Novembers Doom — Into Night’s Requiem Infernal

intothewellsabyss
Jul 8, 2023
4 min read

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…

14 years ago this week, we mourned to the “Eulogy For the Living Lost”!

On July 7, 2009, Novembers Doom released their seventh full-length studio album, “Into Night's Requiem Infernal” via The End Records.

The album was recorded at Belle City Sound studio in Racine, Wisconsin with bassist Chris Djuricic producing and Dan Swanö mixing at Unisound in Örebro, Sweden.

The Wells Perspective:

For their 2007 release, “The Novella Reservoir”, staunch Death-Doom Metallers, Novembers Doom gradually steered away from their Gothic infused Death-Doom offerings, delivering a heftier, more direct Death Metal album. And with 2009’s “Into Night's Requiem Infernal” Novembers Doom continued with this new direction.

Although this album contains the same heftiness as “The Novella Reservoir”, it also has the same melancholic undertones as the bands earlier releases, complete with Paul Kuhr’s haunting clean vocals. The title track is a classic Death Metal number that hits hard from start to finish. While “Eulogy for the Living Lost” is proof that Novembers Doom had not forsaken the bands Doom-laden roots. The whole of the album continuously shifts like a manic depressive without their meds, it’s moods swinging from menacing Death Metal on tracks like “Lazarus Regret” and “The Harlot’s Lie” to the more elegantly restrained tracks like “Empathy’s Greed” and “I Hurt Those I Adore”. And, while “The Fifth Day of March” seems to deal with the loss of a loved one, the reflective “When Desperation Fills the Void” is a pensive album closer, proving that while Novembers Doom may have shed some of their funereal elements that fans had come to love, the band could still create dark and brooding Gothic masterpieces! — E.N. Wells

Promoting the Album:

In anticipation of the album, the band played the Chicago Powerfest on May 9, 2009, and later in the summer at Minnesota MetalFest.

Commented vocalist Paul Kuhr prior to the shows: "…we're playing Chicago Powerfest. We're playing two sets, one of which will be an acoustic set. This will only be the second time we've ever performed acoustically, and the first time in the United States.”

Novembers Doom performed at the Minnesota MetalFest on September 7, 2009 with Primal Fear.

The band also toured behind “Into Night's Requiem Infernal” in late 2009 and early 2010, making appearances at several festivals such as Brutal Assault Festival in Czech Republic, and Caos Emergente in Portugal.

A music video for the song, "A Eulogy For The Living Lost" was also filmed in late 2009, and was released in early 2010.

Critical Reception:

In his review for AllMusic, Eduardo Rivadavia stated;

“As they unveil the seventh album of a widely praised 15-year career with the release of 2009's “Into Night's Requiem Infernal”, Chicago's Novembers Doom have come to enjoy a well-earned reputation for delivering first-class material that has also remained largely consistent in style throughout their existence. Of course, that's not to say that there hasn't been gradual change over that period, and in keeping with the trends observed on recent efforts like 2005's excellent “The Pale Haunt Departure” and 2007's arguable career apex “The Novella Reservoir”, it almost seems as though the "doom" in the band's moniker is headed toward misnomer status.

This is due to the predominantly energetic pace at which the group attacks the songs of Into Night's Requiem Infernal, including the chug-a-chug riffed grooves of the opening title track and the almost thrash-like poundings imparted by "A Eulogy for the Living Lost" and "Lazarus Regret." By comparison, somewhat more measured highlights like "Empathy's Greed" and "I Hurt Those Adore" now represent minority reminders of the group's former slothful tendencies, and yet even to call them true doom songs would be misleading.

Nevertheless, all of the above boast an extremely high caliber of songwriting, marked by colossal riffs meshed with sublime harmonies and reliably memorable chorus sections, whether frontman Paul Kuhr delivers them with bowel-loosening growls or mournful clean melodies. The only time the band strikes out completely is while grappling with the year's token weepy ballad, "The Fifth Day of March," which singlehandedly ruins the album's overall batting average with its sappy lyrics and limp-wristed execution -- although its disc-closing evil twin, "When Desperation Fills the Void," acquits itself quite well and is certainly no cause for embarrassment.

Even so, and not forgetting or forgiving the uncharacteristically filler-level "The Harlot's Lie," there are enough missteps here to drop “Into Night's Requiem Infernal” down a few grades below its near-classic predecessors, if not out of consideration for Novembers Doom's hardcore fan base, who will still thrill over the other, quality cuts on hand.”

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

Click this link to listen to “Into Night's Requiem Infernal” via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/into-nights-requiem-infernal/1556030712

Click this link to listen to “Into Night's Requiem Infernal” via Spotify: Into Night's Requiem Infernal https://open.spotify.com/album/26W6vWodUALuO48OMpQuOe

Click this link to watch the official music video for “A Eulogy For The Living Lost”: https://youtu.be/cfR4OIDuvPc

Click this link to follow November’s Doom on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NovembersDoom1989

Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells

Novembers Doom — Into Night’s Requiem Infernal

The Wells Perspective:

Promoting the Album:

Critical Reception:

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

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