First things first—it’s really cool that Camille Contreras is the new vocalist for Novelists. It’s not a common practice at all to have a formerly all-male band open up their keystone role to someone of a different gender, especially in metalcore where the confluence of cliquey devotion and the sheer terror of doing something new dominates. So, from an objective basis, good for Novelists for doing something like this. From the basis of someone who knows how things like this work, however…
Far be it to presume an attempt at manufacturing a Spiritbox-esque form and / or a Linkin Park-esque story (or far be it to presume that out loud, anyway), but it probably seems like an easy gimme for a metalcore band that’s always been mid-tier at best to run up some attention. Add on the extra layer of deniability with how, actually, there hasn’t been some media frenzy about the personnel change and it wasn’t pushed as some groundbreaking event, and covering for all bases appears to be accounted for. There isn’t the expectation of newfound interest on their fifth album, but if it happens, who are Novelists to complain?
All of that is predicated on the notion that there isn’t something tangible being offered, which isn’t what you ever want to presume in a situation like this. The optimal case is that Contreras is the spark that finally invigorates this band on a wider level, and on effort alone, they can escape the yokes of comparison bearing down on them. (In actuality, Contreras was with Novelists for over a year before Emily Armstrong was announced as the new Linkin Park singer and they’d already released the Okapi EP together months before, but there might be a slight size difference between the two that’ll cloud some perception.) Credit to them for achieving something of the sort with CODA, then. By no means is it incredible (or even anything close to that), but it does feel like the reinvention for Novelists that it should.
Partially, anyway. ‘Reinvention’ is as loaded a term as it’s possible in a context like metalcore that can be far too generous with its usage, and CODA largely still falls for the same traps. Strip out the new and examine the fundamentals, and CODA sure is a metalcore album from a band around in the 2010s, alright! Production is clean and textureless, and a little less djenty that Novelists sometimes used to be. Musically, there’s not extravagantly much outside of the ordinary that Pierre Danel and Florestan Durand aren’t contributing with a more precise solo or two. There’s also the prerequisite pop flourish in 78 rue… that only further nails in how little variance there is between Novelists and the greater scene.
So far, so average, so Novelists. That, therefore, puts the onus squarely on Contreras to justify the existence of CODA, or at least to make it seem as though she hasn’t stumbled onto a ship run aground. Thankfully, she’s got the ability to do that almost singlehandedly. Say My Name is a great opener to do that, coasting on a grandeur that lets Contreras both belt and underplay, capped off with scope and the big guitar rip to feel like an actual statement being made. Even some very credible accusations of ‘baby Spiritbox’ aren’t the be-all, end-all, like they would be for a lesser (or lazier) band. There is actually a bit of spice to keep Novelists going, like the male vocals on Adam And Eve whose difference in tone can alleviate how their deliverer sounds as though he woke up literal minutes before hitting record. More obviously is the Spanish rapping on Maldición de la Bruja, already coming way out of left field for a French band, but also having the sole moment of true instrumental distinction in its sharper guitars and drums.
It’s probably worth noting that CODA is being released via Novelists’ collaborative venture with fellow French metalcorers LANDMVRKS dubbed NOVEMVRKS—what ever will they think of next?!—which could explain how some of their ideas came to be. It wouldn’t be too unbelievable to imagine notes being passed between both acts over the table (especially the rapping), but comparing each’s most recent releases, it’s Novelists who have the edge. LANDMVRKS are more wholly adventurous but Novelists do away with their excess of clunk. CODA is definitely more streamlined, and willing to take flight more often to be generally the more satisfactory listen. Again, it’s Contreras who’s the ace in the hole here. Whenever there’s a chorus or clean passage that needs elevating, she always has it to hand. Even as a screamer, there’s less of the enormo-savagery that the best of her ilk have locked in, but her efforts are still commendable.
At the end of the day, she’s what you’ll be coming to CODA for above all else. Even if you’re the world’s foremost Novelists anorak (because, by law of averages, there has to be one), the likelihood is that you’ll be mainly drawn to CODA to see if Okapi could be suitably built on. Pleasingly, it has been, albeit not in a way that’s ready to rocket the band outside of some clearly delineated metalcore boundaries. They aren’t cracking the top tier with this one, but they’re giving their own midway-down stratum a bit of a rough-up. That definitely counts for something, and to the metalcore obsessive out there, its worth might even be a little more than that.
For fans of: LANDMVRKS, Spiritbox, Imminence
‘CODA’ by Novelists is released on 16th May on NOVEMVRKS.
Words by Luke Nuttall
