Novembrine Waltz

For lovers of dark beauty through music, the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the new millennium was indeed a rewarding time. While certain bands were experimenting with electronics and a stripped back sound, there were just as many taking the gothic and melodic doom masterpieces of the 1990s and drawing on those albums' strengths to create new emotive plateaus.

Italy’s Novembre, despite being signed to Century Media and Peaceville Records at various stages of their career, nevertheless feel somewhat overlooked and forsaken in the context of globally successful bands. Despite being a fan for over 20 years now, I can’t really recall meeting many people who would namecheck Novembre as one of their favourite bands. Novembre never toured my country, and there never seemed to be much in the way of media coverage back in the glory days of magazines like Terrorizer and Metal Hammer. There were bits and pieces, of course, but they never seemed to get further than supporting labelmates Katatonia and Opeth, and I always thought they were short-changed.

Which is a pity, because Novembre at their best are one of the greatest bands to have graced the darkened melodic genre of metal. Like many bands in the early 90s, their first couple of albums were enjoyable but unavoidably a bit rough, with productions that were at the mercy of small budgets and lesser tier recording studios. It wasn’t until ‘Classica’ was released at the very start of the year 2000 that they hit upon a new level of effectiveness and impact, with a smoother sound and a more mature sense and sensibility, albeit while retaining a strong sense of steel and sting. Then when ‘Novembrine Waltz’ hit a little over a year later, it was like a revelation, the echoes of which resound even now.

‘Novembrine Waltz’, the band’s fourth full-length and second for Century Media, is a masterclass of songwriting in the gothic and melodic doom styles. Indeed, pinning down the genre is a challenge, as they don’t easily inhabit any of the accepted sub-genres at the darker end of metal. The album is part gothic, part classical, part melodic, with Carmelo Orlando’s mid-level shrieks and smoothly clean vocals providing great variety. There's a sense of progressivism, too, that drives the whole thing along through (fairly gentle) twists and turns.

The album begins with the masterful ‘Distances’, which contains some heartstring-tugging melodic guitar before dropping into a glorious accordion/keyboard waltz that gives credence to the album title and perfectly captures a very European sense of romance and atmosphere. I can say without hyperbole that it is almost possible to sense the sweetened aromas of good food and wine in a moonlit piazza somewhere in Rome, such is the effectiveness of this moment in the song. The metal then comes back in to join the melody and the emotive stakes are raised to near spine-chilling heights as the whole reaches its crescendo. This is songwriting at its best and it's a superb way to begin the album.

‘Everasia’ is a slightly longer, more epic track, containing some beautiful Italian lyrics along with their standard English verses. At a couple of points a chorus of male voices comes in, rhythmically chanting – almost calling: “Da padre a figlio, da padre al figlio del figlio” (“From father to son, from father to the son of the son”) in a beautiful moment of sentimentality. ‘Valentine (almost an instrumental)’ is an emotive swinging track that moves through some glorious passages, while the surprisingly excellent and equally unexpected cover of Kate Bush’s ‘Cloudbusting’ bursts forth with radiance and appropriateness. It's a bold choice for a cover song, yet it just seems to fit so well here, with plaintive female vocals acting as a palate cleanser midway through the album. All the tracks are emotive blockbusters that target the listener's sense of nostalgia, romance and sentiment.

The production and performance are exceptional. It is probably the best sounding Novembre album – it's a delight to listen to and mercifully free from the excessive synthetic feel that would unfortunately come into things later on with their ‘The Blue’ album, while pound for pound the tracks are better written than the somewhat wiry ‘Materia’. The guitar harmonies are the highlight, although they are complemented by tasteful keyboards that contribute to that difficult-to-define sense of European romance that seeps from the speakers on every track.

Carmelo’s voice warrants special comment. The growled vocals are slightly deeper than on the previous few releases, and if I found them slightly harsh on the ear during the ‘Classica’ album, they are right in the pocket here. His smooth vocals are also at their peak, strangely, as there is a relaxed yet tuneful style to his deepish voice that unfortunately gives way to an almost auto-tuned rigidity on later albums. The variety here works beautifully well and he's struck a pleasing balance.

The album cover is an evocative Travis Smith work that utilises a synthesis of images quite well, and the booklet with lyrics carries on the theme with taste and creativity. The whole package is befitting of the audio that it houses, and it is well worth having in the collection.

‘Novembrine Waltz’ is an album that really needs to be heard by those of a sentimental nature. It is sophisticated yet hooky, melodic yet atmospheric, and transports the listener to a more romantic, ancient, world while also retaining a sense of power and push. It’s a glorious work, difficult to describe, yet repeated listenings will ensure a rich and rewarding musical experience across the years.

There are very few albums that I consider to have helped truly shape my musical taste and that I also still consider to be absolute perfection. This is one of them.

