Wednesday 2 October 2024

NOVEMBER FIRE ~ THROUGH A MOURNFUL SONG ... review


New England trio, November Fire, formed in the early '90s, has finally recorded their debut album! Thanks to  advances in modern home recording technology November Fire have at last been able to capture their intense grooves for prosperity. The band members, Terry Aubie (bass/vocals/sound effects), Dave Hubai (guitars/vocals), and Jim Kelley (drums), can now  finally show those who have never got to see them live what they are all about thanks to their sparkling new release "Through A Mournful Song", a completely self-produced album with lyrics centred around the human condition.

In our short blurb gracing November Fire's Bandcamp page Desert Psychlist wrote "This is what Zappa might have sounded like had he gone down the stoner/desert rabbit hole", what we meant by those words was not that November Fire sounded anything like Frank Zappa but that there is an element of that same off-piste quirkiness and celebration of the absurd in what November Fire bring to the table, having a feel of something that Zappa himself might have brought into play had he ever dipped his toes in this genre. To fully understand what we mean you only need to listen to opening track "Wall of Monsters" where palm muted riffage is joined by what at first listen sounds like a goth Elvis singing " We want the same but hate each other", the track then exploding into a gnarly stoner/hard rock groove over which those distinctive vocals trade off with growlier slightly harsher tones, oh and be ready for the songs face-melting instrumental middle section it is INSANE!  "Can He See" is next, the songs slightly doomic dynamic supports a lyrical theme bemoaning those continually look back rather than forward with the songs chorus adding a theatrical vibe to the proceedings with a call and response vocal dynamic that has "rock opera" written large all over it. "Sad Song With No Name" is again doomic in flavour and again, thanks to its cleverly arranged vocals, feels like an out-take from a rock opera not yet made. Next song "Faint As The Stars" is played at a gallop and although we usually associate galloping rock/metal with Iron Maiden this particular gallop has more of Hawkwind-ish feel thanks in part to its underlying swirliness. "Under Red Skies" is basically a blues song but a blues song written on acid on a planet far far away while final song "Wake Up" is a mix of otherworldly funkiness and off-piste doominosity reminiscent of Captain Beefheart when he still had at least one of his feet planted on terra firma, it's jaw-dropping weirdness of the highest order.


November Fire are not your run of the mill rock band and "Through A Mournful Song" is not your run of the mill rock album either. There is insanity here but it is a structured insanity tethered to normality by the musicians involved not allowing things to get too out of hand and collapse into chaos, constantly pulling back from the brink of going way out there to deliver a music that is close to the edge but not over it.
Check it out .... 

© 2024 Frazer Jones

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