It leaves me with no hesitation to claim that Novembers Doom’s discography is absolutely flawless. In fact, I would sell my soul to the devil to have a discography like they have! What is even more remarkable is that in the band’s 28th year of existence, it is the first time ever that they did not face any lineup changes between albums! It is amazing how they have maintained such a great songwriting streak despite having an unstable lineup for so long. The upcoming album, ‘Hamartia’ continues the same team as 2014’s ‘Bled White’ and vocalist Paul Kuhr attributes the momentum and synergy in the songwriting on the new album to this fact, and rightly so!
For those who don’t know about this band, Novembers Doom are a death-doom outfit from Chicago who were formed way back in 1989. They are one of the pioneers of the “death doom” sound, amalgamating a melancholy filled, sinister sound with occasional belligerence powering through the mix. Kuhr’s uncanny vocal delivery is something that gives the band its signature sound and as I mentioned earlier, so far they haven’t released any sub-par record. Coming to ‘Hamartia’, it is the band’s 10th studio album and will reach the masses on April 14th via The End records.
‘Hamartia’ kicks your teeth in with a grand opener in the form of “Devils Light” and I swear it will make you raise those horns up and wear that familiar Death Metal grimace on your face as Kuhr’s volcanic vocals erupts in your ears. The opener is a hauntingly powerful composition that makes you feel content with the record even if you don’t listen to any other track on the album. Lawrence Roberts and Vito Marchese conjure up an epic and melancholic ambience and inject enough Death Metal aggression into the track that is sure to keep you hooked with undeviated focus. Gary Naples’s rumbling double bass and crispy blast beats adds oodles of groove and firepower to elevate the track to reach further heights. The opener was clearly hinged more towards the Death Metal side than the Doom Metal aspect of their sound, but the band changes quickly in the follow up tracks “Plague Bird” and “Ghost”. “Plague Bird” was the first single from this album and Kuhr shows us yet again how clean vocals can elevate the intensity of a track. Similarly, “Ever After” is yet another great composition delivering a perfect mix of emotion and aggression. Naples takes his time to build up the crescendo in the intro before exploding into the track’s catchy yet powerful main riff. He inserts several interesting fills throughout the course of the track which bloom like fireworks in the middle of a celebration. Before the supremely melodic solo kicks in, there is a nice quiet section with just the guitars and the vocals which simply triggers something inside you. Finally, Marchese and Roberts team up on the guitar harmonies towards the end of the track before returning to the intro riff and completing this amazing track. Another supremely emotional track is “Zephyr”. I just love the simplicity of the composition as well as the concept of the lyric video. It ticks off every aspect I would look for in a song; it is emotional, powerful, catchy as hell and aggressive. It is also my favourite track off this album.
The band has claimed ‘Hamartia’ as their best work till date and considering they have put out some classics in their earlier efforts like ‘The Pale Haunt Departure’, it is a brave statement to make. However, I would not disagree with them as I too can easily place ‘Hamartia’ right up there along with their best releases. The band hits the bull’s eye yet again on this new album and right from the intriguing artwork, the beautiful compositions down to the immaculate production, Novembers Doom don’t falter even for an inch on any aspect on this album.
