Posted in Whathaveyou on June 25th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
A strong lineup for Descendants of Crom VIII is nothing new. The annual Pittsburgh-based celebration of underground heavy returns this Sept. 11-12 with 14 acts playing at Thunderbird Music Hall, including Tombs and Novembers Doom headlining, a rare appearance from The Midnight Ghost Train and Gozu coming down from Boston to support their new album, among others.
I’m pretty sure this is the complete bill, as it’s basically in line with last year’s edition, but some shuffling may take place between now and September, you never know. I’ve never had the pleasure of hitting this one — Pittsburgh is like a six-hour drive, minimum, and that’s apparently just far enough to be really far — but it’s always cool to see who’s going to be there, and this looks like a cool mix of styles, geographies, and levels of intensity.
Behold:
Blackseed Services and Thunderbird presents: Descendants of Crom VII
Saturday, September 11 and 12th, 2026 Thunderbird Music Hall 4053 Butler Street, Pittsburgh, PA
For nearly a decade, Descendants of Crom has brought together fans and artists from across the heavy underground for a weekend dedicated to doom, sludge, psych, black metal, post-metal, and the darker edges of heavy music.
Founded out of a passion for discovering and supporting original heavy music, Descendants of Crom has continually sought to bring both revered underground artists and emerging voices to Pittsburgh while helping foster a thriving regional heavy music community.
FRIDAY – SEPTEMBER 11 TOMBS FRAYLE WITCHING BRIMSTONE COVEN SUNDRAS
SATURDAY – SEPTEMBER 12 NOVEMBERS DOOM THE MIDNIGHT GHOST TRAIN HUNTSMEN NIXIL GOZU MOTHERLESS IRONFLAME FALSE GODS THE LONG HUNT
Single Day Passes are also made available on Thunderbird’s Site.
Built through a DIY spirit and presented with a professional approach, Descendants of Crom has become a destination for those who value authenticity, atmosphere, and the shared experience of underground music.
Descendants of Crom VIII returns to Thunderbird Café & Music Hall on September 11 & 12, 2026 for two days of immersive atmosphere, crushing volume, and unforgettable performances.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 6th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
More than 30 years after their inception, Chicago death-doom innovators Novembers Doom will tour Australia and New Zealand for the first time. The band, arguably among the earliest in the States to tap into what concurrent acts in the UK like Anathema, Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride were doing in terms of bringing together extreme metal grit with emotive expression no less heavy, head Down Under for the first time, going at the behest of Your Mate Bookings in support of their late-2019 album, Nephilim Grove, which was their label debut through Prophecy Productions after many years spent releasing on The End Records.
On the tour, they’ll headline the Behold Your Doom Festival in Adelaide, playing alongside a host of extreme bands that, given the deathly turn Novembers Doom‘s sound has taken over the last, oh, decade or so, should be an easy fit, but they’ll also start out in New Zealand and do Auckland and Wellington there, and it seems worth emphasizing that this is something the band has never done before. After 30-plus years since their inception. Playing a fest or not, that’s something pretty special. I have to think there aren’t that many places on the planet left these guys haven’t been.
Dates are below, as posted by Your Mate Bookings:
Novembers Doom – Australia/New Zealand Tour
You asked – we answered! Novembers Doom the gods of death-doom are coming to the antipodes with support from Enough to Escape on the Australian dates! Are you ready for what is guaranteed to be a mammoth live show?
Tuesday 14/7 Whammy Bar, Auckland NZ Wednesday 15/7 Valhalla, Wellington NZ Friday 17/7 The Foundry, Fortitude Valley QLD Saturday 18/7 The Vanguard, Newtown NSW Sunday 19/7 Transit Bar, Canberra ACT Thursday 23/7 Stay Gold, Brunswick VIC Friday 24/7 The Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood VIC Saturday 25/7 Altar, Hobart TAS Sunday 26/7 Jive, Adelaide SA – Behold Your Doom Festival 2020
Posted in Features on October 11th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
[TO ENTER GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment on this post and make sure your email address is filled in the form so I can contact you if you win. Yup, that’s it.]
