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Reviews
Kerrang
KKKK 20/03/04
Intense mini album from UKHC ones-to-watch.
If Canterbury hardcore can get converge playing a scout hut, it's
no surprise that November Coming Fire one of their 'scene' bands,
should debut so strongly. This is an explosion, laced with atmiospherics
to make it absorbing despite its brevity. They threaten to veer
violently out of control. saved by a precision malevolence not
heard since Give Up The Ghost's 'Down Till We're Underground'.
Their first full length will be awesome.
(Alastair Lawrence)
Rocksound
- March 2004
7/10
As the chants of opening track ‘Transgression’
ring through your ears, the undeniable nod to AFI’s ‘Strength
Through Wounding’ is disturbingly similar. You contemplate
briefly that this might be a talentless copycat band and that
the next 18 minutes of your life will be wasted on a jaunt through
their debut release. But as the goth punk intro melts into a bowel
loosening mix of old school mosh and go, metal riffs and classic’
core licks, the head nods and the frown turns to a smile, and
you realise these cherubs have got some almighty balls on them.
Not only have they named themselves after a Samhain album, but
they have also decided to try and combine a range of influences
that span from Nerve Agents-esque Bay Area punk rock to the noisy
styles of Both and Converge, Cheeky bastards. More aggravating
still is that they may have pulled it off; each of the six songs
on this release demonstrates a slightly different aspect of the
musical lexicon from which they draw, but standing above the rest
is ‘Loves Young Nightmare’, which rips like American
Nightmare and sears right through your earlobe. (Andrew Kelham)
Terrorizer
- March 2004 7/10
Although they hail from Ashford in Kent. November Coming Fire's
spititual home is amongst Canterbury's blossoming underground
hardcore scene; a diverse, hardworking band community that sees
the likes of metalcore troupe Jairus and emo types One Time Champion
united by a DIY musical ethos. The fact that NCF have supported
the likes of Converge, Terror and Give Up The Ghost might be suggestive
of the quintet's level of musical ferocity, but 'Black Ballads'
is kore than a mere noise laden hardcore record. Sure the six
tracks on offer here are pulverising and vastly heavy., but it's
the bands attention to atmosphere and dynamics that make them
a truly pleasurable listen. The riffs flow hard and fast, but
with much care paid to variation and unpredictable twists in the
structure, 'Black Ballads' is an exciting promise of even greater
things to come. (Leander Gloversmith)
Metal
Hammer -
March 2004
7/10
Promising mini-album from Brit goth metallers.
Proof, if proof were needed that there's more to UKHC than Stampin
Ground, 'Black Ballads' is one hell of an impressive debut offering
from Kent's November Coming Fire. Drawing influences from AFI,
The Misfits and Botch, the quintet, named after Samhain's seminal
third record, have soaked up the sounds of their mentors and spat
out a spiteful, jagged mini album that more then holds it's own.
Kicking off with some shameless retro chanting ("In darkness
we stand, divided we fall"), each track screams and scythes
its way through a broken glass wasteland of brooding anger. Singer
Gareth Evans vents his spleen in spectacular fashion pm 'The Boys
With Nails...' and, in particular, 'Blackest Blood', with its
cheery 'we're all fucking dead'
conclusion. Rest assured, the future of
UKHC is in safe hands.
