THE NOVELLA RESERVOIR - FAN REVIEWS

I will be writing a formal review within a few days to post on a couple other sites. I will copy and paste the review here as well.

I have heard it almost 2 full times already. (I had chosen not to download it).

A couple quick points:
1) Two words... Fucking brilliant!
2) A perfect continuation and progression from The Pale Haunt Departure
 
I know people are going to cover it point by point, but it has to be said concisely that this band is one of the few that consistently gets better with each release, producing something with distinct differences in stylings, but retaining the identity of Novembers Doom.
 
I posted some quick comments on several new releases on another board. I've edited and extended my comments on TNR for posting here. And I left my comments on other discs at the end of the post just in case anyone is interested!


Novembers Doom - The Novella Reservoir. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

My boys sure ate their Wheaties before getting together to record this disc! There is an intensity and pace to many of the songs on this disc that the title track on The Pale Haunt Departure started hinting at. Drown the Inland Mere may be the most action packed tune they've written. The disc starts with three brutally heavy songs in a row (Rain, The Novella Reservoir, Drown the Inland Mere), then takes a break with the mellow and touching Twilight Innocence. After that, the second half is a bit more uneven; The Voice of Failure and They Were Left to Die both have a good heavy oppressive feel to them, but to my ears they suffer a bit in comparison with the opening three tracks. I guess that's the risk you run when your opening three songs are just so damn good. Both of these songs still have something good going on. There's a nice guitar solo with some twin interplay in The Voice of Failure which isn't the usual for Novembers Doom, but I find that the chorus loses my attention. There's a nice stretch in They Were Left To Die which has a good vocal line where Paul sings clean (no growls or spoken word). I like that sound on the somewhat rare occasions when he does it, and I wish he'd do it more. In fact, I'd like to hear an alternate version of Twilight Innocence in which Paul just takes a really deep breath and belts it out instead of using his more deliberate style of doling out two or three words at a time. I'm not saying the latter doesn't work for me, I'd just like to hear both versions!

Things get exciting again with Dominate the Human Strain. Now understand that this is Novembers Doom after all, so I don't equate "exciting" with a blisteringly rapid tempo or a count of how many 64th notes get played, but moreso just by how absorbed I get in the songs. (Granted, though, my favorite tracks are the faster ones.) After the two previous tracks which cause my attention to wander a bit, Drown the Human Strain pulls me right back in. The closing track Leaving This is good but perhaps a bit overlong. I would have rather had Rain or Drown the Inland Mere be a more extended song because I want my favorite tracks to last longer. :)

Other random thoughts on the CD: Paul's vocals in Drown the Inland Mere remind me a lot of Chuck Billy's vocals on the Testament disc Demonic :headbang: I don't have the musical language to describe it properly, but I really like the drumming on this disc in that Joe doesn't just go "WHAMWHAMWHAM" on the snare all the time, but mostly relies more on the low end and bass drums. I much prefer that; lots of rolls and deep thunder make me happy. The subtle keyboards add a nice touch. Way to go Eddy!

And as congressmen like to say, I reserve the right to revise and amend my remarks after more listens...particularly regarding Leaving This, because I have the suspicion that song will be a grower.

<comments on other recent discs>

Therion - Gothic Kabbalah. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Guitars! Bass! Drums! Keyboards! Opera! Choir! Symphony! Spam! This double CD set has it all! I haven't even come close to absorbing all of this, and I actually would prefer a few songs trimmed to leave a long single CD. But this is the most interesting Therion since Theli. (The sticker says since Vovin, which isn't much of a selling point.) Favorite tracks: Wisdom and the Cage, Son of the Staves of Time, TOF - The Trinity (one of the best songs of the year so far), Adulruna Redibaba.

Pain of Salvation - Scarsick. SADLY NOT RECOMMENDED.

Memo to Daniel Gildenlow: Just shut up and sing, please. This disc is very strong when the songs play to Pain of Salvation's strengths - powerful, memorable lyrics and melodies. The best song on the disc by far, Cribcaged, is an example of this. The chorus of the title track is great. Unfortunately, there are few of these songs. The rest are seem more like interludes or mood pieces. "Side 2" has nothing that maintains my interest for an extended stretch. Flame to the Moth is OK, and Enter Rain has some good parts, but these aren't sustained. On too much of the disc, Gildenlow is either doing voiceovers, rapping, or singing in that silly high pitch that sounds more like a bird chirping. I hate to say it, but I wish they stuck to the basics - and for PoS, the "basics" can still be quite intricate and unusual, but this CD goes to the trough of the unusual too many times to be sustainably engaging. Looks like I'll have to stick with their original four CDs to be my Pain of Salvation canon.

