ALBUM REVIEW: "Obsidian" by Northlane

 Various countries across the world really have a knack for amazing Metalcore, don't they? Especially Australia. Now obviously, the biggest Metalcore band from down under is Parkway Drive, followed by The Amity Affliction, I Killed The Prom Queen, and others. One band I'm surprised doesn't get brought up as much, though, is Northlane, at least here in the states. Starting as a Djent act before evolving into more of a Metalcore act with Nu Metal and EDM tendencies by their most recent album prior to this one, 2019's "Alien", I'm kinda surprised more people weren't hyped about them. Especially since that was their biggest album to date. 

   And that leads me here to "Obsidian", which is probably going to be an important album for the band, since it's their first as a completely independent act, without a label to help promote it. So how did it turn out?

    Well, for starters, this album continues the techno-metal style they were going for on "Alien", which the first track "Clarity" is a callback to as a means to officially close the chapter on that album and start a new one on this album by calling out all the friends and family of frontman Marcus Bridger who turned on him for airing out their dirty laundry. Add the amazing programming, the powerful drums, and Marcus' powerful delivery and you get an amazing opener. It also sets up the rest of the album for its nearly hour-long runtime.

   So let's start with the music. Given that the band produced this record themselves, I'd say they did a fairly good job. The techno elements are blended so well together, you'd think this was the intended follow-up to Enter Shikari's "Take To The Skies". For me the best examples of this have to be in "Clockwork" and "Echo Chamber". And the hooks are ever aplenty on this album too. That's something I feel some bands need to be able to nail these days. And in terms of EDM styles, Northlane don't limit themselves to just Techno, as there's also Drum and Bass on "Abomination", House on "Is This A Test", and even Industrial leaning elements on "Cypher". But just because I'm praising the production doesn't mean I find it flawless. "Xen" has elements like a guitar solo that get buried in the mix, guitar production that gets tinny in places, as well as feeling like it could have shaved a few seconds off. The same could go for the song "Plenty". But the EDM moments are pretty good overall, probably best showcased in "Nova", the only song on the album that is fully Techno, which is complemented by Marcus singing in his falsetto in the chorus. Now when talking about riffs, I feel the strongest ones come from the band's more Alternative leaning songs, like on "Clockwork", "Echo Chamber", and "Inamorata". The riffs that lean more into the Djent side, like on "Cypher", just don't excite me as much.

   So now that we've established how the music and production is, what about lyrics? Well, aside from the aforementioned "Clarity", the topics are quite diverse, ranging from the pessimistic attitude and pondering of resurrection on "Plenty", the thought of opening up about internal struggle on "Nova", and even writer's block and timelines on "Clockwork", which ironically ended up being the theme for the Rainbow Six Siege Oceanic Nationals. Go figure. But what i feel is the most interesting or standout song has to be "Inamorata", which is just a straight up love song. Even with having a completely EDM track on the album, this is arguably the closest thing Northlane has to a pop song on it.

So in a nutshell, this album has overall made for a pretty good listen. Mostly good production, a good mixture of themes throughout, solid riffs, excellent use of EDM. I highly recommend. 

FAVES: Clockwork, Echo Chamber, Nova, Inamorata

LEAST FAVES: Xen, Cypher

Final Score: 4/5