{"id":3777,"date":"2015-10-30T19:12:36","date_gmt":"2015-10-30T18:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powerofmetal.dk\/?p=3777"},"modified":"2015-11-03T20:36:31","modified_gmt":"2015-11-03T19:36:31","slug":"novelists-souvenirs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/reviews\/novelists-souvenirs","title":{"rendered":"Novelists – Souvenirs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"livret_classique_2_pages\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Novelists<\/strong> is a young band from France that is releasing its debut album Souvenirs<\/em> in a week. I happen to have read their name on annisokay\u2019s Facebook page, as Novelists<\/strong> were on tour with them recently, but I had never heard any of their music until I decided to check out their first album.<\/p>\n

First of all, I\u2019d like to get two points straight: 1) Although Novelists<\/strong> are labeled as \u201cprogressive\u201d, they aren\u2019t a progressive metal band. Putting this label on a band of course depends on how one defines \u201cprogressive\u201d, but a band isn\u2019t progressive just because the members can play a sh*tload of notes. My friend and partner in crime Rob outlined this statement in his review<\/a> recently, so feel free to check it out. As a conclusion, Novelists<\/strong> sound more like a technical metalcore band to me. 2) I\u2019m not afraid to admit that I don\u2019t dislike metalcore per se. Every subgenre has rather unspectacular and even really awful bands; I just feel that many of them play metalcore. Generally, I can only name three or four metalcore bands I really enjoy. However, I believe that truly great music has no genre. If an album sounds great, then let\u2019s just leave it at that and don\u2019t hate on it because it\u2019s metalcore.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that the band couldn\u2019t really impress me at first. The songs sounded pretty much all the same, just a few parts stood out and I just couldn\u2019t get used to those weird vocals. But it\u2019s also true that Novelists<\/strong> seem to have established a solid fan base that really appreciates what they are doing. So I began to think: Why do all these people love their music? There may be something about this band I haven\u2019t been able to hear in the beginning, which made me figure out exactly that \u2013 so here\u2019s what I\u2019ve found out.<\/p>\n

My view of the band has changed so much after listening to Souvenirs<\/em> for several times and concentrating on Novelists<\/strong>\u2019 music. I realized that these guys know how to play their instruments and how to give variety despite playing in a genre that isn\u2019t known for much variety. I wouldn\u2019t state that they are creating something particularly new with this album, unlike other reviewers did. The album is with no doubt nicely structured and decently written, but I\u2019ve already heard most of the riffs, licks and rhythmic patterns on it at some point before, which proves that Novelists<\/strong> actually aren\u2019t a far cry from other young bands in the genre. Even though you can\u2019t expect something completely out of the world, many songs on this record are really well-made. \u201cAntares\u201d with its massive breakdown and \u201cEarth Graver\u201d are two of the best songs on Souvenirs<\/em>, the latter being a very groovy, slightly darker track. There are two slower tracks on this album as well: \u201cBlack Lights\u201d serves more as an interlude, while \u201c5:12 AM\u201d, probably the cheesiest song of the year, still builds up very nicely and contains some sweet female guest vocals (greatest selling point here, hehe).<\/p>\n

Speaking of the vocals, I still don\u2019t like them too much. I\u2019m convinced that even deathcore and metalcore bands should have a decent vocalist with strong gutturals (see Eddie Hermida of Suicide Silence) who can handle many different techniques and styles \u2013 it just makes everything sound much more balanced, in my opinion. Novelists<\/strong>\u2019 vocalist Matt Gelsomino\u2019s gutturals don\u2019t sound really spectacular most of the time, but he can actually sing pretty decently, even though his cleans sound a little bit whiny at times and he sings out of tune in nearly every song at some point. In \u201cGravity\u201d, for example, the mundane vocal harmony that can be heard during the bridge does the job of building up tension near the end of the track, but it\u2019s pretty much a third above the main voice. Several notes are out of tune as well. Generally, I feel that the cleans aren\u2019t trained and strong enough to handle lower and higher vocals. \u201cBlack Lights\u201d shows exactly that for the lower register, \u201cGravity\u201d once again for the higher register. On the contrary, there are some very nice and emotion-filled vocal melodies – \u201cEchoes\u201d,for that matter, contains some of the best vocal lines on the whole record – which shows that vocalist Matt will gradually be able to improve his performance on the next records if he keeps working on his voice.<\/p>\n

All in all, I\u2019m very looking forward to hear and see how Novelists<\/strong> will develop in the future. If you dig this genre, this is an album you may want to check out. It\u2019s not for every metalhead, as modern metalcore isn\u2019t the ultimate genre for everyone. But generally speaking, Souvenirs<\/em> is a decent record. You\u2019ll possibly just need some time to figure that out \u2026<\/p>\n