You can buy tickets now for the first-ever Prophecy Fest USA, being held Nov. 2-3 in Brooklyn, NY, at the Knitting Factory, and I’m not going to dissuade you from doing that, but if you leave a comment on this post, you can also just win a pair and go that way. I know money’s tight, so if you’ve got room in your heart for the likes of Novembers Doom and Alcest, Kayo Dot and Year of the Cobra over the course of two nights — and well, I think you do — then yeah, you might just want to go for this one.
I want to keep this post short, so I’ll spare you the wax-critique of the varied and righteous bill and just let you see it for yourself. The schedule as per the fest:
Saturday, November 3rd 7-7:30 || 1476 8-8:30 || Year of the Cobra 9-9:30 || Crowhurst 10-10:45 || Eye Of Nix 11:15-End || Alcest
Pretty badass, and again, this is the first time Prophecy Fest is being held on American soil, so all the more worth showing up.
And I don’t know if I have to say this at this point, but I will anyway: if you enter a contest here, I don’t keep your email. You’re not added to a list. Your information isn’t sold. I wouldn’t know how to do that if I wanted to, and I don’t want to, so yeah. The lizard people already have your information, but I didn’t give it to them.
[TO ENTER GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment on this post and make sure your email address is filled in the form so I can contact you if you win. Yup, that’s it.]
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 2nd, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Man, I knew something was up with Prophecy Productions. The fact that Martin Koller, the founder of the long-running German imprint moved to California, is not to be understated in its importance. Prophecy is not a label of minor consideration when it comes to taste on the whole, and as they’ve picked up bands like Khôrada and Year of the Cobra, it not only speaks to those groups’ individual achievements, but the forward-moving nature of the current US heavy underground as a whole. The first-ever Prophecy Fest to be held in America will take place this November at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, with Eye of Nix, Alcest, Volur, Xasthur, Kayo Dot, Novembers Doom, Year of the Cobra, 1476 and So Hideous on the bill. Two nights and a pretty unbelievable international assemblage, featuring special sets. It’s the kind of event that you want to get dressed up for. I’m not saying you have to wear a suit, but we do want to make a good impression.
And would it kill you to put on a suit?
Very interested to see where Prophecy‘s US adventure takes the label over the next couple years, and Prophecy Fest, which is presented in conjunction with Stardust NYC, looks like a great place to start to find out.
From the PR wire:
PROPHECY PRODUCTIONS ANNOUNCES U.S. EXPANSION & PROPHECY FEST USA
Following two decades of acclaimed success, with revered releases from some of the most prolific and groundbreaking acts in eclectic heavy music, Germany based Prophecy Productions has officially announced their expansion to North America with a division of the label now established in Los Angeles.
Further affirming their presence, Prophecy has unveiled the first edition of Prophecy Fest USA, which will take place at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, NY on November 2nd and 3rd. The inaugural event will feature performances by Alcest, Xasthur, November’s Doom, So Hideous and more. Those who purchase tickets to the Fest will receive a special edition 2xCD Prophecy Compilation. Two day tickets are available now athttp://us.prophecy.de/prophecy-fest/prophecy-fest-us-ticket.html.
Prophecy Productions emerged in 1996, quickly earning worldwide regard for high quality releases and a selective, eclectic roster. Beginning as a self-run mail order, Prophecy owner & founder Martin Koller released Empyrium’s 1996 debut, A Wintersunset… To this day, he has continued to nurture and develop artists he loves, resulting in a staggering roster which sports artist such as Alcest, Khôrada, Bethlehem, Lantlôs, Falkenbach, etc.
With growing awareness of the vast differences and growing possibilities in the US metal community, Koller chose to expand into the US by opening a North American division. In 2017, Koller moved to California to explore new possibilities in the American market, establishing a diverse, talented and dedicated American team, consisting of Rayshele Teige (ex-Century Media and Osmose), Kay Shelton (ex-20 Buck Spin & Wolves in the Throne Room, Northwest Terror Fest), and Matt Bacon (Metal Injection, Dropout Media).
