Ah, Noveria. When I first encountered this talented bunch on sophomore album Forsaken, the clash between the overt melodrama and the serious subject matter forced me to leave a middling score. But 2019’s Aequilibrium was a huge improvement. It was almost like the band had used my review as a template for what to fix, making strides in songwriting, execution, and production alike. I even ended the review with the prediction that ‘if they keep this upward trajectory going […] Noveria may become one of the best purveyors of modern power prog.’ So to say I was excited for The Gates of the Underworld is an understatement. Has Noveria made more big strides since then?
Absolutely! Unfortunately, they were entirely in the wrong direction. That is not to say Noveria has discarded everything they learned last release. The production has only gotten better, for instance. The master is warm and rich, the drums and the bass sound fantastic and the increased reliance on symphonic material is caught elegantly by the finely tuned mix, ensuring that the rather crowded music never gets swampy. And in a twist, I found rather delightful, the band subverted my expectations on the tone of the album. The themes remain in the Evergrey neighborhood, meaning personal struggles and emotions, with a story about a near-death experience, but this time the band wrapped it in such outlandish mythological imagery that their inherent cheesiness becomes a boon instead of the hindrance it was on our first tête-à-tête.
No, the issue with The Gates of the Underworld is the hooks. Or rather, the utter, baffling shortage of them. Sometimes the melody just drags its feet in the name of bombast and the catchiness gets lost. Sometimes something resembling a promising riff or vocal hook will start, only to be bisected halfway and find itself with an entirely different one surgically grafted onto its rear end. And sometimes there’s nothing but empty chugs chucked against a wall of canned orchestra. The front half of the album suffers this curse less than the back; “Origin” is overlong and lacks focus but compensates with explosive energy, a Fabio Lione guest spot highlights “Descent” as a particularly Angra-like track, and “Revenant” boasts the strongest set of riffs found across the album. But most of the songs are so unmemorable they are forgotten the moment they end, if not sooner, and at a whopping 68 minutes, that is a lot of music not to remember.
And the worst offender is the 12-minute titular centerpiece. Repeat attempts to absorb even a modicum of this symphonic behemoth have all been in vain, the wall of synths and choirs nothing but an opera hall-sized bag of hot air. The most galling part is that pretty much everything else is still really good. The drums are punishing, carrying a vitality often sorely missing from this genre, and they push that zeal into everything above it. Guitars, keys and bass are all energetic, precise, and dynamic. The only executionary complaint I can levy is against the vocals. On the one hand, there are too many choral parts, muddying the waters; on the other hand, frontman Corigliano spends far too much time in his falsetto, which tends to get shrill and lacks the emotional heft I know he’s capable of producing.
Atmoblack or funeral post-doom with 400 layers of reverb can get away with minimal hooks and riffs, as that isn’t where their focus lies. Amped-up power-prog doesn’t have that luxury. I don’t know what went wrong in the writing process here. The only line-up change has been the drummer, but perhaps the old or the new guy had a big hand in the composition process, for better or worse. Maybe it was just personal situations; the pandemic wasn’t easy on anyone, Italy least of all. Or perhaps Aequilibrium was just one of those rare inexplicable moments of a band far outdoing themselves, and this is just an unfortunate return to form. Whatever the reason, I know Noveria can do much better than this. The Gates of the Underworld seems fleetingly satisfactory because of the quality of the execution, but for all its bombast and bluster, it’s an entirely disposable experience. I’ve reviewed Noveria 3 times now, a personal record, but with a disappointment this big, I’m not sure I’ll come back for a 4th.
Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Scarlet Records
Websites: noveriaofficial.com | facebook.com/noveriaofficial
Releases Worldwide: August 25th, 2023
