ARTE NOVECENTO

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.