With Prophecy in the USA, this powerhouse team aims to enrich and expand the Prophecy roster, uncovering and cultivating fresh artists and supporting icons alike. So far, the US roster reads eccentric, eclectic and nicely unpragmatic; US black metal pioneers Nachtmystium and Xasthur, highly speculated and anticipated supergroup Khôrada (ex-Agalloch, Giant Squid), blackened-sludge abyss Eye of Nix, Oakland surrealists Silence in the Snow, black metal/noise crossover superstar Crowhurst, and brute-doom experimentalists Year of the Cobra.
Who’s gonna put out the next Novembers Doom record? That seems to be what the long-running Chicago death/doomers are wondering as well. The band spent the last 13 years under the banner of The End Records and remained a staple act even as the mission of that imprint changed around them. Their time on The End would result in six full-length albums between 2005 and 2017 — the latest of them last year’s Hamartia (review here), and I guess it’s just something of a surprise that whatever Novembers Doom do next — according to frontman Paul Kuhr, writing is in progress — it won’t come out through that label. Nothing lasts forever, apparently. Even record contracts.
The good news is I can’t imagine somebody — maybe somebody of a European persuasion? perhaps French? — won’t pick them up. They’ve been around for over 25 years and they’re an institution, helping as they did to pioneer death/doom as a movement in the US that continues to take influence from them to this day even if it doesn’t realize it. Would be nice to see them hook up with someone with an appreciation for their legacy. To me, it seems like a marketing no-brainer to position them as the innovators they are.
Word came through the PR wire of the search in progress:
Free Agents NOVEMBERS DOOM Seeking New Label
U.S. Doom/Death legends NOVEMBERS DOOM are on the market and seeking a new label to continue their robust legacy. Vocalist Paul Kuhr released the following statement concern the status of the long-running, critically acclaimed quintet:
“After spending over a decade working with The End Records, NOVEMBERS DOOM have fulfilled our contractual obligations, and are now exploring options for the future of the band. We are already hard at work, creating the follow up to the 2017 release of Hamartia, and we are seeking a partnership with a label who understands the importance of the European territory. We are open to talk to anyone and everyone who has a serious offer, as we said, we are exploring all of our options, and need to make the right choice, for both us, and our future home.”
Please contact Paul@novembersdoom.com to open this conversation.
So, after kvetching and hemming and hawing and all that other stuff that basically means ‘fretting and trying to shuffle a schedule around’ for the last several days, I think I’ve now found a way to add a sixth day to this Quarterly Review. Looking at all the records that still need to be covered even after doing 50, I don’t really see any other way to go. I could try to do more The Obelisk Radio adds to fit things in, but I don’t want to over-tax that new server, so yeah, I’m waiting at the moment to hear back on whether or not I can move a premiere from Monday to Tuesday to make room. Fingers crossed. I’ve already got the albums picked out that would be covered and should know by tomorrow if it’s going to happen.
Plenty to do in the meantime, so let’s get to it.
Quarterly Review #31-40:
Novembers Doom, Hamartia
Look. Let’s be honest here. More than 20 years and 10 records in, one knows at least on a superficial level what to expect from Chicago’s Novembers Doom. Since their first album arrived in 1995, they’ve played to one side or the other between the spectrum of death-doom, and their work legitimately broke ground in the style for a US band and in general. After a push over their last couple albums including 2014’s Bled White (review here) into more deathly fare, Hamartia (on The End Records) brings 10 tracks and 58 minutes of the melancholy dramas – special hello to the piano/acoustic-led title-track – and gut-wrenching, crushingly emotive miseries – special hello to “Waves in the Red Cloth” and “Ghost” – that have defined them. One doesn’t expect a radical departure from them at this point and they don’t deliver one even as they turn to another side of their overarching aesthetic, but whether it’s the still-propulsive death gallop of “Apostasy” or the lush nine-minute finale “Borderline,” Novembers Doom reinforce their position as absolute masters of the style and give their longtime fans another collection of vital woes in which to revel.