Tarot - Crows Fly Black. RECOMMENDED, BUT NOT ESSENTIAL

I like the sound of Tarot and I get excited when I hear the CD start. But that excitement wavers in and out through the length of the disc as the songs vary from great to so-so. This one actually became less groovy the more I heard it. Tarot is one of those bands that I would be much better served by a collection of the 3-4 best songs of each CD since the rest seems to be mostly filler. My favorite tracks on this one are Traitor, Messenger of the Gods, and Bleeding Dust.

Grave Digger - Liberty or Death. RECOMMENDED, BUT NOT ESSENTIAL.

My initial reaction was that this was on par with pretty much all of the most recent 4-5 Grave Digger CDs. My favorite of the latter day Grave Digger discs was, and still is, The Last Supper. This one won't top it and, like Excalibur and Rheingold, has a few songs with good drive, and a few that make it feel like they're going through the motions. They have definitely settled into a consistent sound over their last several discs, and if you don't like that sound you won't like this disc. If you do like that sound, this disc should satisfy you at least somewhat. Favorite tracks: The Terrible One (one of my favorite GD songs off any of their last few discs) and Shadowland.
 
Has anyone else realized that theres another drummer called Joe Nunez (in Soulfly), or am I just behind things?

Great fucking album by the way, I love the book too :p
 
Nunez, not Cortez :)

EDIT: This thread for fan reviews of TNR should not get derailed, and I should have restrained my attempts to be silly. Apologies. The moderator can remove this post with my blessing...



No no no, leave his name Cortez, call the next album "The New World" and then tour Mexico instead of Europe. You could even make the next CD cover with this picture

250px-Cortes-Hernando-LOC.jpg


Ken
 
I've listened to TNR about 6 times since yesterday (iPod at work). It's an album that I want to revisit again and again. Drown the Inland Mere is extremely catchy and surprisingly punchy. I'm used to more of a doomish sound from ND but TNR just kicks. I'm getting the same chills I had when I first heard Sabbath, Priest and Maiden in the early 80's. :headbang: :OMG: :headbang:
 
Hi all, thought I'd post my thoughts on the new album. Quite different to most other people's apparently ! I do like the new album, however I have to say I don't think it tops Pale Haunt Departure... I find that whereas Pale Haunt in my opinion had absolutely no filler tracks, there seems to be a couple on The Novella Reservoir. The first five tracks are great, then it crashes, I find They Were Left To Die rather plain and there is nothing in the song that really holds my interest. Dominate The Human Strain picks up a little, but overall I find this track doesn't do much for me either. Leaving This is outstanding, intricate yet crushing, an excellent ending to a good album. And that's what I would call it, in one word, it's a good album.

I am sure there are others who feel the same way about this album, to me it is a bit disappointing.. Pale Haunt Departure flowed beautifully from song to song, I don't feel any real flow with Novella.

Sorry guys, I don't want to rain on the parade or anything, I like the album and it seems to be growing on me slightly, but I felt as an avid ND fan I had to say something.

Having said all that, ND will always be one of my fave bands, unless you guys sell out or something ! I now anxiously await your next album :headbang:


Mark
 
"They Were Left To Die" is one of my favorite songs on the new album. Of course I helped write it so I guess I'm partial. :)

I've seen other people say that they felt this new cd has better flow to it than any of our previous ones, TPHD included. So ultimately I think it boils down to personal taste and opinion and how something strikes someone, etc. The cd is still quite new so who knows, opinions might change as time goes by as well. And I always kinda take into consideration that when you have an album by a band that you really get turned onto, like so many people seemed to be with TPHD, it's always kinda hard to top that in their minds. We didn't really seek to try and outdo TPHD overall, we just made an album that was true to us at the time and that we enjoyed! :) Thanks for your opinion, regardless.
 
Finally ordered the disc a week ago and I've had it for a few days now. This disc is a huge step up from TPHD (which I've only had for about 5 weeks now, and I have yet to hear any of the older discs yet) and is twice as crushing and enjoyable.

The riffs are absolutely immense and furious, yet the softer songs and clean vocals hit you just as hard on a different level as others have mentioned. I love that the songs are taking on more of the faster, crushing sound of Dark World Burden and the title track from TPHD, which are among my favorites so far.

I definitely need to spend a lot more time digesting this disc, and once the credit card situation settles down in a month, I may be able to order the book and get some serious insight into the lyrics and the band. All in all, The Novella Reservoir is a landmark album and you guys have delivered a monster of a disc this time around.

Highlights - Rain, Drown the Inland Mere, The Voice of Failure
 
Well, I first want to start off by saying that I am in no way trying to offend anybody (ie ERIC, etc), for I love ND's full entire catalog of music, however, with TNR, musically, ND has caught up to Paul's vocals. Would that be a fair statement?