Out of my 900 or so collection of albums, this is in my top ten and it has been there pretty much since I got it over 10 years ago. Most of my albums probably wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for this one. Personally, along with discovering Opeth and Agalloch in 2002, this is one of the albums that helped define the very fabric of my musical taste and forever changed how I perceive music. It opened up my ears to an entire hidden realm of bliss and made me realize I didn’t know music could be this good. On the other hand, it will make all other music you have ever known seem a little worse.

Ok, this is by far not the heaviest or most brutal thing out there, so if you’re looking for that, keep looking. As far as metal goes, it’s quite mellow, but I think Novembre combines the perfect elements of aggression, atmosphere, melody, emotion, and distinctiveness. There are few death growls, maybe one third of the vocals, but both the clean and death vocals are excellent. They both bleed their respective emotions with tremendous power and Carmello Orlando’s voice is brilliant.

This album is probably the mid-point of Novembre’s career as far as heaviness and softness goes. I would say Classica and Dreams D’Azur are heavier albums and contain more death vocals and Materia and The Blue are softer and contain less. This one is sort of the perfect fusion between the two worlds, although Materia is really sneaking up there on my list of favorite albums.

Novembre’s lyrics are quite unlikely for a death metal band. They rarely sing about gloom, sorrow, or gore, but rather things like dreams, love, and nature in a very poetic and pleasurable way. This strange juxtaposition with the music makes for some of my favorite lyrics from any artist.

On this album I think Novembre has achieved the most “progressive” sound out of all their albums so far. These songs have so many different sections, ideas, transitions, and feelings that it never gets dull. This album screams to be listened to so much because there is so much variety. Personally, I think the harder it is to “digest” an album (that is, being able to practically remember it note for note) means the more replay value it will have, and this will potentially take years to digest. These songs have many softer parts, folksy parts, and majestic, powerful clean vocals merging with the aggression, relentless riffing, and terrorizing vocals. Each song is a well-crafted work of art with a surreal melody and top-notch musicianship.

Novembre also has something magical about their sound that I simply cannot describe. When listening to it, I don’t just hear guitars, vocals, and drums (even though those things are excellently executed). I hear an atmosphere being created around me, a sonic painting manifesting itself no matter how heavy or soft it is. This is something few bands can pull off and yet this is how every Novembre album is. Do yourself a favor and leap into the world of these brilliant musicians.

Ho man, I slept to this entire album not too long ago – truly a dream experience. The productions jobs serve as a huge improvement over previous albums and the formula remains untainted as before, thus giving me the satisfaction to call this Novembre’s honest album. The band recorded this shit themselves, so this time there wasn’t any fuck-ups. Now when I mean I slept to this album, I don’t mean I fell asleep, but that drifted into a tranquil state that literally kept me snug on the couch. The riffs here aim to carry you around like a magic carpet through aurora borealis. Be it crunchy riffs, wistful clean playing, or acoustic bliss thrown in for good measure, these crafty Italians still know how to write flamboyant tracks.

Before, you could appreciate most tracks these guys churned out for the tone and melody. However, here these boys pull out all the stunts. My one complaint is that there is no true life to the album. Yes, songs are wonderfully written and performed in all their catchy glory, but it isn’t you’d break your neck over or jump around and dance to like Entombed’s “Sinner’s Bleed.” Don’t take this criticism so dearly that you’ll pass this album up – nay I say here say!

All of these tracks are pretty equal to each other, though that Kate Bush cover… never trusted that woman and the song itself is very odd on this album. It’s serene once you actually listen to it, but it doesn’t stand a chance compared to the others. The three tracks I feel outdo the rest in harmony and emotion are “Everasia,” “Flower,” “Valentine,” and “Venezia Dismal” – let these four be the standouts for newcomers to hear. There are no “singles” here, so let not these chosen few diminish the value of the rest… except that cover song; Kate Bush can suck on a suppository for all I care. The performance by Ann Mari Edvardsen on the track is commendable, if I were to value anything by it.

Ah yes, thine mandatory vocal performance. With the bass playing a backing role that you can actually hear (very jazzy during the delicate parts of the songs), the bass drums actually having beefy kick to them , and the guitars sounding like glitzy Mediterranean waves, I’d say the vocals were well off. Carmelo’s vocals have been called nasally, but that’s the beauty of it. It isn’t annoying nasal, but more like soothing nasal – clear, humble, and inoffensive while having such sentiment. I’d call his harsh vocals “throaty growls” cause he tries to pull off a growl using the method that you’d figure someone would scream by.

To end this, I have a lyrical bit from the track “Everasia.” The first time you hear this section, you’ll likely sing along, as I did.

Sing along with me motherfucker!

“Issa! Oh! Oh! Issa! Issa! Oh! Oh!
Da padre! A figlio! Da padre! A figlio!
Da padre al figlio del figlio!”