Ox
Magazine
March 2004 (Germany)
Na, wie viele würden bei solch einem
Bandnamen von einer SAMHAIN Coverband ausgehen? Dem ist aber zum
Glück doch nicht so, viel mehr orientieren sich die fünf
Herren aus Canterbury, UK eher an solchen Bands wie CONVERGE,
HIMSA, TERROR und GIVE UP THE GHOST und wissen das auch ordentlich
unzusetzen. Im benachbarten Königreich tourte man sich schon
den Arsch ab, insofern wird's mal Zeit, die europäische Nachbarschaft
unsicher zu machen. Wenn NOVEMBER COMING FIRE dann auch noch ihren
old-schooligen Mix mit chaotischer Punk-Attitüde gekonnt
live umsetzen können, bin ich auf alle Fälle am Start,
um mir das mal anzusehen! - Kube (8)
The
Gauntlet (USA)
4/5
Enter
hoarse, angry hardcore with nods to Spirit of ’77 style
punk rock. Their imagery is dark, reminiscent of a rawer avenged
sevenfold or a metalcore band that has overdosed on the early
styling of The Misfits. Vocalist Gareth issues defiant determination,
amplifying that style by an exponent of ten. November Coming Fire
wail with miserable rage, as the sounds radiate with the group’s
uncontrollable evil vibrations. A haunting wave of death drone
designed to devour permeates the album. ‘Transgression’
issues hails with tortured allegiance. Upfront razor edged riffs
tear and slash at musical flesh. Tension boils. An essence of
classic hardcore seethes during the Dwarves like ‘The Boys
With Nails…’ Speeding through the darkness with ‘Near
Death’ as Ross Bones destroys drum heads. This record is
bleakly bitter. Embace the Coming Fire. (Erin Fox)
Vendetta
Zine
Brought
to you by In At The Deep End Records, the home of infamous zombie
band Send More Paramedics, Brit metal merchants, Beecher and Steel
Rules Die; November Coming Fire play dark, almost gothic metalcore,
which is just so compelling to listen to. Named after a Samhain
album and almost dripping with pseudo-Gothic imagery, November
Coming Fire aren’t exactly what you’d expect to emerge
from picturesque Canterbury, Kent.
Black Ballads is a seven track (six credited plus one hidden track)
mini album. Opener ‘Transgression’ is a perfect representation
of the bands particular brand of gothic, atmospheric hardcore,
with it’s mix of raw aggression and atmospheric composition.
Vocalist Gareth Evans throatily kicks things off with a nod towards
early AFI, as he howls mantra-like “In darkness we stand,
divided we fall” over some slow brooding guitars and gang
chorus backing vocals. We are then plunged headfirst in to a brutal
but short breakdown, before the track almost completely loses
control in a maelstrom of noise and pummeling guitars. The riffs
are intense, the drums are pounding and jarring screams threaten
to crush the listener; all in a mere two and half minutes.
The rest of the record tries to keep up the same modus operandi,
without it ever losing it’s intensity or slipping into the
trap of becoming a blur of seemingly one long track. My personal
favourite, ‘Blackest Blood’ brings back the chanting
again with great success, “We’re all fucking dead!”
happily scream the band.
If you aren’t moshing around your bedroom by the end of
this record then you have serious issues. In At The Deep End should
be commended for another amazing release on their parts, and for
exposing us all to something a little different from the rapidly
expanding stable of UK hardcore.
Gagged
& Blindfolded #2
Fuck me. This is heavy and dark and heart grabbing hardcore. Opening
up with 'In Darkness We Stand, Divided We Fall!' chanting my spine
starts to shiver, I know I'm gonna be blown away by what follows...
yus, chuggy metallic HC but the emphasis on the Hardcore. The
last track is the most touching and soul retching, ending with
a minute long crescendo of intense musical euphoria - vocalist
Gareth screaming 'We're all fucking dead", we're all fucking
dead!' over and over again till he can't go on anymore... I fucking
love this CD - 100/5 (Tim)
Direct
Hit Zine
The
artwork and layout of the CD cover is just stunning, totally beautiful
– so much so that I just keep looking at it. The bands logo
is white, the back ground is charcoal grey and the art is shiny
black, beautiful. With their name, I’m not surprising that
this music is sombre and dark, heavy and atmospheric. Just think
of their name folks! Summer has passed, Autumn is approaching
where we wind down and get ready for winter. You sitting beside
a roaring log fire (yeah dream on Mel), it’s Halloween night
and NOVEMBER COMING FIRE are blasting in the back ground. Yep
off course I’m going to mention SAMHAIN, AFI and such
Inside
Knowledge (Holland)
In darkness we stand, divided we fall! Where does that remind
me off? If you’re thinking this band is about cliché,
unoriginal, uninspiring music than you couldn’t have been
more wrong. This is for sure one of the most convincing records
from Europe I’ve laid my eyes on the last couple of months.
