Hails & Horns

[Novembers Paul]

Novembers Doom
"The Novella Reservoir" CD

As much of an atmospheric doom-head that I am, I've never much dug November's Doom. First, the singer blows. Just monotone, throaty barf growls with shitty patterns. The singing parts are cool, but more often than not, they are discarded for the boring abrasive parts. This album in particular goes for a harder-hitting sound, but it's mostly chug-a-lug guitar. "Rain" is a boring, placating track that is remarkably average save for the dissonant Opeth-like chorus. The second song "Novella Reservoir" is much better - this drudgy My Dying Bride number. Once again, the growling vocals are boring. The clean, instrumental breaksd are slick, but the actual heavy parts are a retread. And that is the general circumference of this record. Slick prog/clean parts, chug-a-lug retread, predictable vocals. Sometimes it shines, but only when the guitar busts out something remarkable. The highpoint is the more acoustic, harmony drenched "Twilight Innocence." This band is awesome when they get pretty, and mediocre generica when heavy. So shoot me. (RB) Ryan Bartek

 

[Jasonic]

I am surprised the editors of that zine didn't make him change some of the wording. There is nothing wrong with a reviewer being honest on their opinions of a disc, but it should be done with a certain degree of professionalism.

 

[Will Bozarth]

I love reviews like this. Reading stuff like that actually makes me want to hear the cd... and most times, I like it.

 

[Novembers Paul]

The zine was great to us the month before. A nice multi page spread with an interview with Larry. It was great. This month... not so much.

 

[BrandonS]

I guess you can't always be lucky enough to get reviewed by a fan.

 

[dark world]

It's just the opinion from one person...

 

[Novembers Paul]

I left all the typos and mispellings in it as it was printed as well.

In reality, it's the fans opinions that matter. I just wanted to see what you guys thought of this.

 

[NvmbrsDoom5]

Yknow, in all honesty.....

Of course it's nice to be reviewed by a "fan" because you know it's likely to be good. But truth be told, I prefer that a review be from someone who is not biased in either direction, good or bad. This Ryan guy was quite obviously biased against us before he ever heard a single note of the new cd. That's the only major issue I really take with this review. Y'know it sucks to get a bad review but it happens. Of course you can't please everyone out there.

But I'm perturbed with the fact that our cd was reviewed by someone who A.) already didn't like us and made that quite clear at the start of the review, and B.) clearly doesn't have a clue about this music, or at least isn't trying very hard (the whole Opeth and My Dying Bride retread again *sigh* Can any of you say that you genuinely hear My Dying Bride in the song "The Novella Reservoir"????) It doesn't bother me that he doesn't like us. Fuck him, who cares? It's just a shame that the interview last month that we did with Ray Van Horn Jr. was a really decent one, and he clearly had done his homework about the band. If only they had given the review to him or at least another writer who wasn't already so against us from the start. I've read negatively tinged reviews from critics who I could tell at least were giving us a fair listen and had some valid points and views. If was a writer and my editor gave me a cd to review of a band that I already knew I really disliked, I would tell them to give it to another critic for review. But I guess that's asking for too much, heh. Not to mention....This review reads like something a 17 year old high school kid might come up with. It's a shame really.

Oh well, thanks for the nice article in the last issue Hails and Horns, I'm sorry the same care wasn't given towards who you chose to review our cd this issue, heh. I could have taken the negative review more constructively had it been from someone who at least was giving us a fair shake.

 

[Jasonic]

That's a great point Larry that you made about the intro to the review. The guy admits he doesn't care for Nov Doom. He should have read that himself and given the disc to someone else to review.

I read a recent review of the new TROUBLE. The guy starts of similar saying, "I haven't heard a note of these guys since the Skull". The rest of the review bashes the album to hell. Well, you are a complete dimwit if you missed 15 years of a band's career and expect to catch up and love the album.

No need to worry. Almost every review I have read of TNR has been very positive.

 

[Will Bozarth]

you do realize that often times reviewers are sent cds at random, right? If reviewers always did cds they liked, every review would be a positive one... that's boring.

 

[beast from the east]

In the end, it's just one biased guy's opinion...that's all it amounts to. I enjoy reading reviews, but I take them with a grain of salt. I don't give them much weight.

 

[Jasonic]

you do realize that often times reviewers are sent cds at random, right? If reviewers always did cds they liked, every review would be a positive one... that's boring.

