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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Perhaps a bit rushed, but still exceptional, March 5, 2008
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.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best Italian bands no doubt, May 18, 2008
The Blue successfully expands on the sound experiment of Materia, the previous Novembre album, but also brings in elements from their earlier works. On some songs, it is easy to notice the mix of powerful death metal elements and the more mellow yet progressive side of Materia.
Contrary to their previous disc, The Blue exudes greater use of death metal-styled vocals and screams from Carmelo Orlando, but he hasn't abandoned his sombre clean tone completely. Actually, most of the tunes on The Blue boast his unmistakable clean singing a la Materia, such as "Cobalt of March" with its Ulverian intro and excellent guitar cascades; "Bluecracy" with its penchant for melodic guitar lines and groove-oriented rhythmic facade; or "Architeme" with its detailed Radiohead-like arrangement, something which has been carried over from Materia as well.
That said, the same songs are also filled with Orlando's pain-ridden screams as well as growls and whispers. The aforementioned "Bluecracy", for instance, brings forth his entire vocal spectrum, as he starts with his somewhat upbeat clean voice, then mixes it up with his hate-infested screams and finishes with creepy whispers. However, the balance of the whole song is maintained due to the clever inclusion of melodic guitar work. Moreover, on "Sound Odyssey", the band's extreme sides are interwoven into a melodic framework. It begins with the saddest acoustic guitars and synths you can imagine before alternating vocal parts take the lead, with the clean singing perhaps being the album's high point.
The demonic screams of "Cantus Christi" are sheer emotion not to mention the accompanying guitar theme. The very fact that Novembre infuses wonderful guitar themes into their songcraft is testimony to their formidable songwriting. They avoid overusing a melody or theme no matter how powerful it is. The same method has been applied to "Nascence", where Carmelo Orlando is joined by female vocalist Francesca Iacorossi (Oblivio), and while the main melody of the piece is godly, it is used in a very restrained mindset. The vocals are simply fantastic, exchanging stanzas and even lines before the song climaxes with a highly emotional guitar solo.
Two tracks on the seem to be quite personal, one of them being "Triesteitaliana". A song penned about Italy's northern border town Trieste, it manages to merge plenty of contrasting moods in its four-minute running time. The drumming on this song is awesome, and Orlando's slightly gothic-toned delivery works very well when countered by his trademark screams. Also, the almost entirely instrumental piece "Zenith", perhaps the band's best moment, moves through many passages, and also features a wonderful flute arrangement with ethereal keys lingering over it. The final verse, at less than thirty seconds, is the same verse of "Come Pierrot" from the band's complex album Novembrine Waltz.
Unless I'm mistaken, "Argentic" is the only tune on this song with all clean vocals, but, while good, does not come close to capturing the same level of intensity of the Materia songs. Though it would be unfair to compare The Blue with its predecessor, I feel Materia was a more thorough effort with staggering moments and unmatched songwriting excellence.
The album was mixed by Finland's legendary Mikko Karmila and, thus, maintains a stylistic similarity to later day Amorphis and Sentenced. I do think the production of Materia is better, but then again, no Novembre album could equal it. This disc should please those who complained about Materia being too mellow, so here is something more aggressive showcasing Novembre's brutal side without fully ignoring their progressive leanings.
Once again, Travis Smith's artwork is amazing. The band should never even think of working with another artist.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best metal cd's of 2007, February 16, 2008
Novembre is not a well known band, but they should be after this latest release. This album covers death & doom metal and some progressive elements are present. Each song on the cd is captivating and stands on their own. Not a bad song on this cd in my opinion. You can play this over and over and you won't push the eject button. Novembre continues to grow into their own unique sound. This is well worth the purchase. If you enjoy melodic death metal and doom metal then you will want this in your collection.
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