Northlane are one of the heaviest bands known to Australia and the rest of the world. After their career as a band finally taking off in 2011 since their release of Discoveries, it’s become clear that they are just thriving with passion and energy. After the departure of original frontman, Adrian Fitipaldes, ex-vocalist of Sound of Seasons, Marcus Bridge has since then taken his spot and his contribution to their latest offering of Node is absolutely outstanding.
After rocking the iTunes charts and stealing the spot of number one in just a couple of days, listening to this record shouldn’t make you second guess the outcome. It’s a stellar record that has put Northlane in their new musical direction who pride themselves in their work. Although this change has been criticised by some fans, it was a transformation needed to keep with the vision of the band and for themselves as musicians.
What I’ve noticed since Bridge started as lead vocalist is the amount of haters that have criticised on the “new” direction Northlane have taken. Having seen him take the stage in his old band, Sound of Seasons, he is a vocalist that booms with confidence and has a big voice. Even from his early days, the kind of music that he was doing didn’t quite match up to the level of Northlane and the truth is, it’s something where his vocals were truly tested.
You would consider Bridge someone that takes influence from alternative rock band, My American Heart after watching this music video of “All Over Me” by Sound of Seasons but if you compare it to his audition take on “Dream Awake”, we see Bridge having magic, passion and strong delivery as a vocalist. It takes skill to manage both clean and unclean vocals in a song and for Bridge, this has become second-nature to him.
When you take a look at tracks such as “Soma” and “Obelisk”, both are tracks which take pace and luxury in hard-hitting instrumentation that show Northlane’s strong musicianship. The experimental metal approach that the band have taken showcases their creative flair with aggression in their instrumentation at a much slower yet intriguing way. The tracks contrast one another providing balance with the opening track being more fast-paced, making it an exhilarating listen first-hand. The guitars and drums are right down confronting with solid guitar rhythm with the band putting together instrumentation that brings the best out of what the songs represent. Dig deeper and you’ll find gems like “Weightless” and “Leech” exploring more of Bridge’s vocal control in his cleans and this in return makes the band’s grounded instrumentation gentle and compelling. Here the band took a ‘less is more’ approach, showcasing the beauty in simplicity.
A flaw that I’ve noticed from Australian metalcore bands is the constructed “formula” in which bands follow religiously where the prediction of breakdowns and placement of clean vocals can be easily determined. For Northlane, I commend them for not being that band. For making it easy to digest a record that is worthy of a listen because of how each track has been carefully crafted.
By definition, ‘Node’ means lines or branches intersecting one another and this is detrimental in terms of describing the record in its entirety. The connectedness of each track has been positioned with thought and intricacy and this stems from the time and effort Northlane took to work on this record with the utmost care. As musicians, there’s no use undermining them; they have a force above and beyond what you would expect from a metalcore band. They are at the stage where they could take on arena shows and it won’t be long until the band are strong enough to sell out Wembley Arena. Nonetheless, Node is a collective representation of the talent Northlane have offered in the year of heavy music. It’s always been a privilege to watch this band grow and I can’t wait to see them progress even further.
Review Score: 9.0 out of 10
Node is available now and can be purchased HERE
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