"Rain"...is just superb! What a great song for a foundation to the album! One of my favorite songs on TNR :headbang:

"TNR"...wow, take everything ND has ever done, form it into a neat little ball, polish it to a high, glossy shine, and you have a masterpiece! This song is ND to a "T"...love it!

"Drown the Inland Mere"...when I first heard this song on Halloween..I was like "Whoa!" This isn't MY ND..haha! This is "aggression, passion, evolution" ;) I love the way this song just beats you over and over again. Great "teaser"! The guitar solo is brilliant! I'll bet seeing that "live" would just kick ass...:kickass:

"Twilight Innocence"... I myself have an 8 year old little girl...hmmm...I have often wondered what she dreams about? I admire Paul for putting these kind of songs on ND's records, it shows the reality that we face daily. It is one of the few purest and innocent things in this sad world, to watch a child grow and learn. They are the funniest creatures :)

"The Voice of Failure"...this is the best song, lyrically, on the CD, IMO. I could almost picture this song being the opener of TNR, or better yet, "live"...well, except TPHD (song) holds that title..haha...great, great song.

"They Were Left to Die"...next to "Rain", this is my favorite track...there is something so haunting about the music that just attracks me. IMO, Paul should use this "clean" style more often. It's some of the darkest clean vocals I have heard in a while....the eerie music, dark vocals, creepy lyrics=one hell of a terrific song! It may be a little to the "doomy" style, but it's still heavy as hell :)

"Dominate the Human Strain"...I love the guitars in this song...If you aren't headbanging with this song, then you need to go to a sock hop:lol:

"Leaving This"...great ending song...a nice doomy song, that can have a few different meanings, pending mood or time period. o_O


Overall, a great CD. I like the aggression. The whole package put together (preorders) only enhanced it! Rarely do we get to interact directly upon bands, and get rewarded, too! :)

Well done, guys, well done! :headbang:
 
Ugh, I'm way overdue with my personal review. The only excuse I will give is that I have been buying mass quantities of music lately (mostly because of the new bands I have discovered through the upcoming Chicago Powerfest) and have just been bombarded with sensory overload. :lol:

First off, I'd like to commend you guys on the pre-order package. I've yet to completely get through Paul's book, but the signed photo is already in a lovely frame and amongst my other autographed memorabilia. I still need a frame for the poster and the suede bag is perfect for keepsakes, or, from a girlie standpoint, travelling to keep small things in. Really nice guys!

I highlight what has stuck out to me the most:

"Rain": Damn. What an incredible opener and a nice way to set the general mood for the album. I don't think I've heard Paul's vocals sound more evil, gutteral, just wrenching. For lack of a better word: Awesome.

Title Track: What caught my ear right away was the slowed down "chug chug chug chug" in the verses. It's unexpected and instantly welcome.

DTIM: What can I say? This is the track most of us heard first before release of the album and it's one of my favorites on the album. Fast and aggressive, just the way I like it!

"Twilight Innocence": Believe it or not, this one had to grow on me for some odd reason. I'm no stranger to softer tunes. Hell, I've been drowning myself in Blackfield for the last couple of weeks. After a few listens though I came to really like this song. It's sweet...not in the "suhhhweeeet!" sense, but sweet in a precious way, a cherished way. Paul's love for his daughter really comes across and I fell in love with the melody.

The last highlight for me was "The Voice Of Failure". I'd love to hear this one live. *hint hint*

Great job guys. I didn't think topping TPHD was possible. You may have done it with TNR. This one is definitely in my top list for 2007. Congrats!
 
Rachel you're the first one to really make mention of the chugging riff in the verses. I thought more people would notice that riff as I think it's fuckin' catchy haha I thought people were going to be crying about how it sounds too "modern" LOL When in fact the riffing in those verses is more of a descendant from my love for Gorefest and Mekong Delta's riffing style. I love playing that song.
 
I noticed something first? Well damn Lar, now I wish I had elaborated more! Heh. I picked up on it right away because it was something out of ND character IMO. My ear tends to do that I guess with bands whose catalog I have most of. I instantly hear something different. My reaction when I first heard the "chug" was "Woe! Nice!". It is catchy. :) Even if that does have a "modern feel" to it, the fact that nobody is complaining thus far obviously means that it can't be a bad thing. Glad that you love to play that song, cuz we'd sure love to hear it live. ;)

Though I think Nunez still has not joined the online world, I did mean to give kudos to him. He's really stepped up the percussion on the last few albums! TNR is no different. I'm impressed! Ah hell, I'll just tell him in person, lol.