The Novella Reservoir - Dark Publications

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Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars

Crushing and Sincere February 20, 2007
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

Novembers Doom created what I though was their masterpiece in "The Pale Haunt Departure." They've upped the anty. "Novella Reservoir" is a crushing, at times brutal, yet deceptively beautiful brick of death/doom metal. Vocalist Paul Kuhr sounds sincere and convincing with his discernible "growl" The 2 ballads "Twilight Innocence" and "Leaving this" are performed with great passion and superb guitar playing. The first few bars of the opener "Rain" will get you ready for the inevitable onslaught of tremendous metal riffing. The drumming is also performed perfectly, excellent fills and double-bassing. The riffs, oh man the riffs just bone-jarring and pounding. Novembers Doom have sped up their song arrangements and this decision is awesome. Novembers Doom and Solitude Aeturnus are imo, the 2 bands at the top of the Doom Metal mountain. Don't think twice, get this NOW!!

5 out of 5 stars

Stunning. April 23, 2007
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

Novembers Doom have big upped themselves in terms of sheer quality. The production is top notch, and theyve really cranked up the intensity of their "Doom Metal." Honestly, this particular disc leaves the aforementioned genre but they have sort of created a subgenre with The Novella Reservoir.
One of the best aspects of Novembers Doom, and always has been, is Paul Kuhr. Discernable death vocals are the best variety because death vocals that you cant understand 24-7 gets old after a while. Thats why I find bands like Novembers Doom, Amon Amarth, and Randy "Corpsegrinder's" Paths of Possession so refreshing. Not only can you understand EVERY SINGLE WORD he growls, but his baritone doom clean vocals are haunting yet beautiful.
Top songs on here have to be Drown in the Inland Mere, Twilight Innocence, and Dominate the Human Strain. DintheIM incorporates every aspect I've come to love about this band, sheer brutality, clean and death vocals, meaningful lyrics. Twilight Innocence is one of the most amazing slow paced yet uplifting pieces from any band from any genre. Dominate the Human Strain is brutal as hell, never really loosening that strangle hold from start to finish and the lyrics in this song are particularly critical of some things as well.
Get this disc, as soon as possible. It's definately in the running for my top release of the year!

5 out of 5 stars

(4.5 stars) A triumph January 7, 2008
Novembers Doom seem determined to slay the beast they rode in on. They devoted their first four albums (and the better part of a decade) to churning out classic doom/death metal. But on their fifth full-length, 2005's "The Pale Haunt Departure," this Chicago, Illinois-based quintet adopted a much more straightforward death metal sound. And now, on that album's follow-up, Novembers Doom have distanced themselves even further from the genre that birthed them (and that takes up half of the band's name). 2007's "The Novella Reservoir" is a very original, expansive, and masterful shape-shifting mix of musical styles. Crowbar-esque doom metal is definitely still an integral part of the band's sound, but this record also fuses in strong melodic death metal, traditional American death metal, gothic metal, and progressive rock influences, and even maintains a healthy dose of symphonic black metal for good measure. The result is a very epic and excellent extreme metal release with a wealth of delicious breadth, depth, texture, brutality, beauty, tense dynamics, different dimensions, interesting nooks, crannies, and nuances, entrancing soundscapes, and eminently memorable and contagious songs.

ND clearly enjoy having a little fun with their fans by teasing them with a throw-off track every now and then. Case in point: opener "Rain," which will send many listeners (including most longtime fans) for a loop right away, and is a forceful, angry, midtempo song bolstered by a crunching, grinding wall of noise (made up of a simplistic, downtuned, chugging riff, a harsh, abrasive guitar tone, and hefty double bass drumming), and deep, angry, frog-throated vocals from frontman Paul Kuhr. Needless to say, "Rain" would have been a perfect fit on the last Six Feet Under album! Fear not, though, because the following title cut is much better. It begins with a dreamy, acoustic-picked intro before the electric guitars blindside the listener, and storm back onto the scene with huge, thunderously pounding and resonating power chords and good, steady bass lines. Kuhr, meanwhile, unleashes some more incredibly mean and visceral vocals in the verses (which sound tailor made to make your skin crawl), before giving way to the spoken-word choruses, which are very melodic and dreary by contrast. The song ends on a surprising note when a pretty good and ripping little guitar solo is tucked into the mix.

However, what is even more surprising is what comes next, "Drown The Inland Mere" is almost blistering, and is fueled by steamrolling, machine gun riffs and deftly slamming double bass kicks, and another decent little solo. Then the album takes a sudden left turn, and its mood drops dramatically when "Twilight Innocence" approaches. This track serves as an oasis (of sorts), as it is jaw-droppingly gorgeous and tranquil, with jangly, docile acoustics, ambient sound effects, and impressive, proper, Mikael Akerfeldt-inspired singing. Following this, "The Voice of Failure" works similarly to the aforementioned title cut because it begins by fading in with a little ominous feedback, and in not to long, the electric guitars kick in again and propel the song forward (with big, bullying, chugging riffs) before stopping on a dime for restrained, spoken-word passages in the choruses. "The Voice of Failure" does differ slightly from the title cut, though, because it also features some extremely cheesy (though fun), power metal-ish lyrics (i.e. "I close my eyes/And angels die"), and a tastily clean, harmonic solo.

The insidious "They Were Left To Die" boasts gobs of powerful, creepy, and foreboding guitar noise and brutal, almost Vital Remains-worthy bellowing. Next up, "Dominate The Human Strain" is unexpectedly thrashy, and is packed with rocketing chug and churn riffs. In the end, "Dominate..." doesn't really add much, and it might be the least interesting moment to be found on the album, but it is still very listenable, and it is much faster than the rest of the songs on here, so it also helps to break up the monotony. Lastly, the aptly titled "Leaving This" closes out the set. It is a superbly somber and low-key piece that's highlighted by nice, non-threatening acoustic strums, grumbling bass notes, and smooth, unmistakably masculine, Type O Negative-reminiscent crooning. And even though the electric guitars once again make a momentous entrance part way through, the song remains decisively restrained and harmless throughout.

It should be noted that "The Novella Reservoir" is definitely a bit of an acquired taste. Some listeners will find Paul Kuhr's sometimes British-accented voice grating (since he is, after all, a Midwesterner). Plus, "TNR" will (somewhat understandably) make the blood of many a doom metal purist boil. But the members of Novembers Doom clearly couldn't care less, because the fact of the matter is, purists never really liked them in the first place. And besides, why are genres so important, anyways? This is darn good music, so let's just leave it at that. A very highly recommended purchase for everybody who enjoys Opeth, Burst, My Dying Bride, Neurosis, Pelican, Enslaved, and the like.

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