Not a hair out of place in the execution of Morning, the Sailor Records second long-player from Denver three-piece Abrams (interview here). That has its ups and downs, naturally, but is suited to the band’s take on modern progressive heavy rock à la newer Mastodon and Baroness, and with production from Andy Patterson (of SubRosa) and Dave Otero (Khemmis, Cephalic Carnage, etc.), the crisp feel is both purposeful and well earned. Their 2015 debut, Lust. Love. Loss. (review here), dealt with a similar emotional landscape, but bassist/vocalist Taylor Iversen, guitarist/vocalist Zachary Amster and drummer Geoffrey Cotton are tighter and more aggressive here on songs like opener “Worlds Away” (video posted here), “At the End,” “Rivers,” “Can’t Sleep” and “Burned” (video posted here), and “Mourning,” “In this Mask” and closer “Morning” balance in terms of tempo and overall atmosphere, making Morning more than just a collection of master-blasters and giving it a full album’s flow and depth. Like I said, not a hair out of place. Structure, performance, delivery, theme. Abrams have it all precisely where they want it.
Dubbed an EP but running 29 minutes and boasting eight tracks, The Grand Astoria’s The Fuzz of Destiny is something of a conceptual release, with the St. Petersburg, Russia-based outfit paying homage to the effect itself. Each song uses a different kind of fuzz pedal, and as the ever-nuanced, progressive outfit make their way through the blown-out pastoralism of opener “Sunflower Queen” and into the nod of “Pocket Guru,” the organ-inclusive bursting fury of “Glass Walls” and the slower and more consuming title-track itself, which directly precedes closer “Eight Years Anniversary Riff” – yup, it’s a riff alright – they’re able to evoke a surprising amount of variety in terms of mood. That’s a credit to The Grand Astoria as songwriters perhaps even more than the differences in tone from song to song here – they’ve certainly shown over their tenure a will to embrace a diverse approach – but in giving tribute to fuzz, The Fuzz of Destiny successfully conveys some of the range a single idea can be used to conjure.
Oh, they’re up to it again, those Hosoi Bros. Their 2016 full-length, Abuse Your Allusion III, from its Guns ‘n’ Roses title reference through the Motörhead riffing of “Saint Tightus” through the stoner punk of “Topless Gnome” and the chugging scorch of the penultimate “Bitches are Nigh” offer primo charm and high-order shenanigans amid the most professional-sounding release of their career. Across a quick 10 tracks and 36 minutes, Hosoi Bros. readily place themselves across the metal/punk divide, and while there’s plenty of nonsense to be had from opener “Mortician” onward through “Lights Out” (video premiere here) and the later swagger of “Unholy Hand Grenade,” the band have never sounded more cohesive in their approach than they do on Abuse Your Allusion III, and the clean production only seems to highlight the songwriting at work underneath all the zany happenings across the record’s span, thereby doing them and the band alike a service as they make a convincing argument to their audience: Have fun. Live a little. It won’t hurt that much.
Codeia, “Don’t be Afraid,” She Whispered and Disappeared
There’s actually very little that gets “Lost in Translation” in the thusly-titled 22-minute opener and longest cut (immediate points) of German post-metallers Codeia’s cumbersomely-named Backbite Records debut album, “Don’t be Afraid,” She Whispered and Disappeared. With heavy post-rock textures and an overarching sense of cerebral progressivism to its wash underscored by swells of low-end distortion, the three-piece of guitarist/backing vocalist Markus L., bassist/vocalist Denis S. and drummer Timo L. bring to bear patience out of the peak-era Isis or Cult of Luna sphere, sudden volume shifts, pervasive ambience, flourish of extremity and all. Nine-minute centerpiece “Shaping Stone” has its flash of aggression early before shifting into hypnotic and repetitive groove and subsequent blastbeaten furies, and 16-minute closer “Facing Extinction” caps the three-song/48-minute offering with nodding Russian Circles-style chug topped with growls that mask the layer of melodic drone filling out the mix beneath. They’re on familiar stylistic ground, but the breadth, depth and complexity Codeia bring to their extended structures are immersive all the same.
