TOP! M- 1970 "NOVEMBER" 1st LP ~ CREAM, ZEPPELIN MOUNTAIN HEAVY BLUES PSYCH TRIO

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Eons from now, when rock archaeologists — rockaeologists? — unearth the ruins of our civilization in search of righteous tunes, some lucky muck will dust off a copy of November‘s 1970 debut, En Ny Tid Är Här…, and wind up crediting them with inventing heavy groove itself. They didn’t, of course, but there’s little doubt the Stockholm outfit were ahead of the curve in the post-hippie, post-psych movement of what was coming next in guitar-led fare. Informed by the blues much as were Cream, Sabbath, Hendrix, Zeppelin and Purple before them, November nonetheless preceded an entire wave of bands in taking the rock-via-blues licks and beefing them up with significant thrust of tone and rhythmic nod, so that songs like “En Annan Värld” and “Sekunder (Fövandlas Till År)” didn’t just shuffle, they thundered. Bands like Atomic Rooster and Bloodrock were still about a year off from figuring this out, but soon enough there would be an explosion of heavy rock and roll in their wake, and November — who released En Ny Tid Är Här… in the summer of ’70 with leadoff track “Mount Everest” as a single — seem to have got in just under the wire as an early adopter of the style.

Maybe that’s no less a narrative than someone saying they invented the whole thing, but at least it’s more realistic. November formed in 1969 with the lineup of bassist/vocalist Christer Stålbrandt, drummer/vocalist Björn Inge and guitarist Rickard Rolf, coming together around various other incarnations.

November were among the first Swedish rock acts that wrote lyrics in their mother tongue during the ‘70s. A non-trivial mixture of German and English and equally smooth sounding with the latter constituent language, the Swedish language, along with the soothing vocals of bassist Christer Stålbrandt, form an extraordinary combination for November to approach vintage rock from their own perspective. Floating over a tight but discrete rhythm section, their hard rock/blues attempts (“Mount Everest”, “Lek Att Du Är Barn Igen”) are excellently complemented by Rolf’s subtle yet essential leads and the outstanding use of the flute. The latter attains a gentle, progressive rock character, not too far from the relevant work of iconic players such as Ian Anderson. Being strategically scattered throughout the album, the blues songs along with their latent hard rock leanings consist of fantastic introductions for the pure hard rock (“Ta Ett Steg I sagans land”, “En annan värld”) and hippie/boogie (“Sekunder”, “Åttonde) groove of the album. In this respect, the rhythm section of Stålbrandt and Inge is stepping out of the blues foreplay through Inge’s frenzied but well-thought drumming and Stålbrandt’s orgasmic bass lines (listen to “Åttonde”), while Rolf’s lead and rhythm guitars are cruising the songs with style. It will take no more than 2-3 listening sessions in realizing that November rest on the same level of excellence with their heroes, i.e. bands such as Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull and Grand Funk Railroad, to name a few.
Moving forward yet another winner is the stomping “Gröna Blad,” which seems in direct conversation instrumentally with Leaf Hound‘s “Growers of Mushroom” — until one considers that it would be another year before that track and album surfaced from the British band. In terms of that conversation, however, it’s worth noting the use by November of Swedish-language lyrics and titles throughout the record. The notion of mass-marketing a project through the adoption of singing in English is something bands still grapple with, and while November are certainly well remembered thanks in part to reissues of En Ny Tid Är Här… both legitimate and bootleg, one can’t help but wonder if their legend would be even more widespread if they’d called the album A New Time is Here… instead.

Whatever the rockaeologists ultimately decide on that one, En Ny Tid Är Här… stands among the stronger offerings of its era in English or any language. In 1971, it would be followed by 2:a November and in 1972 by 6:e November, rounding out a trilogy of releases after which the group had run its course, members moving on to different projects in progressive rock and jazz. They’d get back together in the early ’90s and release a live album in 1993 via Mellotronen Records that was recorded in 1971, and have played periodic reunion shows since 2007, but they have remained underrated even among their entirely underrated epoch, and particularly En Ny Tid Är Här… seems ripe for a revisit, whether that’s through a deluxe vinyl reissue, new album from the band, whatever it might be. Some stuff is just too good to leave alone.