With the new wave of metalcore in full swing, it's been interesting to see the myriad of styles being respresented. In the case of A Novemeber Morning, the San Jose, California-based band ambitiously takes an epic approach to their take on the sonic medium.
Where many of their peers pack their songs with a seemingly endless attack of pointy neck guitar riffs, A November Morning's arrangements build at a slower burning pace, creating a melancholic and grandiose atmosphere along the way. It's a sound that has more in common with European bands than it does the Bay Area of the Golden State.
"Bands that we discussed as influences were a mix of some old and some new. Bands that influenced us include: Prayer for Cleansing, Drawing Last Breath, Undying, Far From Forgiven, Nientara, Since My Beloved, A Mourning Star, and Balmora," vocalist Jordan Flores told me on a recent afternoon while discussing their newly released 'In the Shadows of Absence' EP.
"We drew influence from all over the place; movies, TV shows, history, life experiences. Obviously, we were all fans of The Lord of the Rings and would talk about the movies a lot while writing. We also drew inspiration from books and stories that we’ve read; one being East of Eden by John Steinbeck. [Guitarist] Kaden [Ordoubadi] and I also would talk about how we both had crazy dreams about apocalyptic situations which had a big influence on our lyrics and the story we were trying to convey."
Jordan brought up the literary inspiration behind the EP, but I wanted to know if there was an arching concept to the songs/lyrics on In the Shadows of Absence since its lyrics almost read like a love letter of sorts, albeit one enveloped in a saga. "There is a small concept or story to the EP, that we ended up developing as we started to get through the writing process," the singer said.
"A lot of the song concepts were based on emotions and experiences that I’ve experienced with loved ones in life combined with the other influences that we had. Telling a story was a comfortable way for me to write lyrics and piece together the songs with the rest of the group. It also just felt right to us writing a metalcore EP that we tell a story.
"It essentially follows someone dealing with the loss of loved one. Their journey with trying to cope with the grief of their loss and having to move forward in life. Trying to fight to undo the situation or run away from the truth. Then having to come to terms with life and having that cathartic moment of acceptance to move forward in life. The way you described the EP in the question is honestly a perfect way to describe what we had in mind when developing these songs."
The songs on In the Shadows of Absence all clock in over the 6-minute mark. So, did Jordan and his A November Morning bandmates hesitate on that end of things, worried that people's attention spans are shot these days? "The songs all being long kinda just happened. It was not necessarily intended or like wasn’t a goal for us when we started. We definitely are inspired by bands with longer songs, so we weren’t opposed to the idea once we started to solidify the song structures and riffs.
"There were times where we would have discussions over trying to reduce the lengths of the songs and cut parts out, eventually we would always just settle on leaving them long. We would just try to be conscious of structuring the songs in a way that was more dynamic and interesting to listen to."
A Novemeber Morning will be playing their first show in their hometown later this month (flyer above), and more will be announced soon. But before I let Jordan off the hook, I asked him what his all-time favorite metalcore album was. He cheated a bit, but that's understanable: "Prayer For Cleansing's The Rain in Endless Fall with an honorable mention: Drawing Last Breath's Final Sacrifice."
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In the Shadows of Absence is out now via The Coming Strife (order the CD).
A November Morning on social media: Instagram
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