August 2022 Feature Release - The Gateway Edition
So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.
This month's feature release for The Gateway, nominated by me (Shadowdoom9 (Andi)), is the brand-new 6th album from Sydney-based Australian alternative/metalcore band Northlane, Obsidian. This band has travelled all of my current clans, including their early more djenty albums. Not only was I greatly introduced to the exciting music of this band and album, but Obsidian would also be worth trying for any of the MA members here and especially fans of alternative metal, metalcore, and cyber metal, three genres mixed together well.
https://metal.academy/releases/36032
I did my review, here's its summary:
Northlane were named after a song from metalcore band Architects and once known for their djent-fueled metalcore sound. While experimenting on their untouchable sound in recent albums might alienate their fanbase, for me, it fits well with my current clans! Many of the songs are bangers filled with emotion and talent in their music. The songs all stay heavy while displaying their dance-y industrial experimentation, with a couple calm tracks as well. The band has been plagued with lineup changes and other problems over the years, but they've never given up. Obsidian is the album they've pretty much dreamt of making, and much different from what they had 10 years prior. Well done, Northlane! You've served a masterpiece for the new modern metal age!
5/5
Recommended tracks: "Clarity", "Clockwork", "Echo Chamber", "Plenty", "Xen", "Cypher", "Obsidian"
For fans of: Mushroomhead, and the more recent albums by Architects and Code Orange
I may have recently relocated to Queensland but I’m still well & truly a Sydneysider at heart which is why it seems almost insane that I’ve never heard a full Northlane record before. I mean these guys have been pretty much a staple of the local scene for more than a decade now but I have to admit that they’ve always sounded like the they’d be none of my business & I perhaps didn’t give the material I did hear much of a chance. Anyway… Andi’s feature release submission has seen me rectifying that situation & I’m really glad that I did because “Obsidian” isn’t what I was expecting at all.
The first thing I noticed was that for a release that’s tagged as industrial/alternative metal there’s a lot more going on than that. In fact, there’s absolutely zero industrial metal here so I have no idea where people are drawing that tag from. The combination of alternative metal, nu metal, trance, djent, metalcore & trip hop that we do get is extremely hard to tag. The djent component is very strong throughout however this record doesn’t belong in The Infinite so I wouldn’t opt for it as a primary on that tag. Overall, I’d suggest that calling this record alternative trancecore is about as close as I can come up with but the result is so much better than that sounds on paper.
You see, “Obsidian” is a beautifully comp[osed, executed & produced effort from a classy artist that knows their sound & how to best present it very well. The band are in complete unison, the breakdowns are thick & chunky, the trancey crescendos are glistening & epic & the vocal hooks are tasty & memorable so the album delivers on everything that this sort of poppy metal release promises on the cover. Front man Marcus Bridge is the clear focal point & the highlight of the album (as he should be with records like this one). The chorus hooks on wonderful tracks like “Dark Solitaire”, “Plenty”, “Cypher” & the brilliant album high point “Carbonized” are nothing short of breath-taking & draw on the very best that Linkin Park had to offer for inspiration. In fact, I’ll be surprised if Northlane’s star doesn’t rise across the globe at a great rate of knots off the back of this record.
“Obsidian” isn’t my usual type of metal record by any means & it took me keeping an open mind in order to leave myself open to its charms but once I did I was transported to somewhere I didn’t know existed, certainly not from an artist from my home town. The idea of the Trance Metal subgenre has always left a very bad taste in my mouth & my experiences with it to date haven’t proven to be anything other than negative however if this record is anything to go by then there are avenues it can take that can be not only successful but genuinely captivating.
For fans of Enter Shikari, Motionless In White & Linkin Park.
4/5
Please keep these three Hall of Judgement entries in mind when checking out this feature release:
https://metal.academy/hall/235
This is a fascinating album. It's a record that I have seen appear in numerous curated Spotify playlists since I listened to and reviewed this project back in June. The controversy among Northlane and Metalcore fans in general surrounding this record has not been lost on me. I made it known in my review that the crime against humanity of metal bands going accessible is completely lost on me since it usually results in more consistently good albums.
And Obsidian is no exception. This record has some of Northlane's most well constructed tracks in their entire discography (i.e. "Abomination", "Clockwork" and "Cypher"), incorporating breakdowns in a well constructed fashion that are not shamelessly dropped in as a generic mosh pit slammer.
Where it loses me are some of the heavier tracks, which sound less like Northlane exploring this more accessible, "mainstream metalcore" and rather as a plea of "please do not abandon us! We can still make heavier songs see?" It just leaves the album feeling flustered as vibes do not connect well between certain tracks. Regardless, Obsidian is one of the better "mainstream metalcore" albums I've heard in recent years as well as one of the better albums of 2022 so far.
7/10