All really interesting releases lately are from the UK. Damn,
it just doesn’t stop. The first thing that hits the eye
is the nice, simple artwork with some glossy prints on a black
background. Simple, but very nice. The music is drowned in passion.
You can hear it from the first till the last tune. The production
isn’t at all that perfect, but the sharp edge in the production
only adds more quality to the sound of this great release. Overwhelming
heavy riffs, sometimes chaotic but never too chaotic, combined
with a good vocalist who screams his lungs out. I’m trying
to name comparisons, but I just can’t think of any. The
riffs are emotional metallic. So not metallic like really metal
Maiden style but metallic as heavy, crushing, brutal, slaughtering
decibels. Without using those cliché melodic guitartunes
in their sound they still know how to create catchy songs that
grab your attention all the time. This mcd had got the words top
notch quality and grooving tunes written al over! Don’t
miss this, it’s absolutely worth your attention.
Skratch
Magazine (USA)
Taking its name from
the third Samhain album (but sounding nothing like the band),
this British quintet channel its aggressive hardcore assault into
six tracks brazen with steamrolling riffs and blood curdling screams
much like metallic American hardcore. Clocking in at a lean, mean
18 and a half minutes, and armed with the firepower of bands like
Terror and Give Up The Ghost, BLACK BALLADS contains some rough
and ready hardcore suitable for unleashing some tension to. -
Mike SOS
Playdead
#8
I think Opener 'Transgression' says it all. Over the top of one
of the most killer riffs, singer Gareth sicks up the lines "In
darkness we stand divided we fall" from some corner of his
throat, making me reach for the halls soothers just thinking about
it, and it's nothing less than impressive. November coming Fire
are intense, in the true meaning of the word, just when you think
you've heard so many heavy riffs, and fast drum beats that it
begins to loose its impact, along comes a band that makes you
realise why so many do it in the first place, and after seeing
their incredible live show this mini album lives up to every expectation.
I think these guys have kind of been tied in with a lot of the
old school bands kicking around at the minute, and although there
is an element of this to what they do there's certainly a very
different edge to it. There's a feeling of goth in what they do,
but not in the Brian Molko sense, maybe if you imagined AFI with
a fascination of Converge and a love of metal- you'd be along
the right lines. You just have to look at the song titles "Blackest
Blood", "Loves Young Nightmare" and "The Boys
With Nails", to understand what kind of vibe these guys are
on. NCF then are dark, in the blackest sense of the word. If Darth
Vader played in a hardcore band, it would be November Coming Fire.
And with 'Black Ballads', they've just gone and made the most
impressive new band debut of 2004, and it's one that anyone will
find difficult to surpass. (MB)
Pastepunk
(USA)
NOVEMBER
COMING FIRE play some seriously aggressive hardcore with a slight
metallic itch. For the most part, this English band rips it up
in the vein of early GIVE UP THE GHOST, but with more guitar crunch,
and When Forever Comes Crashing CONVERGE-like leanings. Black
Ballads only extends about 19 minutes in length, but its blast
of energy lingers in the air for more than a few seconds afterwards
(or maybe that's the chainsaw based feedback). The intro track
to this disc threw me for a loop, with a very AFIish chant of
the words, "In darkness we stand / divided we fall,"
but once the bait has been reeled back in to shore, Black Ballads
is all unflinching, ultra-fast rage. NOVEMBER COMING FIRE hasn't
exactly fallen into a sound that's all of its own, and that's
one strike against this release, but their playing is absolutely
fierce, and the raw recording quality gives the band a terrorizing
element. "Blackest Blood" is the strongest song of the
six, and it's also the only track where the lead vocals play a
central part in commanding the songwriting, as opposed to merely
letting the guitars just obliterate everything else in the mix.
As a debut disc , Black Ballads shows a ton of promise in this
five piece, and if anything, these songs must be frighteningly
intense live.
