“Craving the light but stars just kept falling.”
2025 sees the third iteration of NOVELISTS release their first full-length and their fifth album overall. This comes after the exit of Tobias Rische, who departed the band after their fourth album, Déjà Vu. The band has been steadily releasing singles with new vocalist Camille Contreras, and their long-awaited follow-up, CODA, is finally on the horizon.
I don’t need to go too deep into the infamous Déjà Vu interlude incident of 2022. The band’s sound has shifted significantly from their days with original vocalist Matteo Gelsomino, swapping out the intricate, progressive metalcore instrumentation for a more pop-influenced modern metalcore sound. While guitarists Florestan Durand and Pierre Daniel still lay down an impressive number of delectable solos, their current approach has been a mixed bag, personally. Contreras’ addition to the band came with good prospects, with her performance on the bouncy and punchy “Prisoner” displaying her presence as a frontwoman. Her performance on “Mourning the Dawn” displayed her ability to tackle a more melodic, emotional style as well, something that Rische never quite captured. I was cautiously optimistic about how NOVELISTS would tackle a full album in their current form.
Album opener “Say My Name” opts for a softer, melodic approach. The airy atmosphere gives a lot of space for Contreras’ singing to shine. The more nuanced guitar leads are mostly hidden subtly in the background layers, with the instrumentals being predominantly focused on the atmosphere. Although it ends on an impressive solo, the track seems to do its chorus to death. While it’s a fine, albeit slightly uninteresting, song, its choice as the album opener is rather puzzling as it feels more like a mid-album cut to change the pace.
In contrast, the title track that follows feels much more suited to start the album, with a punchy, bouncy riff bringing a much-needed injection of forward momentum from the previous song. The track as a whole is a fun take on the modern NOVELISTS sound, varying the dynamics between its heavier elements and its pop-oriented moments quite well. The mid-track breakdown is undeniably groovy, taking a melodic twist with a subtle solo that leads into an open, atmospheric section. Contreras’ vibrato-laced vocal riffing during this section is a really nice touch, introducing a style of singing not often seen in this style of metalcore. The album’s start, although a bit shaky, picks itself up sufficiently.
“All For Nothing” presents as a much stronger effort in the melodic direction. Written with help from Gelsomino, his creative ear definitely lends to the track with its unconventional structure and overall feel. Not hinging on a chorus as usual, the track instead uses its elements to craft an impactfully wistful atmosphere, balancing heavier instrumentation and melody perfectly. Contreras’ ethereal vocals get a chance to fully shine, from gentle falsetto notes to powerful belting. The track is a breath of fresh air as it breaks from convention to present a complete piece.
I suppose, however, with high peaks come steep drops. Following track “Maldición de la Bruga” flings the album in a confusing direction. It begins on a rap verse; as talented a vocalist Contreras is, this style just does not suit her. “Hey” chants and a rather bland chorus only add to the cheesiness of the overall track. The rap vocals were clearly meant to be its selling point, but when they are so clunkily executed, the entire song’s wings are clipped before it has a chance to take flight. The heavier elements are admittedly quite well done, and I’m all for a change in the album’s pace when it’s done well. This just isn’t one of those instances, and the album heads back into melodic territory yet again afterwards.
CODA seems to swing between these two modes, heavy and melodic, but not in a way that feels fluid. The flow of the album ultimately feels puzzling, as it seems to alternate rather rigidly between these two, and the experience feels ultimately jarring. It doesn’t help that many tracks mostly meander along, hinging heavily on their choruses to create the song’s impact. “In Heaven” follows in a similar vein to “Say My Name” in being a melodically driven but somewhat bland track, and on the other end, “Adam and Eve” has a similar problem, but takes after the title track instead. A good amount of the album is rehashed ideas, which is frustrating given how many solos there are attached to each track. They mostly end up being the standout feature, but when they are on almost every song, they don’t feel as special. There is innovation present; it just doesn’t seem to be distributed evenly.
The brightest pillar of fire this album has is “Sleepless Nights”. For context, NOVELISTS’ early albums, Souvenirs and Noir, are two of my favourite progressive metalcore albums ever. No amount of preparation could have prepared me for the euphoria I experienced listening to “Sleepless Nights”. In a time when I assumed that that version of NOVELISTS was long gone, they bring back the signature progressive riffing that was such a huge part of their sound, integrating it with their more polished sound seamlessly. The intricate guitar style that has been sorely missing from their sound is in full force here. In many ways, it feels like an even better executed version of “Mourning the Dawn”, presenting a union of past and present that is what I wish NOVELISTS had done all along. Contreras’ suits this style exceedingly well too, and it’s my hope that in time to come, more of such songs come from NOVELISTS.
The back half of deep cuts on the album seems to have the most potential, as “CRC” is a heavy track that works. Aggressive, bendy riffs and a predominantly screamed approach land with much more impact than “Maldición de la Bruga”. It unfortunately falls victim to more crowd chant vocals, which I respectfully think NOVELISTS should just do away with completely; they don’t sound good. Apart from that, the weighty grooves and eerie atmosphere of the track are genuinely engaging. I suppose they couldn’t resist doing at least one interlude type track with “78 rue..”, but I’ll let it slide. It actually does its job as an interlude bridging “Sleepless Nights” and “CRC”.
Album closer “K.O.” ends the album on a strong enough note. It’s yet again another melodic track, but it has enough flair and nuance to it that it stands on its two feet. It takes a gentler approach, but the intricate riffing present on “Sleepless Nights” is present here, albeit in a subtler form. I just really wish it wasn’t released as a single, as it is clearly meant to be taken in context with the rest of the album.
As a whole, CODA is a stronger effort than the album before it. Their songwriting is generally stronger, save for a few blunders, and there’s more of an effort to bridge the gap between old and new NOVELISTS. However, the album still carries Déjà Vu’s lack of a clear direction and resultingly, an incomplete album experience. Despite their calibre, there’s still a frustrating overreliance on safe and uninspired songwriting choices. The band still shows promise with some of the album’s stronger cuts, and it’s my sincere hope that NOVELISTS hone in on their stronger qualities to craft something more cohesive and boundary-pushing next round, as they have consistently shown in glimpses that they can still do it.
And please, do away with the crowd chants and rapping.
6/10
CODA releases on the May 16th via ACKOR Music. Pre-order and merch links for the album can be found here.