Ealdor Bealu, Dark Water at the Foot of the Mountain
“Water Cycle,” the 13-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) of Ealdor Bealu’s debut full-length, Dark Water at the Foot of the Mountain, introduces a meditative feel and a breadth of sound that helps to define everything that follows. The ostensible side B leadoff of the self-release, “This too Shall Endure” (11:04), offers no less depth of atmosphere, and the graceful psychedelic expanses of the penultimate “Behind the Veil” continue to add to the overall scope with interplay of tempo variety and acoustic and electric guitar, but even earlier, shorter cuts like the wistful indie rocker “Deep Dark Below” and the linear-building “Behold the Sunrise” have an underlying progressivism that ties them to the longer form material, and likewise the particularly exploratory feeling “Ebb and Flow,” which though it’s the shortest cut at just over five minutes resonates as a standout jam ahead of “Behind the Veil” and subtly proggy seven-minute closer “Time Traveler.” The Boise-based four-piece of guitarist/vocalist/spearhead Carson Russell, guitarist Travis Abbott (also The Western Mystics), bassist/vocalist Rylie Collingwood and drummer/percussionist/saxophonist Alex Wargo bring the 56-minute offering to bear with marked patience and impress in the complexity of their arrangements and the identifiable human core that lies beneath them.
One might consider the title of “Mountain of Filth,” the second cut on Stone Lotus’ debut album, Comastone, a mission statement for the Southwestern Australian trio’s vicious ‘n’ viscous brand of rolling, tonal-molasses sludge. Yeah, the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Dave Baker, bassist Samuel Noire and drummer Reece Fleming bring ambience to the interlude “Aum,” the slower loud/quiet shifts in “Anthropocene” and the subsequent “Umbra” that leads into the creepy launch of the title-track – in fact, quiet starts are something of a theme throughout Comastone; even the thudding toms that begin opener “Swamp Coven” pale in comparison to the volume swell of massive distortion that follows closely behind – but it’s the rhythmic lumber and the harsh vocals from Baker that define their course through the darker recesses of sludged-out misanthropy. No complaints there, especially on a first long-player, but Stone Lotus are right to keep in mind the flourish of atmosphere their material offers, and one hopes that develops parallel to all the crushing weight of their mountainous approach.
Even before it announces its heft, Green Yeti’s Desert Show casts forth its spaciousness. The second offering from the Athens-based trio in as many years dogwhistles heavy riffing intent even unto its David Paul Seymour album cover, but the five track rollout from guitarist/vocalist Michael Andresakis, bassist/producer Danis Avramidis and drummer Giannis Koutroumpis, as it shifts from the opening salvo of “Black Planets (Part 1)” and “Black Planets (Part 2)” into the Spanish-language centerpiece “Rojo” (direct homage perhaps to Los Natas? if so, effectively done) and into the broader-ranging “Bad Sleep (Part 1)” and 15-minute closer “Bad Sleep (Part 2)” builds just as much on its atmosphere as on its newer-school stoner rock groove and fuzz riffing. It is a 41-minute span that, without question, speaks to the heavy rock converted and plays to genre, but even taken next to the band’s 2016 debut, The Yeti has Landed, Desert Show demonstrates clear growth in writing and style, and stands as further proof of the emergence of Greece as a major contributor to the sphere of Europe’s heavy underground. Something special is happening in and outside of Athens. Green Yeti arrive at the perfect time to be a part of it.
Let’s just assume that Seer won’t be asked to play at Dorney Park anytime soon. The Allentown, Pennsylvania, three-piece dig into largesse-minded instrumental riffing someplace between doom and sludge and do so on raw, formative fashion on the two-song Victims EP, which features the tracks “Victims… Aren’t We All?” and “Swollen Pit,” which is a redux from their 2015 debut short release, Vaped Remains. Some touch of Electric Wizard-style wah in Rybo’s guitar stands out in the second half of the opener, and the closer effectively moves from its initial crawl into post-Sleep stonerized idolatry, but the point of Victims isn’t nearly as much about scope as it is about Rybo, bassist Kelsi and drummer Yvonne setting forth on a stomping path of groove and riff worship, rumbling sans pretense loud enough to crack the I-78 corridor and offering the clever equalizer recommendation to put the bass, treble and mids all at six. Think about it for a second. Not too long though.
