“Trying to impress works great on socials, but you catch people by the emotions. A flashy solo still needs to end with a beautiful note”: Dirty amps, unplayable tunings and a DIY plugin build – this is the story of Novelists’ remarkable rebirth

Coda feels like a major turning point for Novelists. After years of upheaval, including a misfiring era with second vocalist Tobias Rische, they turned to the dynamic, commanding Camille Contreras in a bid to achieve the reinvention they’ve been chasing since 2020.

“When we parted ways with Tobias in 2022, we were lost for a long time,” says guitarist Florestan Durand. “We thought it might be the end.”

But Contreras’ personality pulled the band from the mire. After four test-flight singles they shifted focus, writing music that satisfied them instead of continuing to chase the mainstream.

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Now the riffs are back and working overtime. Durand and co-guitarist/producer Pierre Danel built on a mutual adoration for Periphery and Monuments riffs, Bring Me The Horizon soundscaping plus Petrucci shred and Metheny. Not to mention a $50 secret weapon.

“We've always played Axe FX,” says Durand, “but for this record, we fell in love with the ring modulator effect. It has a very nasty sound, so we worked with the developer Samuel Martinez to create our plugin, Kernel. It’s based on a Marshall JCM800, with a ring modulator, a Tube Screamer and four cabs.

“Most of the tones you hear on this album come from that. We wanted something a bit punk and dirty, so the Marshall was perfect. To me, it’s the identity of this album.”

Elsewhere, cleans come from the Axe FX’s Bogna Shiva. Durand uses a modeled Diezel Herbert for leads, while Danel favors a “Frankenstein” of various plugins including THU Slate, STL Tone Hub for the cabs and Sound Spot Fat Filters.

More excitingly, the guitars going into that load of gear are fully custom. A Vola signature artist, Danel’s Vasti 7 PDM J3 took a Tele-esque silhouette for “a modern seven-string Superstrat I could play any genre on.” It’s HSS with Bareknuckle Nailbombs, and Juggernauts in the six-string version.

“That configuration was the most important thing for me,” he says. “I play with the neck pickup a lot, especially lead. I love the single coil sound and I can activate the neck and the humbucker at the same time. So you can get the low-end and twang of the neck pickup with the fatness of the humbucker.”

Durand has forged a relationship with German luthier Patrick von Stein. He has three custom-built Novas. “The neck shape is the most important thing for me – I wanted something pretty close to Ibanez,” he says. “I've tried to play Pierre's guitars, which have thicker, Fender-like necks, but they’re totally different. I hate them!”

The band’s philosophical pivot ensures standout guitar-driven moments all over Coda. So do the pair feel they need to impress as guitarists? “I’ve always loved music that’’s amazed me,” Duran says. “That’s the filter when I write a song. I just want to write a riff and let my face melt.

“Trying to impress works great on socials, but it’s not an end. The goal is always to catch people by the emotions; a flashy solo still needs to end with a beautiful note with nice vibrato.”

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The pair take vastly different approaches to solos. Leaning into his jazz background, Danel relies on improvisations before turning to tapping. Durand, hates improvising – he needs a more deliberate approach. “I find the way the chords go into each other shapes your note choices,” he says. “I feel too limited improvising. I like to take the time and write every note.”

Their songs typically stick to drop C and A tunings, depending on the string count, but Adam and Eve breaks that rule. “I’m a big fan of adding open strings to riffs,” Durand says.

“So we decided to experiment with this very weird tuning that’s like drop A, but more open – A, E, A, E, A, A, E. It definitely has its own sound, and it’s unplayable, but we really liked it for that song.”

“It’s terrible!” Danel laughs. “I had to compose my solo in standard. I tried improvising with it, but I couldn’t. We need to figure out how to do it live – we’re playing it in a few weeks!”

• Coda is out now via NOVEMVRKS. Head to Novelists for more.