Papa Josh
Minister of Propaganda
Anytime a band's latest makes me go back and listen to all of their others that I possess, that is a good thing! Now, I just need to get those first two....
My first taste of Novembers Doom
- Thread starter Nate The Great
- Start date
NAD
What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse
Listening to this new one, my first taste of ND. Wow. Excellent stuff, very full-bodied like a nice rich french roast or single malt scotch. The mood is scary, and these vocals are killer. I had no idea this is what these dudes sounded like, I was expecting straightforward slow doom, but this is doomy FAWKIN' METHULL.
Novembers Paul
Member
JayKeeley said:
Hey everyone! Thanks much for the kind words on the new CD. I can't wait until it's available and everyone can hear it. It's the first CD we've done that were all very proud of. Keep the comments and reviews coming, good or bad.
Jay, you are correct on Revelation (Mother Earth), it does suck. We were asked to do it, because a band dropped off the disc. They asked us to do it on a Thursday, and we needed to hand in the mixed song on Monday. Not one of us knew the song, or was even an Ozzy as a solo artist fan, so we needed to learn it, book the studio, record it, and mix it in 3 days. Considering the odds stacked against us, I don't think it came out horrible, but nothing what we wanted to do with it, or could have done with it with more time. I doub't we'll ever do anything like that, so quickly again. We'll need to redeem ourselves someday, and do a killer cover of something.
JayKeeley
Be still, O wand'rer!
Novembers Paul said:
Hey Paul - nice that you can take criticism well. Considering the story you explained here, that certainly helps clear a few things up, but allow me to elaborate. The cover song isn't played poorly -- on the contrary, you guys did a good job all round -- and it's produced well, but it's the fact that you've taken an enormously popular song that didn't need reinterpretation. (Of course, since it wasn't your decision to choose the song, then obviously you can't be held accountable.)
My take on it is this: First of all, it's Randy fucking Rhoads. He's untouchable. The only time a musician should want to play Rhoads material is if his name's Jake E Lee or Zakk Wylde, (or Joe Holmes), and playing with Ozzy on stage. Secondly, death vocals replacing clean vocals where the melody is so well known just doesn't work. Case in point: A death metal version of "Crazy Train" or "Aces High" or "The Trooper" where the only difference is that the singer is growling will fail every single time. Ignore anyone who thinks otherwise.
If Metallica did one thing right back in the day was to do cover versions of songs that weren't well known. That way, most people were hearing them for the first time and didn't have a constant comparison point. Songs like "Breadfan", "Blitzkrieg", and "Helpless" now belong to Metallica.
Perhaps when you choose a song to cover, you'll pick one that you can adopt as your own. Bob Dylan once said that the first time he heard Hendrix play "All along the Watchtower", the song was no longer his. From that day on, it belonged to Jimi.
NvmbrsDoom5
Member
One Inch Man said:
Glad you enjoyed it! And honestly, there are a lot of people who tend to expect us to be "straightforward slow doom" when they first hear us, and as you found out, that certainly isn't the case. We hope that more people like yourself will open up and give us a chance before making a pre-judgement on what to expect from us.
P.S. I can't stand the ND cover of "Revelation (mother earth)", luckily it was done about a year before I joined the band so I take no credit nor blame for that one hahaha! Eric's guitar solo is pretty good though. Maybe someday we'll try our hand at another cover song, but generally I think covers tend to be a waste of time most times, since very few manage to improve upon or compliment the original version anyhow.
NvmbrsDoom5
Member
And Jay you're absolutely correct in your philosophy about covers, I think....we've stated many times that if we ever did another cover it would most certainly be something that was a bit more "obscure" perhaps, and also something that would be more suited to us so that we can in fact "adopt" it as our own, like you said. We'd rather focus on writing more original material than putting out a bunch of frivolous half-assed covers like some bands tend to do haha
...Also though, Metallica were good at making those covers they did their own, because they also based much of their sound out of ideas and sounds they borrowed from those bands they covered. Listen to Metal Blade's NWOBHM compilation and you can hear so much of what Metallica was influenced by and in many cases straight up "borrowed" from! I'm not criticising them for this, it was actually a rather brilliant move on their part to do that back then, and look at the music that resulted from it....ah the good ol' days! lol
...Also though, Metallica were good at making those covers they did their own, because they also based much of their sound out of ideas and sounds they borrowed from those bands they covered. Listen to Metal Blade's NWOBHM compilation and you can hear so much of what Metallica was influenced by and in many cases straight up "borrowed" from! I'm not criticising them for this, it was actually a rather brilliant move on their part to do that back then, and look at the music that resulted from it....ah the good ol' days! lol
JayKeeley
Be still, O wand'rer!
NvmbrsDoom5 said:
Man, if you guys chose wisely, you could do something really special. The way your labelmates Agalloch did "Kneel to the Cross" is a good example. Or the way Reverend Bizarre covered "Dunkelheit". You've pretty much got the right idea though - (a) choose something obscure, and (b) choose something that will suit your existing playing style.
Perhaps you should have a poll, or just start a thread and see what your fans think.
Yep, they put that down to Lars Ulrich and his European background. I think he's been quite prominent in getting NWOBHM understood by the masses. I agree, if it wasn't for NWOBHM and Mercyful Fate, Metallica would have probably sounded too American for their own good.
Novembers Paul
Member
JayKeeley said:
Yeah, I agree with you all the way. I personally was not an ozzy fan outside of Black Sabbath, so I didn't know the song, being popular or obscure, and at the time we did this, I had little confidence in my singing voice, so I was terrified to even attempt singing this melody. I decided to do half growl and half singing, and it was a pretty poor job for the song. I would love the opportunity to re-do my vocals on that song now.
Novembers Paul
Member
Hey, by the way... Whens the Pale haunt review coming? I can't wait to read a SMART review from people we respect.
Profanity
The Post Master
snow2fall
Member
I fully agree. Couldn't stop listening to "Silent Tomorrow" when I first heard it. Unfortunately the only other album I've listened to so far is "Amid Its Hallowed Mirth"; didn't like it that much though.J. said:
Demilich
Remember
Hey, now that we know Nevermore's covering "Revelation (Mother Earth)" also, how do we think that's gonna turn out? Could be good, Warrel and Ozzy both have pretty distinct voices!
JayKeeley
Be still, O wand'rer!
Novembers Paul said:
You'll be pleased/displeased to know that I'm doing it.
And as a bonus, I'll also be reviewing "The Knowing" back to back. Demilich said:
Oh god...
J.
Old Fart
NAD
What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse
Demonspell
cheating the polygraph
Damn, nothing pisses me off more than people who thought Kurt Cobain was the first to stumble on the soft/loud thing, even more who think that all metal from 1998 onwards rips off Opeth...pure stupidity. As for Nevermore covering that Ozzy classic, bring it on. I can easily see them transforming it into something as morose and creepy as the slower tunes from DNB.
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