Blue

Novembre | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 20, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Peaceville UK
• ASIN: B000VWWLYK
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #294,664 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

CD reissue of this 2007 album from the Italian Prog/Metal band. Following the success of 2006's Materia, and on the back of the great acclaim received for its highly successful blend of atmospheric, emotional and Progressive Rock/Metal elements, the band returned in 2007 with The Blue. Featuring an even greater dynamic - both vocally and musically -and twists of Doom/Gothic, Novembre impressed fans of the genre. The Blue was recorded at Outersound Studios, Italy, by the band and mixed at Finnvox Studios in Finland. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps a bit rushed, but still exceptional, March 5, 2008

By 

IcemanJ (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Blue (Audio CD)

I was very surprised when I first heard of another Novembre album coming out. It had been a mere 18 months since the last album, and Novembre usually took on the longer end in between albums (4 years in between the release of Dreams D'Azur and Materia). Being one of my favorite bands of all time, of course I was excited about a new album so suddenly, but I simply didn't have that time to anticipate it like I usually would with any release from my favorite bands. Honestly, I was still digesting the overwhelming "Materia." I'm not saying I would have rather it came out 3 or 4 years later, but I wonder if the suddenness contributes to the slight pitfalls I've noticed below.

I don't know if it's the seemingly premature release of the album or not, but it seems to lack that special spark, that unique kick that most other Novembre albums deliver with some left over. The songs are mostly of good quality, both in production and construction, basically what you can expect from Novembre: winding, melodic, progressive metal monstrosities, wailing clean vocals, powerful death growls, sweet guitar riffs and solos, and a few soft acoustic parts, but individually they don't stick in your mind as much. It is good music when you listen to it, but hard to distinctly remember certain parts and therefore difficult to crave a listen. After I got this album, I listened maybe twice and then whenever I was in the mood for Novembre, I ended up playing Materia because I kept "craving" specific songs that I just HAD to hear. However, the album has grown on me since I got it and is continuing to grow on me.

The song that stood out to me the most on the first listen was "Nascence," utilizing some gorgeous female vocals to provide a wonderful harmonization, for something a bit different. Although the melodies sound great, the song overall seems a bit thrown together and disoriented and doesn't really have a definitive direction and progression to it.

"Zenith" is a monstrous almost-instrumental, (a-la "Valentine") with only about 30 second of vocals in a 7 minute song. Something we don't get from Novembre often. It opens with a peaceful acoustic tune amid some ambient keyboards, gradually releasing the gorgeous metal tunes within. A few minutes in, a fast Comedia-like riff portion emerges, quickly receding into a delightful, lengthy keyboard bit almost sounding like a movie or video game soundtrack. This slowly builds up with more substance, eventually introducing the few vocals. Might sound odd for Novembre, but it works very well; this is definitely one of the album's standouts.

"Triesteitaliana" is another great head-sticker; probably my second favorite song on the album although, again, parts of this song seem a bit jumbled together. The opening gets stuck in my head the most out of any song on this album, and also the soft ballad-style ending will also linger in your brain.

The heartfelt, acoustic-driven ending of "Cantus Christi" is another outstanding and memorable moment on this album.

It hurts to criticize my beloved Novembre, but "Cobalt of March" is perhaps one of the most unimpressive of their songs to date, with no punch, no progression, and clean vocals that are actually annoying and repetitive to me.

Other things I have noticed on this album include, unfortunately, a great void of Italian vocals. In fact, there are absolutely none, other than a few mentions of the song title in some songs. I really like when they use Italian lyrics, it adds a certain ethnic identity to the band, so naturally it feels like there's something missing. In fact, there have been at least a few lines of Italian vocals on every album, which is even more disheartening to discover that they have suddenly been abandoned. Also, there are much more death growls than there were on "Materia." It almost seems as though the band is going retro and exploring their youthful sound again, which is cool, just kind of confusing because there's nothing wrong with the direction they were going in.

This album might not have a wholeness to it quite as much as past albums, but maybe I have bashed this album more than it deserved. Honestly the only reason is because Novembre has made so much amazing music over the years, and when there is a very slight disappointment, it is much more noticeable. If you are a longtime fan you'll most likely get what you need out of this album, you may even like it more than "Materia" or whatnot. However, if you are just discovering this great band, I really suggest you start with "Materia" or "Novembrine Waltz" first. Novembre remains one of my very favorite bands and are among today's finest metal musicians.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and mysterious metal bathed in blue, November 27, 2009

By 

William Dorfer - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blue (Audio CD)

Although I'm new to Novembre and can't compare this to any of their other albums, I think "The Blue" on its own stands as a great album. Across the entire album, there are many beautiful melodies, dreamlike and huge-sounding. There's also a progressive influence, which is shown in the songwriting and dynamics, going from heavy to soft, or from clean vocals to growls. I like to think of this album as sounding like a cross between HIM and Opeth; it takes the melodies and mystical vibe of HIM and puts it with the heaviness, songwriting and progressive influence of Opeth.

It's a pleasant surprise to find that this band comes from Italy, giving me yet another reason to be proud of my heritage. Anyway, "The Blue" is overall a great album that gives metal a rare spin of beauty, melody and mystery mixed with intensity and heaviness, not to mention the band packs plenty of talent. Like I said, I can't say how this album compares to Novembre's other works, but on its own, I think it sets out to do what it wanted. Give it a good spin, preferably at night! Thanks for the time, and peace.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beauty as cold as ice!, November 29, 2007

By 

Mick V. Nicholas (Allentown, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blue (Audio CD)

Novembre is one the best metal bands out there today. They are also one of the most overlooked considering that their fan base is seemingly restricted to Italy. All of that aside, this is a solid release! This album possesses the raw, beautiful, atmospheric, melodic, passionate songs that we, as Novembre fans have come to know and love. One thing I noticed about this album is that is seem a lot more focused than "Classica" and "Materia." The song structure is much more concrete than the fade-out-fade-in style of writing they seemed to embrace in their last release. My only gripe is that this release seems to lack a lot of dynamics musically and a lot of the songs run together sometimes. Otherwise, this release will consume you and leave you wanting more!