Biography
Since the closing years of the 1980s Novembers Doom have maintained steady activity, beginning as a Chicago-area outfit rooted in thrash before gravitating early toward a dense, sludgy doom-metal approach. Across subsequent decades the group progressively expanded beyond those origins, incorporating orchestral flourishes and unexpected gothic-folk textures on releases such as the 2000 album The Knowing and the sweeping 2007 effort The Novella Reservoir.
The musicians first assembled in 1989 in Downers Grove, Illinois, initially calling themselves Laceration before adopting the Novembers Doom moniker to signal their move toward a heavier, more apocalyptic style. While still developing, they secured a deal in 1992 with Italy’s Regress Records after submitting a two-song demo. Their debut full-length, Amid Its Hallowed Mirth, appeared in 1995 and drew acclaim for its blend of hard-rock and heavy-metal orchestration; the band also contributed a track to a Pavement Music compilation.
An EP titled For Every Leaf That Falls followed in 1997. Influenced by My Dying Bride, Edge of Sanity, and Paradise Lost, they issued their second album, Of Sculptured Ivy & Stone Flowers, in 1999 and simultaneously joined the roster of Martyr Music Group, Inc. In May 2000 the group entered the studio to track its third record; two months later they signed with Dark Symphonies, resulting in the release of The Knowing later that year—an album that brought them widespread attention throughout Europe.
Following an arduous tour and brief hiatus, Novembers Doom returned to the studio under producer Neil Kernon, whose prior credits ranged from Cannibal Corpse and Judas Priest to Queensrÿche and Hall & Oates. The sessions yielded To Welcome the Fade, issued in September, which Metal Maniacs Magazine named Album of the Year; the band subsequently supported the Gathering on the road while also headlining its own dates. Impressed by those performances, the Gathering’s label The End Records signed Novembers Doom in mid-2003.
Recording commenced in 2004 with mixing handled by Dan Swanö and production by Chris Djuricic. The resulting Pale Haunt Departure, their most stylistically varied work to that point, remained anchored in dark doom and death metal yet incorporated passages of hard rock, black metal, and NWOBHM. For the first time the group headlined its own U.S. club and festival itinerary before embarking on an extensive European headline tour.
The Novella Reservoir surfaced in 2007, appearing to conclude the conceptual arc begun with To Welcome the Fade. Co-produced by the band and bassist Djuricic (also known as Chris Wisco) and again mixed by Swanö, the album highlighted the contrast between new guitarist Vito Marchese’s flashy technique and the melodic, riff-driven approach of veteran Larry Roberts. In 2008 The End Records licensed, remastered, and expanded the band’s first two albums with bonus material for deluxe reissues; the same year also saw the release of the live DVD The Novella Vosselaar: Live in Belgium.
Into Night’s Requiem Infernal arrived in 2009, prompting a divide between longtime listeners and newer fans as the band’s growing emphasis on texture and dynamics pushed the music further from traditional doom into more aggressive territory. Once more co-produced by the group and Wisco—who had by then vacated the bass position, filled by Mike Feldman—with Swanö handling mixing, the album doubled the band’s European draw and led to headline festival appearances across the continent.
Aphotic followed in 2011, fusing the group’s extreme origins with atmospheric, near-progressive and gothic elements; the track “What Could Have Been” featured Paul Kuhr duetting with former the Gathering vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen. After further touring the musicians paused to write, during which Kuhr experienced significant personal transitions. They resurfaced in July 2014 with the aggressive Bled White, introducing new drummer Garry Naples in place of Sasha Horn. International headline and festival dates throughout 2015 across the United States and Europe solidified the chemistry of this lineup.
In 2016 the same personnel convened at Belle City Sound in Racine, Wisconsin, again with Djuricic producing and Swanö mixing—the first instance in the band’s 28-year existence that two consecutive albums had been tracked with an unchanged roster. Additional contributions came from Ben Johnson on keyboards, My Dying Bride guitarist Andrew Craighan, and alternating backing vocals supplied by Rhiannon Kuhr, Bernt Fjellestad of Susperia, and Swanö. In January 2017 the finished album was announced as Hamartia; preview single “Plague Bird” preceded the March release of “Zephyr,” and Hamartia itself appeared on The End Records in April.