Yo
London
Let's be honest, the first part of track one (Transgression) is
a blatant rip off of AFI's "Strength Through Wounding",
having said that NCF cap the build-up on this track with a truly
SICK breakdown. This CD makes me want to move, always a good barometer
of a hardcore band, and there's some desperation to the singer's
voice which is also a definite plus. Musically NCF are fast paced
metalcore, they keep the pace up with varying tempos and some
interesting guitar work. I listened to this on repeat a bit too
much when I first got it and in fairness it has lost some of the
immediacy I first felt towards it. However NCF absolutely blew
me away last time I saw them, they are a band with heaps of energy
and this transfers well to the record. Instrumentals on hardcore
records inevitably have me reaching for the skip button and unfortunately
this CD is no exception, however in this case it's because I want
to get to the next track as soon as possible so I can mosh around
my room some more! Overall this is a very very good record that
I suggest you procure from IATDE (or your local distro) as soon
as possible. (JM)
Rancid
News #5 - 4/5
Someone listened to 'Black Sails...' by AFI before writing the
opener, then at exactly 1.15 mins they decided that actually Terror
are far cooler than AFI are ever going to be. This mini album
is driving hardcore, with regular breakdowns, with some awesome
personal lyrics to boot. The band aren't exactly reinventing the
wheel, but this is still better than most bands can ever hope
to get to, and showing that the UK HC scene is once again alive
and well. (edd)
Enough
(Germany)
Fuck Danzig, this is November Coming Fire!
Hailing
from Ashford/ UK, here we the six song album by this five piece.
Even if they named themselves after an Samhain album, they´re
nowhere near to “Horrorpunk” or something like that.
This is full throttle Old School Hardcore with some Metal influences.
Clever songwriting and lots of power make this one a sureshot
for everybody who likes this kind of music. Even if I don´t
like this kind of stuff normally, November Coming Fire totally
convinced me. Great album, rounded off by nice artwork. Get this
one!
Mass
Movement #16
Live this lot tore me a new one last year, it was like watching
a train wreck, organised chaos, a black heart with a purpose expanding
on it’s plan. The album is no different. Smash mouth style
HC that blends the new and schools with the blue prints of AFI,
Samhain and elements of so-called math metal. November Coming
Fire’s beauty lies in their purity, their singular purpose
to make you move, remember and become part of what they are. On
the strength of "Black Ballads", it’s a goal that
they’re close to accomplishing, so very, very close. TIM
Skratch-
Jan 2004
Forever Until October, The Autumn Year, The Early November, From
Autumn to Ashes, Heaven Shall Burn. Anyone notice a pattern here?
I guess there's just something about autumn and fire that makes
for a good band name. Separate the words with a random verb and
voila! We have November Coming Fire. Musically, unlike most of
those aforementioned bands, this lot dish out a jagged, dischordant
onslaught of fearsome goth-core (think Himsa scrapping with Give
Up the Ghost) that comes out loud, fast and unrelenting. Their
connection with the Canterbury HC scene is pretty blatant listening
through; the pumped up aggression of locals Winter in June melded
nicely with the savage beatdowns of XcanaanX to create something
that, whilst not wholly original, is still worth checking out
all the same.
Collective-Zine
Finally, after all the crap ive listened to today this blew my
fucking head off! Now I'm not a hardcore connoisseur but I know
what I like and I know what's good. I've heard a lot about November
Coming Fire and this doesn’t just live up to it, it is even
better. This
is just what I like to see and hear from a UKHC band. Awesome
production, originality, rage, dischordant guitars, drums hit
as hard as possible I could go on and on. They support and contribute
greatly to their scene and it's no wonder In At The Deep End picked
up on them. Vocals
are shredded throughout and after the breakdowns the songs always
kick back in twice as fast and powerful as before. This truly
is great modern melodic raging hardcore. There are loads of ideas
on here but they seem to pull them all off and perfecting these
songs obviously wasn’t rushed in any way. It's easy to hear
when a band know exactly what they are doing, where to twist and
turn and when to pin you backwards. When there is always enough
going on to keep me interested then I cannot fail but to be impressed.
