Greg B. said:
Lunar Hypnosis (lunarhypnosis-cjb.net)
My first experience with Chicagos Novemebers Doom was already quite a while ago with their debut album Amid Its Hallowed Mirth, and since then Ive just heard random songs on online radios, compilations, and so fourth. In the beginning Novemebers Doom played in an ultra slow doom metal style that was bordering on funeral doom even, but it seems since then the band has changed their sound considerably. For the most part it seems like the band has taken their sound in more of the Opeth direction with most of the doom elements fading away. The similarities to Opeth are all there really. Weve got the heavy melodic songs with growly and clean vocals, acoustic guitars nicely spliced in, and of course theres even one mellow acoustic song, which is something you can find on all Opeth recordings.
Take a song like In the Absence of Grace for example. The song starts out with a nice acoustic guitar intro, but then suddenly explodes in speed and to these ears of mine it just sounds like something taken straight from Opeths Blackwater Park album. But dont get me wrong, they do it good, but if I wanna hear the Opeth sound Ill just listen to Opeth. Aside from this obvious Opeth influence the only difference I can see is the light usage of some synth on a few places during this recording, which is something Opeth has never done on one of their metal records. Also it seems like the biggest selling point for this record is that Dan Swanö produced the record, and that James Murphy mastered it. Well I honestly couldnt care less who produces it as long as they do a good job (which Dan certainly did), and frankly I could care even less about James Murphy mastering the recording.
Still this isnt a bad recording, but I always had a thing for that first Novemebers Doom album, and its kind of unfortunate to see them drifting far away from doom metal. If you enjoy Opeth then youll have a ball with The Pale Haunt Departure, but if your looking for doom youd best look elsewhere.
February 17, 2005
By Blackwinged
6 of 10
Yes I love the oh so "obvious" Opeth influence we have. Because you know, Opeth own the full patent and all rights to this style of music. Noone ever played "heavy melodic songs with growly and clean vocals, acoustic guitars nicely spliced in, and of course theres even one mellow acoustic song" before Opeth came along. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Opeth, I think they're great and they have become one of my more favorite bands in recent years. But all these "obviously Opeth influenced" elements were becoming more and more apparent in our songwriting long before Opeth became the musical force it's known for today. And I think part of what attracts me to Opeth in the first place is that they write music that I can relate to, because it's similar in vibe and feel to what I write myself. It just irks the ever loving shit out of me that these so called "reviewers" make these presumptuous statements, like they know for a fact that we've stolen our ideas from Opeth. It's fine to say "fans of Opeth would probably like this", I have no problem with that, because yes I do think we can appeal to fans of that band because there are the musical similarities. I'm just tired of constantly being accused of being such unoriginal ripoffs, because it's not fair. I mean fuck, if you're going to compare us to bands at least get them right. I myself can hear much more similarities to bands like Katatonia in some stuff we do now, even though again it's not that we set out to consciously sound like them, but I'm at least aware that there's elements that could be compared between the two. For someone to point that out, I could at least see where they're coming from....
"But dont get me wrong, they do it good, but if I wanna hear the Opeth sound Ill just listen to Opeth." Well yknow, that's a damn shame that you are so fucking narrow minded that you feel like that. There's alot of really good bands out there who are doing a musical style very similar to what we're doing, and if you're going to dismiss them all because you feel that there's only ever room for one band on your playlist to occupy a certain broad style, then you must have a pretty narrow scope of music you listen to. If I were to think that way, then I'd have pretty much not listened to anything that My Dying Bride, Anathema, and Paradise Lost did when they came out, because it was all pretty much done by Black Sabbath and Celtic Frost already anyhow. Yes, that's a ridiculous statement, I agree, and that's my point.
I love the bravado and balls with which these people review this shit, it amazes me how ballsy people are nowadays through their anonymity on the internet...statements like "Well I honestly couldnt care less who produces it as long as they do a good job (which Dan certainly did), and frankly I could care even less about James Murphy mastering the recording." Hey I agree, a good production job is all that matters, not the name of the person who did it. But it's just funny in the manner in which this person makes these statements, so "bold" and disregarding of people like James Murphy. Go up to James' face and tell him how much you could "care less" about the hard work he did on this album, I'm sure he'll appreciate it. What qualifies people like this to advise others on what is good and bad and what is musically proficient or not? I've been a musician for most of my life, and I've played with and known some amazing musicians in my time, and I don't think that I have the right to sit here and post reviews of other people's work. And what have you done to show for yourself, "blackwinged"? Nice name, by the way. At least when I criticise someone like you, I'm not hiding behind a silly dungeons-and-dragons name...you know my name and face.
Ultimately, I have fun critiquing the reviews, as a sort of "turn the tables" thing that we have fun with on this forum. But I'm probably going to have to start removing myself from this shit a little bit, because I'm getting tired of the little narrowminded morons who've deemed themselves journalists worthy of being listened to, simply because they get free promos from the labels and know how to use a computer. "The Pale Haunt Departure" is a great fucking record, and I'm not afraid to say that. Because I know this record kicks ass, and if some nutbag who comes up with nice little epic monikers for himself like "Blackwinged" is hung-up on a sound we made on an album over ten years ago, and hasn't payed enough attention over the years to see the natural progression we've made musically (even BEFORE "blackwater park" was released, thank you) then I'm sorry for you. If you don't like us, then fine. But you'd better educate yourself a bit further musically before you continue to throw around this "opeth clone" bullshit, because frankly that's getting even more tired than the "mdb clone" thing.:hotjump:
And yes yes, I know, I'm being "defensive" again, before someone decides that I need to be reminded of that fact. Well YOU go out and bust your ass writing and recording an album you put your heart and soul into, just to watch all the legions of geeks with no musical talent or journalistic credibility, sit there and tear down what we've done without the proper knowledge and credibility to back up what they say, and watch as all the other idiots read these reviews and actually put stock into them. I'm getting tired of this whole metal scene and it's narrowmindedness, I think on the whole it's being overrun with a bunch of overly opinionated know-nothings. My goal in life is not to try and please these dopes, I can find better things to do with my time. Starting right now.