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intothewellsabyss
Nov 5, 20223 min read

Novembre - The Blue (2007)

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


An album of soaring atmospheric & emotional Metal from Italy's Novembre.



On November 5, 2007, Novembre released their seventh full-length studio album The Blue via Peaceville Records.


The seeds of Novembre were originally planted in September 1990 in Rome, Italy by the brothers Carmelo Orlando (guitars and vocals) and Giuseppe Orlando (drums). Then known as Catacomb, their early recordings of unusual Gothic Doom Metal were to quickly gain the band interest. It was around 1993 that the brothers decided that a name change was in order, and Novembre was born.


Following the success of 2006's debut Peaceville album from Novembre, Materia, and on the back of the great acclaim received by the band for its highly successful blend of atmospheric, emotional and progressive Rock/Metal elements comes the The Blue.


Featuring an even greater dynamic range - both vocally and musically - and twists of Doom/Gothic which brings to mind classic bands such as Opeth, Paradise Lost & Anathema, Novembre are certain to impress all fans of the genre.


The Blue was recorded at Outersound Studios, Italy, by the band and mixed at Finnvox Studios in Finland (Nightwish, Finntroll, HIM).


More About Novembre & The Blue:

As previously noted, Novembre began in 1990 as an Italian Death Metal band (then called Catacomb), Novembre grew to develop a unique, atmospheric sound. Although most of their lyrics are in English, vocalist Carmelo Orlando sings in Italian occasionally in many of their songs. They released their first two albums, Wish I Could Dream It Again and Arte Novecento, through Italian label Polyphemus. In the mid-1990s, they signed with Century Media to release their next three albums, Classica, Novembrine Waltz, and Dreams d'Azur. More recently, Novembre signed to Peaceville Records, to release their sixth album Materia, which took on a progressive rock influence, and their seventh album, The Blue, which saw a return to addition of Death Metal-esque passages. After 8 years of absence, Novembre completed work on a new studio album, which was released on Peaceville Records on April 1, 2016 called Ursa. Simultaneously, it was also announced that the band’s longtime drummer and co-founder Giuseppe Orlando left the band, leaving Carmelo Orlando as the only original member.


The Blue welcomes back plenty of those growls that contributed to make people compare Novembre to Opeth in the past. While it is likely that Opeth fans will find plenty of reasons to enjoy The Blue, continuing to compare the two bands is neither warranted by the music nor relevant to the quality of this album. The music is consistently progressive and melodic, with some acoustics but also sufficient bite on the excellent guitars and a very strong rhythmic backbone. Thanks in part to the successful reincorporation of growls, but also the songwriting itself, The Blue is a more aggressive album than its predecessor. The melodic side remains fundamental to the band however, and is helped for the most part by the quality of their emotional clean vocals on this release, while the guitar work is top notch as expected.


Despite a lingering tendency to write a few meandering passages here and there, which contributes to a somewhat less captivating second half, The Blue is still considerably more focused than Materia. It is also expertly played, and to top it all strongly produced. The Blue shows Novembre at the top of their game and places the band firmly as one of the main players in their genre.


Critical Reception:

In his review for Chronicles of Chaos on March 11, 2008, Pedro Azevedo wrote;

“Ever since these Romans debuted back in 1994, they have produced a number of promising records that often made them seem on the verge of some elusive breakthrough… only for the next record to leave you indifferent. The Blue is their seventh full-length already, and having been left somewhat underwhelmed by its predecessor Materia, I wasn't exactly expecting that breakthrough to suddenly come out of the blue (sorry for the pun) after all these years. Yet as it turns out, much to my surprise, The Blue has grown into my favorite Novembre album and would have been added to my top 10 of 2007 had I found time for it a couple of months ago.

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



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