Review Summary: This is the house of rain
Being a fan of a band for nearly half your life is bound to lead to some bias when talking about them, and for me I'm always readily conscious about overbearing people with my inherent fanboy-like enthusiasm for Italian progressive/gothic doomsters Novembre. Having said all of that, I truly believe this is a band that are absolute masters of their craft, and that the latest album Words of Indigo is definitive proof that against all the odds; being left with only one original member and being largely silent musically for close to a decade, this is another stellar release and proves once again that this is a band who have mastered the feeling of melancholy in metal in a way other bands could only dream of.
The last decade or so has been a turbulent period for Novembre in terms of members. All but one of the long-term members have left, starting with drummer Giuseppe Orlando in 2015 and most recently being long-time guitarist Massimiliano Pagliuso in 2025, leaving lead singer/guitarist Carmelo Orlando as the only original member. Even though his distinct singing styles, both harsh and clean and introspective and poetic lyricism in both English and Italian have always remained a staple of Novembre's sound, it was entirely possible that this would spell the end of the band's almost consistently solid discography. Thankfully however, you only need listen to the opening portion of first song Sun Magneta to find out that this is thankfully not the case, the opening atmospheric guitar and synth passages drenched in reverb effortlessly giving way to the song's main motif. Despite being an almost completely new band member-wise at this point, you wouldn't know it through listening to this album blindly, as the songwriting here is the same standard it has always been.
As with all their previous releases, Words of Indigo showcases that Novembre would prefer to take a more winding and scenic path, with each song transitioning smoothly between more driving passages dominated by double kick patterns, tortured screams and heavier riffing, followed up by slower more contemplative sections with the aforementioned reverb-soaked guitar work. This is a band that understands restraint and how that restraint pays off during an album's runtime; this isn't music designed to go viral in a piece of short-form content, it's something that you need to listen to intently, a story to engross yourself in and it makes the whole experience all the more enjoyable.
All this being said, in no way have Novembre gone soft on this album, and they remind you of that plenty of times, with songs like Neptunian Hearts and Ipernotte showing the band really leaning into their death metal roots. At its heaviest moments, the guitar and drumming work on Words of Indigo is more aggressive than previous album URSA, allowing Novembre to really showcase the genre bending they're so good at. Additionally, Carmelo Orlando sings more in Italian on this album, something he's barely done since 2006's Materia, an element that should be a very welcome addition for long-time fans, as well as the vocal feature on House of Rain from ex 3rd and the Mortal vocalist Ann-Mari Edvardsen who last featured on Novembre's cover of Cloudbusting on their 2001 release Novembrine Waltz. All of these elements are executed with a very high degree of finesse, helped by the group of musicians Carmelo Orlando has assembled as the latest lineup of Novembre. Guitarists Alessio Erriu and Federico Albanese can riff and shred as hard as they can compliment the more delicate aspects of the songwriting, drummer Yuri Croscenko shines during the heavier moments of the album whilst also maintaining a strong sense of rhythm during the more mid-paced sections of each song, and bassist Fabio Fraschini has a solid groove, throwing in some nice licks where they fit well with the rest of the music. Without disparaging previous lineups, it's clear that a lot of time and effort has been put into ensuring that this new lineup is respectful of Novembre's roots whilst also looking forward to maintain a sense of momentum.
Upon the conclusion of Words of Indigo's hour-plus runtime, one can only hope that this time around Novembre are here to stay. This is a band that have had a consistently solid run of albums for over 2 decades, through thick and thin, and despite mastery of their craft remain criminally underrated. Regardless of what the next few years of Novembre hold though, this is an album that once again is a fantastic blend of ferocious progressive death-doom and gothic melancholy, with a slightly folky twist that only an Italian band could pull. We can only hope the momentum displayed on Words of Indigo is a sign of more great things to come.
