Review of the Album "Novembrine Waltz" by Italian Death Metal Band Novembre

"Novembrine Waltz" is the 4^th studio album by Italian death metal band Novembre released in 2001 and it is definitely a notch better than their 1999 album Classica. A waltz is a kind of musical piece that has a dance element to it but from the beginning of the album with the song Distances, the songwriting is more mature even though the death metal growls are still present. The riffing has a definite classical feel to it but it is heavier.

Everasia begins with pretty much the same lyrical theme as the first song and it is about a long journey by air, land, and sea. There is a thought lyrically in the song that as time never stops as we die. But can we live forever? Is there a way to fight against the physical body getting older? Come Pierrot musically has a mix of Fates Warning progressive style and there is a part that Finnish Gothic rock band Lullacry would have been influenced by. We might as well try to make ourselves dream the sweetest dreams and walk up steps to paradise. I never really dreamed that I would go as far as I have with my writing endeavors but it is a testament to the avid writer that writes for more than just the obvious reasons. Child of the Twilight has that Opeth kind of feel as this album has several parts that have lyrics in Italian. The acoustic guitar continues to be accompanied by the classical symphonic feel as the song transitions to a heavier sound. There is a cover performance of the Kate Bush song called Cloudbusting and former The 3^rd and the Mortal vocalist Ann-Mari Edvardsen provides the vocals.

By the time we get to the song called Flower it is a song about two flowers that are frozen because of the harsh snow that has come upon the city and town. These flowers are like two hearts that are in slumber mode as they sleep in the dust and effects of the snow. The repeating acoustic guitar patterns mixed in with the distorted guitar sounds very much like Opeth and Lacuna Coil combined. Lacuna Coil though is far superior as a band compared to Novembre but of course, Lacuna Coil really isn’t a death metal group.

Valentine is a sort of song about someone that is so in love with a woman that he even notices her hair as she is walking in Paris, France. He wants to get even closer to her. Speaking of beautiful hair, the person that is the first love of my life has beautiful hair as well! It is not even Valentine’s Day and I seem to be so enthusiastic to type these words! Overall, "Novembrine Waltz" is a pleasant listen even for death metal in Italy and it is a step up from 1999 for these guys as they have improved their songwriting ability and the album seems to feel less morose which is very good.