Oh absolutely.
Though, if I reviewed CDs for a zine, and was sent the new Machine Head, I would quickly give it to someone else, as I know I would not give it a fair and proper review.

I think you should at least have some knowledge and appreciation for the genre you are reviewing, even if you aren't the biggest fan of the band. Though, if you truly dislike the band to begin with, then you may want to cease reviewing that disc.

 

[Novembers Paul]

It's not about a negative review. I don't mind that at all. It's about being professional and this clearly is NOT.

 

[Will Bozarth]

well, obviously. that's why I find it so funny.

 

[NvmbrsDoom5]

you do realize that often times reviewers are sent cds at random, right? If reviewers always did cds they liked, every review would be a positive one... that's boring.

Again though I think my point is being missed here.

It's not that a review should always be positive. Of course that would be redundant and pointless. And it goes without saying that a reviewer is going to listen to many discs that he/she does not care for, hence the negative review. I mean that's all a given.

The point is, once again.....why bother reviewing something that you already know you're doing to dislike before you've heard a note of it? This guy stated clearly from the start that he never liked us. The odds of him enjoying our cd, much less giving it an optimistic open-minded point of view review, was all but none. It's unfair to the artist that their cds be reviewed by someone who basically hates the band already. The point of a critical review of a cd, movie, etc., is that you're supposed to be able to give a clear, unbiased point of view on the quality of the music inside. I realise that's not always possible, but the thing is, there are how many different writers/critics on staff at this magazine? If he was to have passed on our cd, knowing that the odds were great that he wouldn't like it and have any kind of open-mindedness to the review, then I'd have respected him.

I guess this concept of mine seems to go over people's heads, I don't understand. In what way was this review informative and helpful to anyone really, when it was quite clearly negatively biased against us by someone incapable and unwilling to give a fair critical review? Even if this review had been written by someone who had never heard of us before, at least I could know that the reviewers opinion wasn't already colored so negatively before he even hit 'play' on his cd player. Do you believe that this guy was giving our cd an open-minded listen from the start given the things he had to say about us in this review? Do you understand my point yet?

The critic from Royal Carnage that I debated with over his TPHD review was a perfect example of someone having negative constructive criticism that I respected. The guy had obviously done his homework on the band, and appreciated us enough to at least give us a fair listen, and even though he had negative things to say, some of which I didnt agree with, I still could respect his opinion and where it's coming from. And he didn't write his review with such high class comments like "The vocals suck, the patterns are boring." Really? Gee, how informative. Sounds like a review I'd get from my teenaged cousin, heh.

And, ugh, yknow I hate even having threads like this because inevitably alot of people out there MISS THE FUCKING POINT. I dont care that we got a bad review. Its not about crying over a bad review. It's that I'm angered over what I view as a lack of professionalism in the world of metal journalism lately. Asking a critic to write a review of a band that he clearly already hates, is about as sensible as calling a tv repairman to come fix your stove. You already know that the results are gonna be bad, because he's not qualified to properly and fairly do the job. Period.

 

[NvmbrsDoom5]

I guess the point is, for me at least, this is more about being agitated at the state of shitty journalism I see out there, and not so much about ND or a review we got. If this was a review of another band, I'd still be pretty appalled.

 

[metalprof]

Novembers Doom
"The Novella Reservoir" CD

chug-a-lug retread

Remove one letter and form an anagram of the word describing the reviewer.

Ken

 

[BrandonS]

Believe it or not, I think reviews as a whole are futile. It's basically all just opinions. I myself listen to samples whether the review is good or bad. I care not what some random "journalist" has to say, but I will admit that reviews - both good and bad - are usually good publicity. Like I said earlier. People will check you guys out anyway.

 

[Will Bozarth]

Again though I think my point is being missed here.

Oh, I knew what your point was. My post was directed at Jason

 

[dan of bereavement]

That was the worst review I have ever read!!!

That guys sucks, seriously!!! HE should not be giving reviews, first, he is so bias that he cant even describe anything without using the words boring or sucks. That is not in anyway descriptive. Secondly again with the comparing? Lame! And it is obvious that he doesn't like death metal vocals. We all got that point, move on, where's the cumshot? Really? He didn't review or in anyway describe anything there at all. That was a straight-up bashing on something the guy obviously hates. Fuck that.

That stuff pisses me off man. Horrible fucking review!!!!!!


BOOOOOO!!!!!!!