Before I started my reviewing conquest on Novembre’s material, I recognised them as an individualistic band who stuck to their own style without much development over the years. I thought of them well, though not high in my esteem, and had no qualms when it came to their music. They offered me moments of reflection and some time to relax with my thoughts, and for those of you that have seen the brilliant 80’s flick ‘Stand By Me’, based on Stephen Kings short story ‘The Body’, I do that exclusively with my right hand. Other than that, Novembre were always in the back of my mind. I had been meaning to write reviews for this illustrious band for some time now, years even, but never got around to it until now, which supports my eventual opinion of the band as largely forgettable. In many ways, I’m glad I didn’t review them earlier. I probably would have been very hasty with my comments, not allowing hindsight to evaluate the material almost entirely for me. So, in hindsight, my opinion of this Italian hybrid has notably declined as the years have turned by. The hands of the clock were striking down on this band, smashing my opinion of them into pieces and leaving me with nothing but shattered memories of a band I once used to enjoy. Nowadays, I’m mostly indifferent to Novembre, which is a shame. The band have progressed, which is nice and all, but nice isn’t going to last long in the memory. ‘Novembrine Waltz’, which appears to be the fans favourite, is just that - nice. The issues with production and such from the previous efforts have all dissipated and have long since been forgiven, though not forgotten.

‘Novembrine Waltz’ is rather like the dance itself - monotonous, repetitive and slow. The churning nature of this record wouldn’t be as disappointing as it eventually turns out to be if the material was striking. Instead of being the cobra of the family of Novembre records, ‘Novembrine Waltz’ turns out to be the bunny rabbit and we all know the cliché that rabbits mate like crazy (which explains the history of Novembre records, since, you know, they‘re mostly dross). Fluffy, nice from a distance, but shits everywhere eventually (especially on opinions, in the metaphorical sense) and stinks like hell. Before I started listening to this record again, for the first time in a while, I assumed I’d have a lot more positive points to critique, but it simply hasn’t turned out that way. I must admit though, I do find more pleasure in listening to this record than I do the others before it and here is why;

A) Musicianship has improved, which is surprising. During previous Novembre records, it was almost as if the listener was in God’s waiting room, having been put there by Novembre after the tremendous beating they gave us with the awful production values. The production has improved, though it already had on the previous record. Songs like ‘Come Pierrot’ are good examples on Novembre’s improved abilities of writing good songs, with impressing structures. This songs adds a nice melancholic texture given its highly influential bass section. Novembre in the past had fixated themselves on including bass as much as possible and although it didn’t come off for them then, it is starting to now. The production doesn’t drown any element out any more, including the bass, which has some trouble signifying itself amongst the chaos. Thankfully, Novembre constant line-up changes have proved worthwhile since they replaced the bassist with a much more competent musician who is likely to give the band a more consistent sound that flows well alongside other sections. Elements like the acoustics and the clean vocals have also stepped up to the mark. Particularly Carmelo’s clean vocals, which had a tendency to sound very nasal and drawn out (though that element still exists). The washing of the waves and electric-acoustic passages in ‘Child Of The Twilight’ sit well next to the emotive vocals. Line-up changes has also seen the return of the keyboardist, Negrini, who provides symphonic textures that enhance the emphasis on emotive, particularly sad emotions. The percussion is a lot more pressing nowadays. Its layered better and doesn’t allow double bass to dominate, which it had a tendency to do on previous outings.

B) The overall content is much more inspired this time, though the Kate Bush cover is rather odd. First of all, it doesn’t seem to fit in context with the rest of the material. The female vocals aren’t impressionable in the slightest and the keyboard driven base is overbearing and un-Novembre like. The band work their magic on some songs, but embrace the mediocrity on occasions too, which is a shame. I do like some of the content on this record, songs like ‘Come Pierrot’, in particular, show some class and its about time too! Novembre’s sound had an undesired ability of standing still, rather than progressing on to greater things. The fact that the line-up has changed, with better musicians being drafted in and current musicians maturing has meant that Novembre can finally add some textures to their music seeing as the production is good. The content, at its best, is in a healthy state. Blood is pumping through its veins and there is no heart trouble with the inner depths of the soundscapes. The emotional outlet that is Carmelo is hitting some sort of form for Novembre now too. His position in the band always seemed to be as leader and though his performance on the previous effort wasn’t his greatest, he’s beginning to set himself up as the base of creativity on which the band flows from. His input is essential and without him, Novembre would have fallen by the waist into oblivion and beyond some time ago. Thankfully, given the rise in performance, his vocals have improved, especially the clean vocals. They’re beginning to sound harmonious and much more mature. His harsh vocals, which are low growls, aren’t as bad as they once were, but they’re not perfect. Again, this is a work in progress, frustratingly so.

