NOVELISTS | Noir | Album Review

The city of Paris is one of the most famous cities in the word and houses many tourist attractions such as Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower. However, France's most famed city is also the residence of a promising five-piece progressive metal band in the form of Novelists. As of this summer, the band is now with Sharptone Records in conjunction with their original label Arising Empire, and are currently touring in promotion of their new sophomore studio album entitled "Noir". For starters, it is always a very interesting thing to find new bands in this style and especially hen that band has already proven that they have a lot of promise to be a bigger name in the scene. There are lots of bands in the scene that you can venture out and listen to, and any of these can offer something different, and it can be a big make or break moment for your opinion of the band. It can be a diamond in the rough or just a piece in the same puzzle that isn't much in the way of diverse and unique as the rest. With Novelists, though, there are several unique characteristics of the band and each of them make their appearance on "Noir" in some way or fashion. How these characteristics and quirks carry themselves and connect together during the listening experience of the album is the bigger question here, and it's evident on this disc that the band pulls them off pretty well. 

June 2017 saw the release of the album's first single entitled "The Light The Fire". I had heard Novelists and their first album "Souvenirs" back whenever it first came out, and while I thought that it was good, I didn't really come back to any of the tracks on that album. With "The Light, The Fire", which appears in the second half of the album as Track 8, I really got sucked in and could see the potential for this group with what they can do. For anyone who listened to the song before the album's release, "The Light The Fire" is definitely among the gamut of progressive metal/metalcore tracks with some heavy sections including the guitar riffage that appears at the beginning and end along with Matt Gelsomino's gruffy unclean vocals that appear every now and then in the track, but there's also a feeling of calmness and tranquility that makes up the verses and the chorus of the track with Matt's actual singing intertwined within very precise drumwork and harmonic guitarwork. It feels like this track is more of an experience than an ordinary song, and it's a song that does everything in its power to keep the listener hooked throughout the track, and that precision is what you'll come across on a good majority of this album, though not every moment showcases it. 

What does set Novelists apart from other acts of their ilk is that this album features a wide variety of styles. This album isn't just a straight up heavy riffage festival with only few drops in between. There's variety on the tonal side of things which can be heard in the intro track "L'appel Du Vide", which doesn't just simply begin the album as a heavy and crushing affair, but rather infuses its style with melody and atmosphere, and that's something to respect. However, the following song, "Monochrome", turns the volume down a bit more instead of trying to keep up with the same style of the track before it, and with that you realize that the title of this track isn't accurate at all. "Monochrome" features a very unique palette of instrumentation including a saxophone solo after the first chorus and a steel guitar heard in each of the tracks verses, along with an incredible guitar solo, making this track one of the highlights of the entire album. "Monochrome" is one of the slower tracks on the album next to the second to last track "A Travers Le Miroir", and both tracks are fantastic in addition to offering a break from the more fast-paced and heavy tracks on the album. It's proof that softer songs in this style of metal can be done extremely well and make you feel something rather than just be filler or done incorrectly. 

Throughout the rest of the album and putting aside the two slower tracks, there's definitely an aggression to be found on the songs within, most evidently in tracks like "Grey Souls" and its follow up track "A Bitter End", which in actuality turns out to be one of the heaviest tracks on the album, and I'd probably go as far as saying it is the heaviest track on the album. Both of these cuts feature melodic values as well with singing parts from Matt Gelsomino, but overall seem much heavier in contrast to one of the slower cuts on the album such as "Monochrome". It's definitely tricky to place some of the more heavy material in the middle while pushing the slow and more emotive tracks to the beginning, but Novelists definitely pull it off here and it's a wise choice. "A Bitter End" is definitely one of the highlights on the album with its aggressive instrumentation and some harsh profanity-laden lyricism that actually gives the song a little bit of an angry bite instead of it being immature and childish. However, as proven with other tracks on here like "Under Different Welkins" and "Lead The Light", the heavy tracks are presented in many different style with tracks such as these two being a bit more hopeful sounding whilst offering some impressive musicianship, particularly in "Lead The Light" with the drum performance. 

While there is an occasional misstep along this journey such as the track "Stranger Self" offering an odd rapping verse that does not mesh as well with the other aspects of the song, and "Joie De Vivre" being a more forgettable track, it's very hard to give the moments on the album that aren't as good a hard time. And to be honest, both of these songs are still fine, but when compared to the other tracks on the album like "Monochrome" and "The Light The Fire", there's really nothing that can be done, and the disc still stays enjoyable to listen to throughout. So enjoyable in fact that this album could possibly be one of the best albums of 2017 and a massive contender as a Top 10 or even a Top 5 placement at the end of the year. This is the type of album that makes you realize that a band has something that can really attract listeners in a big way, and can easily gain more fans in a heartbeat. It's the type of album where you're excited for the material that comes directly after because it could easily improve upon the already spectacular standard that its predecessor has set. In a musical world with artists that don't often impress nearly as much, Novelists could be one of the many that could easily stand out in the future with this album. There's an undeniable talent here that deserves to be noticed and needs to take in some fans as soon as possible.

RATING: 9/10 

What did you think about the record? Was it good? Was it bad? Let me know in the comments below. And of course, these are only my opinions. If your opinions are different, awesome! If they're similar, then that's great, too. So, don't hesitate- comment to me about it down below. Take care.