Two years later the eleventh album, Nephilim Grove, emerged, showcasing the band’s continually expanding palette of sounds and styles through dynamic, transparent production.
The musicians first assembled in 1989 in Downers Grove, Illinois, initially calling themselves Laceration before adopting the Novembers Doom moniker to signal their move toward a heavier, more apocalyptic style. While still developing, they secured a deal in 1992 with Italy’s Regress Records after submitting a two-song demo. Their debut full-length, Amid Its Hallowed Mirth, appeared in 1995 and drew acclaim for its blend of hard-rock and heavy-metal orchestration; the band also contributed a track to a Pavement Music compilation.
An EP titled For Every Leaf That Falls followed in 1997. Influenced by My Dying Bride, Edge of Sanity, and Paradise Lost, they issued their second album, Of Sculptured Ivy & Stone Flowers, in 1999 and simultaneously joined the roster of Martyr Music Group, Inc. In May 2000 the group entered the studio to track its third record; two months later they signed with Dark Symphonies, resulting in the release of The Knowing later that year—an album that brought them widespread attention throughout Europe.
Following an arduous tour and brief hiatus, Novembers Doom returned to the studio under producer Neil Kernon, whose prior credits ranged from Cannibal Corpse and Judas Priest to Queensrÿche and Hall & Oates. The sessions yielded To Welcome the Fade, issued in September, which Metal Maniacs Magazine named Album of the Year; the band subsequently supported the Gathering on the road while also headlining its own dates. Impressed by those performances, the Gathering’s label The End Records signed Novembers Doom in mid-2003.
Recording commenced in 2004 with mixing handled by Dan Swanö and production by Chris Djuricic. The resulting Pale Haunt Departure, their most stylistically varied work to that point, remained anchored in dark doom and death metal yet incorporated passages of hard rock, black metal, and NWOBHM. For the first time the group headlined its own U.S. club and festival itinerary before embarking on an extensive European headline tour.
The Novella Reservoir surfaced in 2007, appearing to conclude the conceptual arc begun with To Welcome the Fade. Co-produced by the band and bassist Djuricic (also known as Chris Wisco) and again mixed by Swanö, the album highlighted the contrast between new guitarist Vito Marchese’s flashy technique and the melodic, riff-driven approach of veteran Larry Roberts. In 2008 The End Records licensed, remastered, and expanded the band’s first two albums with bonus material for deluxe reissues; the same year also saw the release of the live DVD The Novella Vosselaar: Live in Belgium.
Into Night’s Requiem Infernal arrived in 2009, prompting a divide between longtime listeners and newer fans as the band’s growing emphasis on texture and dynamics pushed the music further from traditional doom into more aggressive territory. Once more co-produced by the group and Wisco—who had by then vacated the bass position, filled by Mike Feldman—with Swanö handling mixing, the album doubled the band’s European draw and led to headline festival appearances across the continent.
Aphotic followed in 2011, fusing the group’s extreme origins with atmospheric, near-progressive and gothic elements; the track “What Could Have Been” featured Paul Kuhr duetting with former the Gathering vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen. After further touring the musicians paused to write, during which Kuhr experienced significant personal transitions. They resurfaced in July 2014 with the aggressive Bled White, introducing new drummer Garry Naples in place of Sasha Horn. International headline and festival dates throughout 2015 across the United States and Europe solidified the chemistry of this lineup.
In 2016 the same personnel convened at Belle City Sound in Racine, Wisconsin, again with Djuricic producing and Swanö mixing—the first instance in the band’s 28-year existence that two consecutive albums had been tracked with an unchanged roster. Additional contributions came from Ben Johnson on keyboards, My Dying Bride guitarist Andrew Craighan, and alternating backing vocals supplied by Rhiannon Kuhr, Bernt Fjellestad of Susperia, and Swanö. In January 2017 the finished album was announced as Hamartia; preview single “Plague Bird” preceded the March release of “Zephyr,” and Hamartia itself appeared on The End Records in April.
Two years later the eleventh album, Nephilim Grove, emerged, showcasing the band’s continually expanding palette of sounds and styles through dynamic, transparent production.
Albums
