays with an energy and enthusiasm which makes the two guitar players seems almost sedated.

There is a definite pattern to the group's composition which, although generally thoughtful and occasionally cool, repeats on almost every track, making it difficult to distinguish them or remember anything specific. I suppose "Materia's" mood is more important than its highlights, but its perpetual metal roar becomes a chore to get through before too long, and the listener will probably be wondering where the time went. There isn't exactley a "weak track", because there's nothing especially good to compare it to: it's all the same.

Carmelo Orlando's vocals are my final strike against "Materia", and its a pretty big one. He has a tuned-down (as in its pitch), inflectionless, nasaly drone used throughout the album. His range, phrasing, and energy feels exceptionally uninspired, especially since it is very exposed and upfront in most tracks. Some may find a melancholy emotion hidden somewhere within his long-held, tenor drone... but not me.

I like dark metal quite a bit, but Orlando's voice and the blandness of the group's musicianship makes "Materia" just for fans.

Songwriting: 3 Instrumental Performances: 3 Lyrics/Vocals: 1 Style/Emotion/Replay: 2

Classica is the third full-length studio album by Italian Goth/Doom/death metal artist Novembre. I haven´t been very impressed with the first two releases from the band and I can´t say that Classica changes my view on the band much.

The music on Classica is melodic Goth/Doom/death metal with both growling and clean vocals. If you know the Swedish band Katatonia think of how they would sound if they had released an album between Brave Murder Day (1996) and Discouraged Ones (1998) and you´re just about there. Unfortunately Novembre doesn´t get anywhere near the high quality in Katatonia´s music IMO. The strangely busy and not too tight drumming from Giuseppe Orlando is still a problem for me and the clean vocals from Carmelo Orlando are way back in the mix and sound like mumbling. I can´t make out a single word. Not all is bad on the album and I actually enjoy the melodic slow to mid paced music even though it´s not remarkable in any way.

The musicianship is other than the strange drumming and mumbling clean vocals pretty good.

The production is well crafted except for the clean vocals which are way too low in the mix. Maybe to disguise the Italian accent?

Classica is not an album that holds up well compared to other albums in the genre and I would listen to any Katatonia album before this. I´ve mentioned Katatonia a lot in this review and it´s because Novembre sounds a lot like that band. Novembre unfortunately lacks just about everything that makes Katatonia such a great band and a leader in the genre. Classica is not worth more than a 2 star rating from me. I hope they improve on later recordings.

Arte Novecento is the second band from Italian doom metal pioneers Novembre. Their debut wasn´t the most impressive album I have ever heard in the doom metal genre and it´s only a little better with this album.

The music is melodic and generally mid paced. I wouldn´t really call this doom metal as the pace is generally way too high.The vocals are melodic but the vocal lines are not very memorable. The guitar plays lots of melodic lines. I won´t mention any songs in particular as they are all of an equal quality. An exception is the Depeche Mode cover Stripped which is really weak and I even dare say horrible. This is blasphemy if you´re a Depeche Mode fan like myself.

As with the debut album I have to mention the way too busy drumming from Giuseppe Orlando. It´s better than on the debut but it still seems untight or maybe it´s just that this busy style doesn´t fit the slow music at all. There seems to be a conflict between the rythm in the vocal lines and the drums a couple of times during the playing time which by the way is 63:57 minutes. It´s way too long for trivial music like this.

The production is much better than on the debut. The album is recorded in Dan Swanö´s Unisound studio and even though I wouldn´t call this a good production it´s a step forward for Novembre.

The cover art is gloomy and suits the melancholic mood of the music very well.

On Arte Novecento Novembre once again proves that they are a second rate doom metal/ atmospheric metal band and that there is a long way to bands like Cathedral, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost and Katatonia. I only think this album deserves a 2 star rating even though it´s better than the debut. There are so many better albums in this genre that you´re better of not seeking this one out.

Wish I Could Dream it Again... is the debut album from Italian Doom/ death/ experimental rock band Novembre. I was personally introduced to Novembre seing them live as support to Katatonia on their The Great Cold Distance tour. I can´t say I was too impressed and it was with mixed feelings I appoached this album. I must say that I was both positively and negatively surprised. This album has great moments but also some really weak ones.

Novembre are very influenced by the Swedish doom/ death band Katatonia and especially the debut album from that band called Dance of December Souls which is a doom/ death classic. In addition to this style of music there are also melodic black metal tendencies on Wish I Could Dream it Again.... We´re not talking raw primitive black metal like Mayhem, Darkthrone or Gorgoroth but the more melodic variant. Novembre is generally a very melodic band and especially the guitars and the keyboards are very pleasant. The clean singing from Carmelo Orlando reminds me a bit about Darren White from Anathema but Carmelo´s raspy growls are definitely black metal inspired.

The drumming from Giuseppe Orlando is absolutely terrible. It´s seldom that I´ve heard such untight and clumsy drumming on a metal album and once again I´m reminded of Katatonia´s Dance of December Souls which likewise had terrible drumming. It´s obvious to hear that Giuseppe Orlando has many good ideas but his skills unfortunately don´t match.

Most songs have both dreaming experimental rock parts and doomy melodic death/ black parts. But the tempo is also really fastpaced a couple of times on the album which is a real treat for the diversity.

The musicinship is definitely the weak spot on this album. The musicians simply seem imature and not very skilled. It´s a bit of a shame as the music has so many good ideas that it had deserved a better destiny.

The production is not very good, but it depends on what kind of parts are played. When the dreamy keyboard/ guitar parts are played I think it sounds pretty good, but then when the more metal like parts kick in the album comes out looking pretty weak in the sound quality department.

The cover art suits the dreamy melancholic music well.

The music on Wish I Could Dream it Again... is worth a 3 star rating but because of the bad production and the even worse drum playing I´ll have to go for a 2 star rating of the album. It shows a lot of promise though and I´m looking forward to reviewing the rest of Novembre´s discography.

Novembre are one of the best italian bands, and confirm that once more with Dreams D'Azur. This album is a revisiting of their very rare and row sounding debut Wish I Could Dream It Again; only now the greatness of that album is truly showed. What makes Dreams D'Azur so great is the strange feeling, that immediately reminds a confused dream; a feeling that is represented by many beautiful musical passages. Tracks like The Dream Of The Old Boats, Novembre, Sirens In Filth and The Music are really awesome in this sense.

The album objectively it's not a real masterpiece of progressive music, but I personally love it too much for not giving it 5 stars. Recommended to any fan of Opeth and Katatonia.