I will definitely be checking these out if they come anywhere
near me and as (I think) this is only an EP, but it is well worth
picking it up. Sublime all black on black packaging and embossed
booklet too. Great stuff, British, angry and superb. Can’t
wait to see what they do next and I don’t think it’ll
be what anyone expects.
Logo
Magazine
Bigger than an EP, not quite as big as an album, despite its eighteen
minutes ‘Black Ballads’ deserves to be regarded as
a full-length release if only for the surfeit of ideas and sheer,
throat-shredding passion that resides here. Though ostensibly
a hardcore act, Ashford, Kent quintet November Coming Fire come
across as a supremely pissed-off Sham 69 covering the collected
works of Possessed; not afraid of shouty anthemics and very afraid
of falling asleep. There’ll be no sleeping while this lot
are in the house, the only danger being that the roof might fall
in on you, its integrity undermined by the acidic nature of the
sweat that’ll be dripping from the beams. Jaw-dropping.
Europunk
In At the Deep End Records are slowly proving that the UK is not
only about carpets, English breakfast and pints of cider. Their
recent releases give a real metallic impression of the scene over
there...and we’re stoked! `Black
Ballads` (iatde018) is the debut release of NCF (November Coming
Fire) and what a burnout for a first release! The band’s
been around for about two years now and have played a bunch of
shows all over the UK for DIY promoters but also as an opener
for bands like Terror, Himsa or Converge. Take some of the finest
hardcore blend, add a spoon of metallic sounds, mix violently
until you reach an acceptable chaotic texture and serve at maximum
sound level. That’s the recipe these guys must have been
inspired by while writing these songs. `Blackest Blood` is doubtlessly
the most brutal track on this release with its doom touch. This
is probably the track where you should step back a bit when it’s
announced on stage, if you don’t want to be torn apart in
the pit. `Transgression`, the opener, might be quite hazardous
to your health too if you get stuck just in front of the stage.
The shift from metallic, chaotic riffs to straight forward rocking
parts simply means bliss to me. `The Boys with Nails...` seems
to be the less brutal one when you hear the CD for the first time
but I suggest a second or even third listening to focus on the
backing vocals.
The most evil riff for me is the beginning of `Near Death`, which
is also my favourite one because of the rocking drums tracks and
the excellent screaming vocals. In
my opinion, `Instrumental 1` undermines the general power of the
record and `Loves Young Nightmare` is too much of old-school for
me, especially the vocals...but it’s perhaps the right stuff
for all you straight-edge vocals lovers out there. The
booklet is better than just good. It reminds me of the latest
Alkaline Trio and Avenged Sevenfold releases because of its kind
of rubberised material (I don’t know how this is called)
and because of the iconography chosen by the band (roses and angels).
Not only a good CD, but a beautiful one, too! `Black
Ballads` won’t become the superlative CD of the year but
it’s unquestionably better than average debut releases.
What I like best is the fact that it gets better to me every time
I listen to it. I hope to see these guys live some time and I
would suggest you to do so as well. I couldn’t imagine them
as a bad live act...Go have a look at their website too. It’s
pretty useful and I have the impression that it’s regularly
updated.
Audiocratic.com
Canterbury’s NCF have certainly had this release in demand,
with their strong reputation spreading across the country and
at a rather rapid pace, this release has been long awaited. ‘Transgression’
starts the EP with a heavy pounding blast of screaming with wall
smashing beats, certainly an opener to make a crowd of bleeding
ears look normal. ‘The Boys With Nails’ proves another
chaotic piece with a fast pace, NCF certainly take no prisoners
and their heavy hardcore massacre is certainly rather impressive
and of course very brutal. It’s a non stop pounding complete
with breakdowns and enough power to hit your enemies into next
week, twice over. ‘Loves Young Nightmare’ proves an
onslaught, the heavy screaming really pounds each word into you,
with ease, I really despair the people that described this as
melodic hardcore, I think not, this is nearer to your Converge
than your Hopesfall!!! The band do have the odd short piece of
spoken word but everything else is brutality in the form of audio
rage. November Coming Fire can certainly be proud of this release,
their debut and it’s definitely going to turn heads throughout
the scene, and probably outside of it also, another British band
that really flies the flag for the scene and heavy UK music, with
awesome force.