Doom! Horror! Riffs! Though it starts out with quiet acoustics and unfolds in echoing weirdness, Bretus’ new album, …From the Twilight Zone, more or less shouts these things from the proverbial cathedral rafters throughout its seven tracks. The Catanzaro, Italy, foursome weren’t shy about bringing an air of screamy sludge to their 2015 sophomore outing, The Shadow over Innsmouth (discussed here), but …From the Twilight Zone shifts more toward a Reverend Bizarre trad doom loyalism that suits the Endless Winter release remarkably well. Those acoustics pop up again in expanded-breadth centerpiece/highlight “Danza Macabra” and closer “Lizard Woman,” and thereby provide something of a narrative thread to the offering as a whole, but on the level of doom-for-doomers, there’s very little about the aesthetic that Bretus leave wanting throughout, whether it’s the faster-chug into drifting fluidity of “The Murder” or the nodding stomp of “In the Vault” (demo posted here) and crypto-NWOBHM flourish of “Old Dark House” (video posted here). Not trying to remake doom in their own image, but conjuring an eerie and engaging take in conversation with the masters of the form.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 1st, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Just to put something the band says below to scale: Novembers Doom trace their roots back to 1989. They’re coming up on their 30th anniversary before the end of this decade, and there’s nothing to make one think they won’t get there. So when vocalist Paul Kuhr notes that the upcoming Hamartia is the first time they’ve ever had the same lineup from one album to the next, it’s a pretty striking statistic. By my count, it’s their 10th album. That’s 10 records, each marked out by some change in personnel. It’s a wonder they’ve managed to survive, let alone progress through the darkened extremities they have as one of the US’ groundbreaking death-doom acts.
The lineup that Hamartia shares last appeared on 2014’s Bled White (review here), also released through the band’s longtime label home, The End Records. April 14 is the appointed issue date for Hamartia, cover art is by Eugen Poe, there’s a gloriously gloomy new single streaming, and more album details follow here, courtesy of the PR wire.
Dig it:
NOVEMBERS DOOM IS SET TO RELEASE NEW STUDIO ALBUM HAMARTIA ON APRIL 14 // PRE-ORDER
NEW TRACK & ALBUM DETAILS
Novembers Doom is set to release their tenth full-length album entitled Hamartia, out April 14 via The End Records. Formed in 1989, this release marks the band’s 28th anniversary year, and is a sonic testament to their legacy as one of the earliest U.S. dark & doom metal bands still active today. The album is available now for pre-order on iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play.
Considered by the band to be their best work to date, Harmartia’s mastery is due in part to the synergy of its lineup, who constituted their previous album Bled White: Paul Kuhr (founder/vocalist), Larry Roberts (guitars), Vito Marchese (guitars), Mike Feldman (bass), and Garry Naples (drums).
Recorded at Belle City Sound in Racine, WI, this album sees production from long-time Novembers Doom producer Chris Djuricic (Jungle Rot, Malevolence), and Mix Master metal legend Dan Swano (Opeth, Dissection, Katatonia). The album also sees guest appearances from Ben Johnson on keyboards, Rhiannon Kuhr on backing vocals (“Ever After,” “Miasma,” “Zephyr”), Andrew Craighan (My Dying Bride) on guitar melody (“Waves In The Red Cloth”), Bernt Fjellestad (Susperia) on backing vocals (“Borderline”), and Dan Swanö on backing vocals (“Borderline”).
Says vocalist Paul Kuhr, “For the first time in this band’s existence, we have the same line-up on two consecutive albums. Without the need to focus on a new element, we could concentrate on the writing process more clearly, and the synergy between the group is apparent in the end result. I actually mean it when I say in my own humble opinion, I truly feel Novembers Doom have created our very best work to date. From the writing, to the captured performances, to the overall mix and sound of this album. Hamartia is a logical evolution from Bled White but adds some of the darker elements from The Pale Haunt Departure. It’s a Novembers Doom album, through and through, and hopefully others will share my enthusiasm once they get a chance to hear it.”