I first heard of Novembre during the days when MP3.com had free streams and such. The thing was I was a bit scared of metal, so I stayed away for awhile. Then, last year, I got into tons of metal and found this site. Enough backstory, onto the album. When I saw gothic/doom/death metal under genre, I was intrigued. Even though this album isn't a pure mixture of those three elements, each is used to some extent. This CD is mainly gothic in composition and song structure, with death-influence in the harsh vocals, and finally doom atmospheres. Now it isn't My Dying Bride-style doom, it's more of a doomy feeling that the songs have. The guitars have a classical tinge to them which really helps the atmospheres and fans of classical music like myself. The drums are very well done; not too many blastbeats, but not too few either. And like Opeth, Novembre use acoustic passages very effectively (once again complimenting the atmospheres). But what is really great about this album is the emotion. Each song is bursting with emotion, and yes, that is a good thing. But it isn't an "emo", kind of emotion. It's emotion while maintaining maturity. The lyrics are very poetic and make use of intriguing imagery. The Kate Bush cover, Cloudbusting, seems a little out of place compared to the rest of the album, but it's still enjoyable and not worthy of decreasing the album's score. All in all, this album has an amazing feel and atmosphere to it, and it would be perfect for fans of Opeth, Agalloch, and newer Anathema.

Yeah, I couldn't think of decent title for this review, I'm kind of at a loss for
words on this one.

There really aren't enough adjectives that could possibly be used to describe how much this album kicks ass, but I guess I'll have to try to make to do with the limited amount of adjectives in existence.

The album starts out with "Distances", which quickly builds up into a majestic, melodic introduction, churning out some really beautiful riffs. This song is easily one of the best on the album, very melodic, very nice.

There is always a sombre, melancholic feel to Novembre's music, but in a very, very good way. Whereas a lot of doom metal bands try to go with a sombre, depressing atmosphere, they rarely pull it off, yet with Novembre (even though they're not doom metal per se), they manage to do it flawlessly.

Each song on this album is very atmospheric, there's nothing quite like travelling a long journey while listening to Novembre, because sitting at your computer and listening to it doesn't quite capture the mood of the music.

I've seen a lot of people try to compare Novembre to Opeth; however, I don't
really see any comparisons that could be made. Opeth suck, Novembre are awesome.

The riffs through this album are usually always mid paced, and very melodic, and the tone of the guitar kind of helps with the atmosphere. The drumming, while not being overly remarkable, has its' moments where it really shines through; such as on the song "Everasia". The vocals alternate between clean, beautiful singing, and low to high pitched screams. Novembre's vocalist is easily one of the best vocalists I've ever heard.

I'd try to pick out a few highlight tracks, but in all honesty; the majority of
the album is excellent. There is a Kate Bush cover; called "Cloudbusting", and if it weren't for that song, this album probably would've gotten a 95 - 100% from me.

Althought the song is good, it just doesn't fit in with the rest of the album.
In conclusion; if you're one of those me(a)talheads that will only listen to
something if it's fast and brutal; you really don't know what you're missing, and this definitely won't be your cup of tea. But if you're looking for something
different, something with a melancholic, sombre feel to it; look no further, because this is definately for you.

Okay, so you are probably all wondering why I woudl compare Novembre to Opeth, so I'll enlighten you all: instead of being like Opeth and adding in clean/melodic vocals every once in a while inbetween alot of death vocals, Novembre have decided to add in some death vocals once in a while between all the clean/melodic vocals. And I must say I enjoy this contrast a bit more.

Carmelo is a wonderful vocalist. His voice is incredibly powerful yet soothing at the same time. It's fucking bliss during the occasional times he humms during the songs (Valentine, Child of the Twilight...). Very very very few metal bands have enough talent and class to pull something like that off; I really can't stress this fact enough. His lyrics are full of beauty and imagery seemingly pulled from a fairytale, the Italian lyrics are a great touch as well; nothing adds so much to a song as a foreign language does.

The guitars are yet another gorgeous element in Novembre's music. Novembre have the ability to be incredibly technical, yet express so much sorrow and mystery all at once. Normally I would say the riffs will reach out and grab ya by the balls, but I feel that Novembre take a different approach and grab you by the heart. Even the bass riffs have been composed with a ton of technicality and emotion. Everything on this album is pieced together perfectly.

Guiseppe has proven himself to be quite the versatile and talented drummer. He plays alot of different and technical stuff on this album. Not to mention the excellent double bass which he has perfected the speed of during his work with Novembre. There is even a guest female vocalist during the song 'Valentine' (which comes quite close to being and instrumental), and occasional piano parts throughout the album as well.

Best Tracks: Distances, Come Pierrot, Child of the Twilight, Cloudbusting, Flower, Valentine.