Northlane – Node (Album Review)

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Paul 'Browny' Brown

NORTHLANE – Node

Released: July 24th 2015

Line Up:

Marcus Bridge – Vocals

Jon Deiley – Lead Guitar

Josh Smith – Rhythm Guitar

Alex Milovic – Bass Guitar

Nic Pettersen – Drums/Percussion

Facebook: Northlane

Twitter: @Northlane

Website: www.northlanemerch.com

The Australian heavy music scene right now is a thriving market with so many upcoming and well established bands such as Parkway Drive, The Amity Affliction, In Hearts Wake, Storm the Sky and Thy Art is Murder just to name a few. Another one of those bands absolutely dominating right now is Northlane and this week they release their brand new album Node which features new front man Marcus Bridge taking over the reigns following the departure of Adrian Fitipaldes back in September 2014.

Moving on from the past they boys are ready to start a new chapter with their band and Marcus has fit perfectly into their little band with a sound the blows you away from the start of the album all the way to the climactic end. Kicking things off with “Soma” we’re given a slow tease to what’s expected with the rest of the album. With a great combination of riffage, slow jams and the in your face lyrics “I refuse to die here”, it easy to see that Northlane have wasted no time in reassuring fans they’re just as good as (if not better than) their last offering Singularity.

Up next we have the lead single from the album “Obelisk” which fans may have already had a taste for when they checked out the video clip which was released early last month. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this track from start to finish as it builds up quite nicely throughout before slamming down again with force for the last 20 seconds. Following this we have the title tack “Node” which again starts off slow before the epic sounding vocals of Marcus telling us “You could be the change“, sets the song up as a “come together as humanity” anthem. On a side note, I can’t help but think that if World Wide Peace Organisations started using Northlane in their campaigns we might get one step closer to world peace… maybe!

With “Ohm” things start to pick up speed a little bit which what can be described as their “Jam Song” with all members on show, which is followed up by “Nameless“, an ambient filled instrumental track, which is there to showcase what drummer Nic Pettersen can do while the rest of the ban run off to grab a beer from the fridge. Following this is my personal favourite from the whole album “Rot“, which was the first song fans were shown to introduce Marcus as the new front for Northlane. Since this song has been released I have listened to it an uncountable amount of times as it just gets better and better with every listen and being one of their heaviest releases to date, it’s something to cater to fans of every taste. If you’re going to introduce a new friend to Northlane, this is the song you’ll use.

Just when you think it’s time to settle down we get straight into “Leech” which was also released not too long ago and lives up to the expectations for what we were hoping the new album sound like. A calming introduction to start with before exploding into a somewhat break-down feel throughout. That is until the actual breakdown starts and you can’t get enough of what you’re listening to. This song will definitely go off during their live sets. Next we get into “Impulse” a soundtrack for our ever evolving digital world where we rely on technology and social media. The line “Flawed relations of ones and zeroes, connecting us to our digital heroes. An anti-social network, where everyone’s a fucking expert” really struck a chord with me as you think about these keyboard warriors and know-it-alls you come across on Social Media and how their self-righteous sense of entitlement or power is really destroying your online experience. You’ll listen to this one on repeat to help calm your rage when encountering these wankers.

Rounding out the album we have slow jam “Weightless” the in your face “Ra” and last but not least “Animate” which has a great combination of both clean and unclean vocals and not only has a somewhat “coming to an end” feel to it, but its the best song they could have used to wrap up your whole Node listening experience.

All in all, the album is a great representation of how far this band from Sydney has come in the short amount of time they’ve been together and its a true indication of why the international fans are loving them too. Highly recommended.