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Rating: Year 2000, "Classica" is dedicated to Fabrizio De André (who passed away less than a year earlier), a great inspiration for Carmelo Orlando.
This album is the compositional perfection achieved by Novembre. From every point of view: Carmelo’s scream is explosive and gritty; the clean vocals are sweet, poised, and ecstatic (the result of evident study by C.); the arpeggios are omnipresent, in pure Novembre style, but never inappropriate; the riffs played with distortions are suitable to be alternated with the clean sections; an exceptional rhythm base by Giuseppe Orlando, capable of amazing listeners with every new production.
It’s pointless to mention a few tracks; I’d have to do it with all, as each of them has a story to tell and praises to receive. Standouts are "Cold Blue Steel" with which the album opens, and it’s a sort of summary of the group’s intentions: musical violence and decadence, accompanied by a taste for melodic sophistication.
"Nostalgiaplatz" is the only track where you’ll hear only the clean, touching, and emotional vocal line (it will surely drive women crazy).
And finally, I cannot help but dwell on the masterpiece within the masterpiece: "Onirica East". I’m not able to convey the beauty of this track; you’ll have to read the lyrics and listen to it with headphones in the dark, to immerse yourself in this world of dreams, in a "place north of Arcadia, beyond the Essei seas, where there is no waking, nor why: Onirica".
Highly recommended: one of the best productions in the Italian scene in this genre.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Cold Blue Steel (05:25)
I drown in the sound In a sterile atmosphere Down below the noise sphere In sterile cold blue steel Lifeless in time A caress of cold, a caress of cold The caress of a cold blue light lamp [solo: Massimiliano] The stars ain't shining now In this artificial sky with electro-psychic storms Where aseptic stillness is I look for your hand somehow But you cannot reach me here now This mental-nowhere has closed its doors Where life gives way to crying steel
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By The Guitarist
The album is a true gem: supported by powerful and fast guitar riffs in pure Death style, and melancholically resting on cold and autumnal melodies typical of Gothic.
‘Nostalgiaplatz’ can move and touch like few other metal songs, Carmelo Orlando’s clean, sad, and melancholic voice evokes images of dry leaves blown by the wind beyond the trees.