As
Ice (Holland)
After Canaan the Canterbury scene now brings you
November Coming Fire! NCF plays chaotic metalcore with screaming vocals spit at
ya as if NCF is ready to tear you up! Some heavy stuff indeed, some compare it
to Converge and others say it’s more melodic. To me it kinda sounds like
a tougher version of Converge and that’s maybe why I like it better than
Converge. What amazed me is that the CD only takes 18 Minutes, with 6 songs…
considering the style of music that’s pretty short but because the songs
are shorter they manage to keep me focused and that’s a big compliment considering
that usually I’m no big fan of this style! Check the In At Deep End website
for a MP3 and make up your own mind, I’m pretty sure that if you’re
into the chaotic metalcore stuff that you’ll like this
Punktastic
In At the
Deep End Records, don’t you just love ‘em? Come rain
or shine, they continue to put out quality looking releases by
quality UK bands, regardless of their sound or ‘scene’
standing. November
Coming Fire play a particularly violent blend of hardcore that
encompasses everything from Samhain (Where they take their name
from), to Botch and beyond. Making their name in the semi-legendary
Canterbury hardcore scene and progressing to big support slots
with the likes of Converge, amongst others, NCF have certainly
put the hours in. At times, the music on ‘Black Ballads’
is wonderfully chaotic and manages to really hit the spot. ‘Blackest
Blood’ in particular is a fantastically brutal and doom-laden
hardcore onslaught, and is sure to completely tear apart any venue
that NCF grace with their presence. ‘Near Death’ takes
the bull by the horns and gives it a good fucking kicking, while
even ‘Instrumental 1’, with it’s subdued yet perfectly
fitting beginning, feels like it could suck the life out of you
with it’s hulking riffs. In fact, the more I listen to this
release the better it gets. As ‘Black Ballads’ pulses
from my computer speakers, I’m beginning to warm to the ‘Fire
(pun possibly intended). While I still wouldn’t go out of
my way to listen to it on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I can imagine
it being a perfect accompaniment to any strenuous bus journey
(ha) on my Mini disc or a great way to drown out the hordes of
people walking through Sheffield City Centre on my travels. ‘Black
Ballads’, as well as coming in a wonderfully sleek package
(You know the last Alkaline Trio album, Good Mourning? You know
how the inlay booklet was printed on almost rubberised material?
You know how, for some strange reason, it had a wonderful feel
and smell to it? Well, you’ve got the same kind of stuff
here) and being put out by a fantastically consistent label, is
also a riot to listen to. I’m feeling a strange compulsion
to go and see these guys live and rock out to their frenzied hardcore
sound. If that sounds like fun to you, then I suggest you give
‘Black Ballads’ a chance.
Hardcoremusic
(Belgium)
This band is hailing from Ashford in Kent, but they are very close
and associated with the well-known Canterbury Hardcore Scene.
It’s one of those bands who rise out a close-nit family
where you could think on bands like xCanaanx, The x Break x In,
Winter in June, Urotsukidoji, … So, for me the sound is
sounding very recognizable cus I know a lot of hardcore bands
who are based in Canterbury. They play a kind of pissed off, fast,
hard, heavy, melodic hardcore! Just think how the other Canterbury-based
bands sound and you’ll get a good impression of the sound
of November Coming Fire! After a lot of touring, they recorded
this 6-song MCD called ‘Black Ballads’. This album
was recorded in The City of Dis in the UK and was released in
February 2004 by In At The Deep End Records. Good quality, nice
sound, cool clean cover-art! I rated them an 7.5 to 10. |
