Review: Novembers Doom – Major Arcana

Artwork by: strxart

Style: Death-Doom Metal, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Death Metal (Mixed Vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Opeth, In Mourning, Draconian, Katatonia, My Dying Bride
Country: United States (Illinois)
Release date: 19 September 2025

Sometimes, a band finds us before we’re ready for them. Slipknot, Mudvayne, Rush… it would be years, a decade in some cases, before experience and exposure prepared me to revisit and embrace these bands wholeheartedly under the graces of a new perspective. Such was the case with Illinois death-doom stalwarts Novembers Doom, whose 2005 album A Pale Haunt Departure I would encounter at an FYE (back when they had sampling stations), and whose thundering death metal aggression and roaring vocals my fledgling metalhead ears were not yet ready to accept. Fast forward to 2011 and somehow, having not thought of the band in the ensuing six years, I came across Aphotic and decided to give it a whirl. Surely it was Fate working her magicks, because from gloomy stem to brutal stern, I found myself suddenly enamored with Novembers Doom and their combination of melancholic doom and visceral death metal, powered by vocalist Paul Kuhr’s monstrous growls and darkly rich croons.

Presently, Novembers Doom has solidified themselves as possessing one of the most consistent discographies of any band in my collection, with a six-album streak between 2002 and 2014 that, for me, represents some of the most perfect death-doom available—a beautiful marriage of doom’s crush-depth heft, death metal’s visceral bite, and the lyrical melodrama and romantic decadence of Gothic metal. Though latter day offerings such as 2017’s Hamartia and 2019’s Nephilim Grove failed to leave the same impression as Aphotic or Into Night’s Requiem Infernal (2009), they nonetheless showcased a band—thirty years into their career, no less—able to keep the needle well above “empty.” Now it’s 2025; September is upon us and so the heralding of Autumn—what better time for Novembers Doom to emerge from their sepulcher depths and grace us with new offerings. Major Arcana marks their twelfth studio release, and going into it I could only think: would these Windy City wiccans continue to hold the line, or had time finally eroded this umbral house of cards?

I’m not going to lie: seeing that sub-two-minute runtime on opener “June” had me worried. After decades of avoiding the curse of the pointless intro track, Novembers Doom finally came down with trendulosis. An atmospheric cut comprising mournful piano and highlighting Kuhr’s penchant for spoken word segments, “June” gains points by virtue of his grave storyteller’s timbre, of which time has only strengthened. And what threatened to be the signs of a serious illness turned out to be but a cough, with the band making a full and speedy recovery. Major Arcana showcases a return to the fertile corpse-soil from which Novembers Doom have mined their trade, replete with somber, marching riffs (“Mercy”), vicious, stalking assaults (“Ravenous”), and grim romanticism aplenty. Par for the course, you may say, and you’d be correct.

Except here the band sounds positively charged coming out of the six-year gap separating them from the solidly decent Nephilim Grove, an album which felt a tad like Kuhr and the crew going through the motions. The riffs didn’t hit as hard, the choruses were purposeful yet lacked presence, and the overall pacing snagged. The ingredients were correct, but the intention felt diluted. Major Arcana sees the moon seated fully in the house of ass-kicking, however. Cuts like “Ravenous” and “The Fool” deliver on the punchy, visceral death that calls to mind the heaviest hitters from Bled White and Aphotic, maintaining their monstrous forms even when they dip into more emotive passages. Elsewhere, “Mercy” and “Bleed Static” tap into the band’s doomy and darkly grand energy; slightly slower tracks whose pacing and design refuse to let the mind wander. Novembers Doom have always crafted winsome shifts within their songs, and those on Major Arcana are no exception. Guitarists Larry Roberts and Vito Marchese throw down decks of driving riffs and melancholic passages with a dealer’s confidence. Mike Feldman’s bass flows like blood in the veins, a subconscious presence that’s easy to overlook but is never absent. Elsewhere and everywhere, Garry Naples’ kitwork nails down the foundation, crowning the trim with tight fills aplenty.

Long-time fans shouldn’t expect anything shockingly new or revolutionary—there’s no rag-time jazz interlude or a dark polka segment. This is a veteran outfit doing what they’re known for: Gothic death-doom steeped in aphotic melodrama and melancholic violence, that’s often sailed towards “great” and never strayed from “good.” Kuhr does break some (slightly) new ground across Major Arcana, affecting a razored bellowing to go with his mountain-shaking growls and grandiose cleans, while Roberts bolsters the main man’s already commanding presence with some tasty backing vocals. By and large, though, Major Arcana is another Novembers Doom record—a fact I’m perfectly delighted by.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that this particular lineup—the most consistent in the band’s history, starting together on 2014’s Bled White—is operating on the kind of synchronicity gained from writing music together for over a decade. While this rightfully may raise fears of stagnation, Novembers Doom have instead harnessed their time together to strengthen their sense of balance and pacing, eclipsing the issues which kept both Nephilim Grove and Hamartia shy of greatness. Thus, Major Arcana finds itself in rarefied company, nestled safely within the dark harvest fields of the band’s mid-Aughts mightiness—no mean feat, considering the ever-present threat of entropy’s eroding touch. So, while this deck of cards may ultimately read familiar, the stock is weightier and the colors crisper. Major Arcana is the kind of hand I’ll always be glad to draw.

Recommended tracks: Ravenous, Chatter, The Dance, Bleed Static
You may also like: October Tide, Wine From Tears, Daylight Dies, Nailed to Obscurity
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives

Label: Prophecy Productions – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Novembers Doom is:
– Paul Kuhr (vocals)
– Larry Roberts (guitars, vocals)
– Vito Marchese (guitars)
– Mike Feldman (bass)
– Garry Naples (drums)