NOVEMBERS DOOM : FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What are the origins of Novembers Doom?  How did the band start?  What's Novembers Doom's history? Etc...
 
Novembers Doom started in 1989 in Chicago, Illinois as a thrash/death metal project that originally went under the name LACERATION.  With vocalist/main man Paul Kuhr at the helm (and the only original member left in the band to date), this era of the band saw the release of several demos, while the sound of the band evolved to become more slow, heavy and doomy while retaining the death metal brutality as well.  By 1991/1992, the band had changed their name to NOVEMBERS DOOM, as it was felt that it more suited the feel and "vibe" of the music being created.  With this new name and sound, the band signed an early deal with Regress Records, for which two songs were recorded for a single release...but very quickly thereafter, Avantgarde records of Italy came along and heard the two songs, and signed the band to a new deal.  This lead to the recording and release of the first full length CD "Amid Its Hallowed Mirth" released in early 1995, which contained songs that had been written/recorded between 1991 and 1994, pre-dating many of the other bands who came along later in this genre of music, not to mention being one of the first death/doom bands, particularly from the U.S., to feature prominently, beautiful soaring female soprano vocals mixed with guttural male vocals.  Many favorable reviews were received worldwide, however the band suffered through many different setbacks and lineup changes over the next couple of years.  Finally in 1997, a new more consistent lineup was finally put into place with the addition of guitarist Eric Burnley and bassist Mary Bielich, which lead to the recording and release of the much sought after and acclaimed EP "For Every Leaf That Falls", which was self-released.  This disc lead to the signing of a new record deal with Martyr Music Group, and in 1998 the band recorded their second full length CD "Of Sculptured Ivy and Stone Flowers".  In early 1999, before the release of that CD, the band enlisted the talents of new guitarist Larry Roberts and drummer Joe Nunez as full time members.  This lineup went on to play many shows in the U.S. in support of that CD, and in the summer of 2000, went in and recorded their third full length disc, a concept album entitled "The Knowing".  At this time, Dark Symphonies came along and showed an interest in working with the band, and as such wound up buying out their remaining contract from Martyr Music Group.  "The Knowing" was released on Dark Symphonies in November 2000, and went on to sell very well and gained the best reviews of any ND CD up to that point.  Eventually a distribution license was granted to Pavement Records in Europe for the release of "The Knowing" there.  More lineup changes ensued thereafter, with Mary Bielich relocating to Pittsburgh and joining Penance, and Novembers Doom using "fill in" bassists for live purposes, mainly Mike Lagros of Disinter.  In late 2001, the band enlisted the services of Grammy-winning producer Neil Kernon (Nevermore, Cannibal Corpse, Queensryche, etc.) for the making of their fourth full length CD, "To Welcome The Fade".  The album was released in late summer of 2002 to much acclaim and praise, gaining the band many new fans and accolades.  Novembers Doom were even featured on the cover of the January 2003 issue of Metal Maniacs magazine, and later went on to be named the Number #1 album of 2002 by editor Mike G. of the aforementioned magazine!  Again, more lineup changes occurred when guitarist Eric Burnley amicably split for the band in order to relocate elsewhere and settle down with family.  Late 2002/early 2003 saw the addition of new guitarist Vito Marchese.  Much of 2003 was spent playing shows and writing new material, recording a pre-production demo of new material and in February 2004 the band went on tour in the U.S. with acclaimed acts The Gathering and Agalloch.  This tour and the aforementioned demo lead to the signing of a new record deal with the prestigious label The End Records.  In October 2004, the band went into Studio One with engineer/co-producer Chris Djuricic (Enforsaken, Soil, Jungle Rot, etc.) to record their fifth and most ambitious full length CD yet, titled "The Pale Haunt Departure".  Mixing duties for this disc were handled by the widely acclaimed musician/artist/producer Dan Swano (Edge of Sanity, Bloodbath, Nightingale, etc.), and mastering duties were accomplished by none other than legendary guitarist and studio wiz James Murphy (of Death, Testament, Disincarnate, Obituary fame), resulting in the heaviest and most versatile Novembers Doom album to date, which is being released on March 8th, 2005. 
 

What is the current lineup of Novembers Doom?  Why all the lineup changes?
 
The current lineup of Novembers Doom, as of January 2005, is:
 
Paul Kuhr- Vocals
Larry Roberts- Guitars
Vito Marchese- Guitars
Joe Nunez- Drums
 
Novembers Doom has had to endure many lineup changes over the years but whenever its occurred its always been for the best, for the future of the band.  Many people have left either due to relocation to other cities/states much too far away to stay an active member (as in the case of ex-members Mary Bielich and Eric Burnley) or due to the ever present "musical differences".  Fortunately for us, almost every person who has exited the band has done so on good terms, and in most cases we are still friendly with our ex-bandmates.  Eric Burnley handled much of the keyboard work on the new album "The Pale Haunt Departure", in fact.
 

Who is your current label?  Why so many label changes over the years?
 
