{"id":239214,"date":"2025-09-19T15:27:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T15:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/239214\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T15:27:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T15:27:16","slug":"novembers-doom-major-arcana-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/239214\/","title":{"rendered":"Novembers Doom – Major Arcana Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Chicago\u2019s Novembers Doom<\/strong> have charted a unique course for themselves over the last 30 years. Their unnatural pairing of beefy, cargo-beshorted death metal and highly emotional doom originally felt unstable and liable to erupt into chaos at any moment, but over time, they became adept at finding the ideal balance between madman and sadboi. Albums like The Pale Haunt Departure and Hamartia were loaded with ripping riffs and plaintive gloom, and at their best, Novembers Doom<\/strong> can tear at the heartstrings even as they snap your neck. The wild swings from hugely emotional, weepy sadboi melancholy and femur-fracturing death could sometimes feel forced, but more often it just fucking worked. 2019s Nephilim Grove had big moments but felt underbaked with too much filler. It\u2019s been almost six years since, but now we get their 12th album, Major Arcana, and hopefully, a rebound for these Autumnal leaf reapers of despair.<\/p>\n

Nothing\u2019s really changed in the way Novembers Doom<\/strong> approach their trade. After an ominous and forboding intro piece, they come out swinging on the massive title track and hit you like a runaway battleship with a wide collection of primal feelz. Grinding riffs are coated with Paul Kuhr\u2019s excellent clean and death metal vocals as the intensity builds and Kuhr warns, \u201cThis has gone too far.\u201d The way his vocals increase in intensity is gripping, and all the usual melodic tricks Novembers Doom<\/strong> are known for come to the fore. This is really good shit. Another high point comes with \u201cMercy,\u201d where the band hits gold with an emotionally crushing piece that evokes Woods of Ypres<\/strong>, Pink Floyd<\/strong>, and latter-era Anthema<\/strong>. It will break your fucking heart with its beauty and poignancy. Also quite tasty is album centerpiece \u201cBleed Static,\u201d which uses its 8-minute runtime to explore a variety of despondent emotions effectively. Elsewhere, \u201cThe Dance\u201d sticks out for its very Amorphis<\/strong>-esque airy, melodic guitar work and a chorus that you can easily imagine Tomi Joutsen singing.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the rest of Major Arcana doesn\u2019t operate at this level, and though most tracks have something worthwhile to offer, they won\u2019t whisk you away in a leafblower maelstrom. \u201cRavenous\u201d is a basic melodeath tune that should run 3-4 minutes, but gets stretched to 6 for no good reason. The back third of the album is significantly less enthralling than the early tracks, and while the songs work in the context of the album, they aren\u2019t especially captivating individually. At 56-plus minutes, it would have been easy to drop 2 or 3 tracks to deliver a leaner, meaner release, but that isn\u2019t the Novembers Doom<\/strong> way. This is a mood piece kind of listen, though, and if you\u2019re in the right state of mind, it will all drift by without much resistance.<\/p>\n

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As ever, Paul Kuhr is the epicenter of the band\u2019s sound, and he does his usual first-rate job. His singing voice is so perfect for doom that he should run a clinic on it. He sounds so desperately hurt and broken on \u201cMercy\u201d that you can\u2019t help but want to give him a big hug and tell him everything will be OK. At times, his singing reminds me a lot of the late great Eric Wagner of Trouble<\/strong>, and that\u2019s great company to be in. His death roars are also as good as ever, big, booming, nasty, and venomous. His transitions between extremes are smooth and well-timed, and he knows how to wring a song for the maximum emotional impact. Lawrence Roberts and Vito Marchese wield potent riff hammers that often feel like they belong on a caveman death metal platter. When they do lapse into doom and melancholic sadboi mode, they deliver the goods there too. On cuts like the title track, \u201cMercy,\u201d and \u201cBleed Static,\u201d you can feel the pathos dripping from their fretboards. I just wish they spread that quality more evenly across the whole record.<\/p>\n

Albums like Major Arcana can end up a frustrating experience because you get a few really amazing songs and the remainder ends up looking pale in comparison, even if nothing is bad. Novembers Doom<\/strong> have struggled with this issue over their career, and both 2019s Nephilim Grove and this one are held back by inconsistent songcraft. This is a good release with really high points, but you\u2019re left feeling it could be so much more. I want MOAR leaf doom, dammit!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Rating:<\/strong> 3.0\/5.0
DR:<\/strong> 6 | Format Reviewed:<\/strong> 320 kbps mp3
Label:<\/strong> Prophecy Productions<\/a>
Websites<\/strong>: novembersdoom1989.bandcamp.com<\/a> | facebook.com\/novembersdoom198<\/a>9 | instagram.com\/novembersdoom <\/a>
Releases Worldwide:<\/strong> September 19th, 2025<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:\n<\/p>\n