apanthropy

November’s Doom
Major Arcana
Prophecy Productions
To Be Released: 9/19/25

Rating: 85/100

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1 – June
2 – Major Arcana
3 – Ravenous
4 – Mercy
5 – The Dance
6 – The Fool
7 – Bleed Static
8 – Chatter
9 – Dusking Day
10 – XXII
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November’s Doom is a band that has been active for over 30 years, delivering doom metal with shades of melodic death metal. With 12 full-length albums to their name, the band has been iconic for both their consistent delivery and longevity, adding yet another talented band to the Chicago, Illinois’ roster of ridiculously impressive musical acts. Major Arcana marks the band’s 12th and newest record, due out for a release on September 19th, 2025, through Prophecy Productions. The new record showcases ten new tracks of dreary, heavy doom metal at nearly an hour length.

Moments of thick, crushing heaviness meld with melodic interchanges, and heavy use of sonic contrast at both vocal and composition levels paint sonic pictures of tension and release, suffocation and airiness. There are moments of explosive heaviness and moments of crawling despair, the desperation at times is afflicting and mesmerizing. Major Arcana is entrancing, engaging, and immersive, with rich production qualities animating the instrumentation.

Major Arcana unfolds and opens like a summer storm. Intro track ‘June’ haunts like a specter, with reverb-drenched piano and multi-layered vocals creating a haze of mystery and curiosity. The intro track is like the clear sky of June, expansive, feeling endless yet over in the blink of an eye. The gathering storm clouds form on the title track, a melodic slab of modern doom metal with spacious chord progressions and smashing downbeats. The vocal trade-off between Paul Kuhr and Larry Roberts ranges from soaring melodic clean singing to brute-force gutturals that when combined feel like one singular fiery entity. The storm really begins on the third track, ‘Ravenous,’ which plays almost like pure doom death, the spacious audio petrichor of the title track is replaced by a pulverizing storm of suffocation and caustic atmosphere. Pounding palm-muted chords and guttural vocals propel the song forward like a crashing wave. Excellent lead work stitches throughout the song, animating lengthy bridge passages and serving as a break in musical concepts.

Within the first three songs, November’s Doom runs a full gauntlet of emotions and ideas, with tracks that range from sparse combinations of piano and vocals to dense, macabre, doom death.

‘The Dance’ whirls and spins a blazing weave of musical brilliance and immersion, with soaring dual-layered vocals and gothic metal architecture, invoking My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost. ‘The Fool’ returns to the noxious, crushing, doom death aspect of the record. The constant state of contrast and tension is present in both micro and macro levels on Major Arcana.

Towards the end of the album awaits ‘Dusking Day,’ a punishing death metal number that opens on staccato bursts of double-bass and what sounds like a rather exotic sounding chord progression, chugging palm-muted chords relentlessly march the track forward on verse sections with mystical and soaring dual-layered vocals in the chorus that adds a feeling of an epic iciness. The performance here by drummer Garry Naples is perhaps the most in-depth and detailed execution on the entire record.

The production is surprisingly warm and vigorous for a doom metal record. Guitars run the full range of their tonality with depth, presence, and detail. The drums are sharp and frontal. The vocals project with clarity and power, with their dual-layered contrast being perfectly exhaustive.

At the end of the record, the final experience does not feel like a 12th studio album. Major Arcana features veteran composition mixed with an almost youthful rancor, it feels fresh and original, engaging and immersive, this feels like the end result of a band that is in or nearing its peak. The lengthy compositions mixed with rich and dense musicianship, the dual-vocal attack, and the heavy emotional contrast make this a rewarding record to listen to. Each song unfolds with its own tale and own identity, each one unique and memorable, with moments of splendor and moments of desolation. Fans of heavy doom and melodic death metal should be familiar with the November’s Doom name, but new fans looking for something progressive, classically heavy, and interesting, you can’t go wrong with Major Arcana.

Label: Prophecy Productions
Band: November’s Doom

AJK