Novembers Doom's current record label is THE END RECORDS, from the U.S.  We've had to change labels so many times over the years due mainly to contracts running out, and either the label or the band, or sometimes both, deciding to move onto different things, simple as that.  Again, we've been fortunate that our split with past labels has in most cases been handled amicably and professionally, and we look at each label with gratitude and well wishes for everything they did for us during the time we worked together.  Every label did what they could for us at the time, and we learned a lot along the way, and for that we're thankful.  We are quite happy with The End Records being our new home and we hope for a long and productive relationship with them! 
 

Tell us about Novembers Doom's sound/style....what style do you play?  What genre do you belong in?
 
Novembers Doom plays a form of dark, heavy emotional metal.  We feature guttural vocals as well as beautiful melodic clean vocals, heavy and light guitars, acoustic and electric guitars, lots of "light and shade" in our songs overall.  We have been labeled everything from 'Doom' to 'Death' to 'Gothic' to 'Doom/Death' and so on.....we feel that we don't fit into any one genre of music, except for being "metal" in general.  And even then at times much of our music does not sound like heavy metal in the traditional sense.  We strive to just write music that we love and feel comfortable playing, while always trying to stretch ourselves as musicians and writers.  The closest we come to labeling ourselves is to say, we play "dark metal".  And even then, it's not 100% accurate.  We play Novembers Doom music, period.
 

Why did you choose the name Novembers Doom, and what does it mean?
 
The name Novembers Doom was chosen back around 1991.  It was a name that was felt suited the sound and vibe of the music at the time.  While the name may sound cliched nowadays, it was more unique back then and pre-dated most of the bands who now have similar sounding names.  While the word "doom" is in the name, it does not mean we consider ourselves a straight on "doom" band nor was it meant to limit ourselves to only playing music that would fit comfortably within that genre of music.

What do you think of the doom metal scene?  Do you guys listen to much doom metal?  What are your favorite doom metal albums/bands, etc.?
 
We all enjoy doom metal and doom in general, but it is not our main or primary focus, either for our personal listening tastes nor when we write and play music.  Many of our roots and influences are from the doom/death metal scene and we will always love and appreciate them.  We don't feel that we are really a major part of the doom metal scene anymore, since we've expanded a lot on our overall sound over the years, though we are glad to still have fans and friends that are a part of the doom scene and we welcome them.  We don't set out to be an exclusive part of any particular genre, but we will always have a love and respect for doom metal and what it's meant to us and our roots.  Doom bands that have been an influence or favorite of ours in one way or the other over the years, collectively, would be Trouble, St. Vitus, Winter, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Candlemass, and Solitude Aeturnus.

What other influences does Novembers Doom have?
 
We are, in fact, very influenced by many other styles of music, even ranging far outside of the metal genre.  Collectively the members of this band love and have been influenced strongly by blues, jazz, progressive, classical, pop and avant garde music, as well as all different forms of metal and extreme metal like death and black metal.  We are open-minded and always strive to absorb new and different kinds of music, and it all creeps into our songwriting in some way or another. 
 

How about people saying/claiming you guys are copying or cloning bands like Anathema, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Opeth, etc?
 
It's an unfortunate fact that due to our lack of popularity and publicity compared to those bands, and the fact that we hail from the U.S. as opposed to being from Europe or elsewhere, that we tend to fall under heavy criticism from people for those claims of being copyists or what have you.  It is a matter of fact however, that we have been writing and playing the kind of music we play for almost as long as those aforementioned bands, so for people to say that we merely copied their style is unfair and not possible.  We of course look at what they have done as an inspiration and we enjoy those bands too but we believe that we basically just shared alot of the same influences as those bands have, and we all set out on a similar musicial path.  Just because we are not from England or Sweden does not mean that we are incapable of writing this music from our hearts.  There have been similarities between some vocal or guitar parts with other bands, but ultimately things like that will happen from time to time, and all we can say in all honesty is that we've never set out to copy or steal from anyone.  We are actually friends and acquaintaces of members of bands like My Dying Bride and Opeth, and we mutually respect and enjoy each other's music.  All we can hope for is that people out there will be open minded and bright enough to realise that our music is in fact unique and cannot simply be written off as a direct "copy" of any one band or artist.  Our influences and roots are far reaching and widespread, and our roots go back much further than just the death and doom metal movement of the 1990's.  Any similarities we share musicially or otherwise with bands like My Dying Bride, Opeth, Paradise Lost, etc., are purely coincidental and more likely a result of us sharing musical tastes and influences with those bands, period.

Why has your sound changed/developed the way it has over the years?
 
Novembers Doom have had to endure many lineup changes over the years, and at times the principal songwriters were amongst those who exited the group.  As such, with each new member and writer who enters the group, new influences and writing styles are brought into the mix, resulting in new sounds and new ideas being tried.  Each person brought into this band is unique in their own way or writing/playing, but they all are brought in knowing that they fit in with the general feeling and vibe that Novembers Doom is about.  We've never been a band that wants to become stagnant and stick with one narrow particular sound all the time.  With each new album and new song written there is a growth that we strive for, and we'll continue to do so, even if it means some people who listen to us are not comfortable with the change and growth.