Novembers Doom - To Welcome the Fade
Dark Symphonies
Dark Melodic Doom
10 songs (56'23")
Release year: 2002
Novembers Doom, Dark Symphonies
Reviewed by Alex

To those detractors of Metal who say this music is all about anger and venting, I encourage you to listen to the latest album by Novembers Doom. To Welcome the Fade is an organic blend between heaviness, introspection and resignation of your soul.

I really liked the heavy parts. Reverbing riffs, deep bass sound, tearing solos. What’s not to like? The male growly vocals are among the most audible. Hey, I can even make up the lyrics! The softer, quieter parts are OK, but lost me at times. Male spoken parts are too detached, they don’t even attempt to follow melodic progressions. Female vocals sound great when they backup the growl, but are a little out of place when take the lead. The acoustic and instrumental parts (which are quite lengthy) is what will swing the listener one way or the other. Some would find them unnecessary, I find them soothing. Although, leaving some of them out (or at least making them shorter in spots) will not detract from the overall feel. To be completely fair, piano interlude Dreams to Follow is excellent!

My two favorite tracks would have to be Broken and Within My Flesh. In Broken the build up leading to a heavy, pounding riff is awesome, the growl is beastly, and … then, this female voice rushes in, sweeps you away, and the whole composition ends with an instrumental serenity. Within My Flesh features an acoustic guitar intro (for some reason, I imagine gypsies telling each other stories by the fire) transitioning towards a pensive, somber, almost funeral melody I haven’t heard since Yearning’s With Tragedies Adorned.

I have missed The Knowing, so the only previous effort by Novembers Doom I have heard was Of Sculptured Ivy and Stone Flowers. That one left me unimpressed. Being all dragged out doom, it lacked this light feathery touch To Welcome the Fade certainly possesses. While not diluting the message it provides a ray of light, if not at the end, then, at least, at the sides of the tunnel. I’ll say this: this album will make me go find The Knowing, and whenever I am interested in finding more material by a band, it means it struck a chord with me.

Killing Songs :
Broken, Within My Flesh, Dreams to Follow
Alex quoted 77 / 100
Other albums by Novembers Doom that we have reviewed:
Novembers Doom - Amid Its Hallowed Mirth reviewed by Jared and quoted 70 / 100
Novembers Doom - Bled White reviewed by Jared and quoted 95 / 100
Novembers Doom - Aphotic reviewed by Jared and quoted 91 / 100
Novembers Doom - The Novella Reservoir reviewed by Alex and quoted 90 / 100
Novembers Doom - The Pale Haunt Departure reviewed by Alex and quoted 90 / 100
To see all 7 reviews click here
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