Chicago death-doom outfit Novembers Doom released their first album in 1995, nearly 20 years ago now. They weren’t the first American death-doom act, and there were others who solidified around the same time, but Novembers Doom were easily among the earliest adopters of a dramatic melancholy most common then in the European doom scene pre-Reverend Bizarre, bands like Katatonia, Paradise Lost, earliest Anathema and My Dying Bride serving as an influences to be melded with Novembers Doom‘s own Chicago death metal style. Their progression in the years since Amid its Hallowed Mirthhas been a steady line in terms of quality but has presented several distinct shifts in sound, into full-on death-doom on records like 2002’s To Welcome the Fadeand 2005’s The Pale Haunt Departure, and more recently, leaning back stylistically more to death metal. The Pale Haunt Departurepresented a discernible starting point, but the movement has been gradual, and over 2007’s The Novella Reservoir, 2009’s Into Night’s Requiem Infernal(review here) and 2011’s Aphotic, they’ve continued to pursue that direction. Their latest outing, Bled White(released on The End Records, their label of the last nine years), furthers the progression to the point that Novembers Doom have very little of what would commonly be considered doom left in their sound. Instead, they offer 11 tracks/68 minutes of depressive death metal, marked by the growl/clean-vocal tradeoffs and capital ‘r’ lyrical Romanticism of frontman Paul Kuhr and the persistent double-kick of Garry Naples. In its production and execution, Bled White is a metal album, and it retains that status even at its most subdued or melodic points, as on “Clear” or the morose “Just Breathe.”
There seems to be a certain nihilism — or at least fuckall — in how the full-length is put together. Not in the songs themselves, which are rigidly structured, but in how they’re arranged and the overall mentality of Bled White‘s construction. With a strong opening duo of driving, catchy and pummeling metal in the title-track and subsequent “Heartfelt” before the softer “Just Breathe” and acoustic interlude “Scorpius,” it seems reasonable to call it front-loaded. After “Scorpius,” “Unrest” kicks back into Novembers Doom‘s blend of death and melodic theatricality — guitarists Larry Roberts and Vito Marchese and bassist Mike Feldman carefully winding between beauty and brutality as Naples tosses in blastbeats and breakdown grooves and Kuhr self-harmonizes — and from there they set about toying with the balance in their sound over the course of the brighter-toned “The Memory Room,” the blistering “The Brave Pawn,” and “Clear,” which has a feel like what Opeth might’ve turned into had they kept their more inventive rhythm section and dialed back on the prog fetish. But no question the opening salvo is Bled White‘s most memorable. This seems somewhat incongruous with the fact that Bled Whiteis also the longest record in Novembers Doom‘s 19-year tenure. At nearly 70 minutes, it’s as though when they were piecing it together, they said, “Fuck it, we’ll put this stuff up front for the people who are only going to listen to three or four songs anyway, and the rest will be there for anyone who wants it.” That’s not to say the back end of Bled Whitedoesn’t have its high points — the solo in “The Grand Circle” is the best here, and “Animus” digs into satisfying bludgeonry before the nine-and-a-half-minute “The Silent Dark” closes out with a suitable payoff beginning with some standalone raw harmonies from Kuhr — just that by the time they get there, Novembers Doom have already pushed the stylistic bounds they’re going to push this time out. The nihilism aspect comes into play, then, because nine records in, they didn’t decide to hold that material back. It’s there if the listener wants it.
Obviously I don’t know this. The case could just as easily be that Novembers Doom loved each of these tracks so much they couldn’t live with the thought of not including them. Frankly, I don’t think the cases are mutually exclusive. Novembers Doom, however, are a viciously underrated band. For all their early pursuit of death-doom, they’re left out of nearly every conversation of pioneering metal, and while they’ve always been too in-between stylistically for an American metal audience — which, admittedly, is probably the most open-minded it’s ever been right now — for a long time they were likewise too American for Europe. They’ve enjoyed success, played fests, found a loyal following, but they’ve never been the kind of influential touchstone they easily could’ve been. The reasons for this are undoubtedly complex –it’s not the kind of question one asks in an interview: “How come you guys aren’t huge?” — but if the result is that on Bled White, Novembers Doom have cast aside genre considerations and made their longest outing to date because it pleases them to have done it and they believe (rightly so) in the strength of their songwriting, that only makes Bled Whitea more honest and admirably sincere album. It can be a challenge if you’re not already a fan of the band in terms of the consistency of mood and structure, but they’ve thought of that and accommodated. For those who have traced their progression, they’ll find Bled Whitefits along the directional line, and that nine albums on, Novembers Doom continue to push their sound into new places in their subtle way and at their own pace. To look back on the vast stylistic terrain they’ve covered all these years is to be reminded of just how far they’ve come and to catchy a glimpse of where they might go.
Novembers Doom, “Bled White” from Bled White (2014)
