From:
http://pyromusic.net/index.php?p=reviews/review&id=616
Chicago’s Novembers Doom are possibly one of the more underrated metal acts around. They’ve been honing their dark metal meets melancholic doom craft for the last ten years, but it’s only since 2002’s awesome ‘To Welcome the Fade’ album that people started to take notice. No doubt, with this new one, a whole new clutch of fans will be unearthed. And boy, are they in for a treat.
With five full lengths under their collective belts, Novembers Doom have matured and improved with every release. I’ve been particularly enamoured with these guys since 2000’s ‘The Knowing’ – an album that first displayed their distinctive heavy melancholy thread embedded within their death/doom laden riff quota. ‘To Welcome..’ developed upon this style to the point where they finally ‘found’ their sound. Whilst not quite as ‘Doom’ laden as their moniker might suggest – for me they’re a more melodic dark metal meets melancholic gothic band – it is clear that fans of early Katatonia, Anathema, Opeth and Paradise Lost (circa Icon) will revel in everything that ‘The Pale Haunt Departure’ has to offer.
Released earlier this year in America by their parent label ‘The End Records’, some overdue world wide recognition is now assured with UK’s ‘Candlelight Records’ picking the album up for the rest of the planet. If you’ve never heard this band before, their most striking aspect that you need to recognise is that they, like Opeth and Anathema, have a stunning ability to fuse massive heavy sections with melancholic, emotionally drenched quieter passages. And they just kill you!! But rather than exist as mere copyists, Novembers Doom have uniqueness about their sound that makes them stand alone as leaders in creating dynamic and thoroughly captivating dark emotional metal. Led by the stark, confronting vocals from main man Paul Kuhr; his voice (a combination of death and clean), his compositions deal in both bleakness and beauty in equal measures.
Kuhr’s band is also a fair collection of musicians too. Guitarists Larry Roberts and Vito Marchese pull out some of heaviest riffs you’ll hear this year. Massive thundering chords aplenty. And with Drummer Joe Nunez providing a simply pounding bottom end, the whole impact of ‘The Pale..’ sounds incredibly dense and powerful. But as good as these guys can play, it is the albums over production that allows the power of this band shine. Seriously, if you just cannot resist massive heavy reverb and the crushing weight of metallic guitars on eleven, this album is freaking HUGE!! For this you can blame to main protagonists – producer/mixer Mr.Dan Swano and mastering from Mr.James Murphy. Nothing else needs to be said about how good this album sounds. One of the best HEAVY productions you’ll hear this year and the next!!
With a slew of emotionally draining, honest and heartfelt compositions, ‘The Pale Haunt Departure’ is easily the equal, if not an improved developmental progression on ‘To Welcome…’.At the very least it is a more atmospheric and epic inspired affair. Yes, the feel and atmosphere of this disc is also decidedly downbeat, dark and gloomy, but if you are a fan (like me) of such powerfully delivered music, ‘The Pale Haunt Departure’ is essential. Right down to the stunning artwork, I cannot recommend this disc highly enough. If for nothing else, everyone should buy it just to hear how a professional modern metal production should sound. Excellent, excellent band!!
- Krozza
9/10
