After a period of inactivity since 2007’s The Blue, which involved the departure of longstanding member Giuseppe Orlando, Novembre returns with a new set of potent and poignant tracks, effortlessly transitioning between soothing, epic, melancholy and intense, from what is one of the originators of the whole atmospheric death/doom scene. URSA will be released on April 1st via Peaceville Records. The album is streaming in it’s entirety below.

Headed by founding member and writer Carmelo Orlando, and with a reinvigorated musical alliance with Massimiliano Pagliuso, the lineup is completed by Fabio Fraschini (previously bassist on the Materia album), and David Folchitto on drums. There is also a special guest appearance from Anders Nyström of the Swedish Doom masters Katatonia, adding his own unique ‘cold’ touch to the album’s single track, “Annoluce”.

URSA was recorded at Blue Noise Studio, and PlayRec studio by Massimiliano Pagliuso, then mixed and mastered at Unisound Studios by Dan Swanö (Opeth, Katatonia, Bloodbath). Cover art comes courtesy of Travis Smith.

Tracklisting:

“Australis”
“The Rose”
“Umana”
“Easter”
“URSA”
“Oceans Of Afternoons”
“Annoluce”
“Agathae”
“Bremen”
“Fin”

Album stream:

“Umana” lyric video:

Carmelo Orlando comments on URSA: ”This album is a very important step in my life. It got me closer to what some may call ‘maturity’. I’ve been able to delve even deeper into the chasm of the subconscious and unearth gems I didn’t think existed. Lyrically and conceptually I explored new shores. I moved my ever-inwards headlights, and for the first time I dared to point them outwards, against the squalor of this Orwellian apocalypse we’re committing towards the Earth and its sons, on a daily basis, in quasi-total indifference. The album is indeed called URSA (the acronym for “Union des Républiques Socialistes Animales”), which was the title initially chosen for the French translation of George Orwell’s masterpiece novel Animal Farm.”

URSA is available to pre-order on CD & LP at this location. Pre-orders from the Peaceville Store receive a free 3-track EP including an alternate version of “Annoluce”, plus two exclusive tracks.

The seeds of Novembre were originally planted in September 1990 in Rome, Italy. Then known as Catacomb, their early recordings of unusual gothic doom metal were to quickly gain the band interest. It was around 1993 that the band decided that a name change was in order, and Novembre was born, evolving into one of the premiere European atmospheric doom bands.

Watch out for Novembre on tour in 2016.