Novembrine Waltz

Well, I had listen to their previous effort Classica and found the band to be musically inspiring but wasting their talents with their singer who singer with a growly unattracting voice. The new one still continue upon that direction but they have add much more clear vocals, that help brings an interesting balance between the beauty (music) and the beast (vocals). I really like their new opus. Melodic to the bones, great melodies on which a growling vocals add a dark feeling, maybe too dark actually. The songs themselves are quite nice but I find myself having trouble with these Black Metal kind of vocals, I not sure they suit Novembre music, maybe if they were less shouts and aggressive it would be better I think. Speaking of music, the drums sounds half artificial (drum box). The parts when clear vocals appear either in the back or in front shows how much Novembre is a great Gothic band and I don't understand why it's not always like this. The songwriting is very complex and progressive, adding a lot of originality to the band. The songs are long, all more than 6 minutes each and varies a lot. Novembre can be compare to Opeth, but they're less aggressive somehow, more accessible if you will. I largely prefer this new album than Classica, cause there are less growly/agonizing vocals than the last opus. The mood of the song is very sad, and it fits the band like a glove since the word "November" usually implies a sad feeling. The album contains an excellent cover song from Kate Bush called Cloudbusting singed by Ann-Mari Edvardsen which vocally performs admirably. An interesting album, with lots of killing songs, an interesting approach and a very particular song-writing that will not go unnoticed, that's for sure. Actually I give them a "A" for originality without any hesitation. The vocal balance on this album brings this band to deliver, I think, their best album. An excellent Gothic Metal act that seems to find their marks and deliver an outstanding performance. Impressive.