The Sydney boys in Northlane have surprisingly been around since 2009 yet mostly thrived in local scenes, garnering moderate success overseas with their early records. It wasn’t until 2019’s Alien that Northlane finally found their foothold and exploded into the conversation. Alien was heavy, catchy, and inventive in equal measures, and met with critical and commercial success, and I was fortunate to rave about it here as well! As 2022 rolled around, Northlane is back with Obsidian and massive shoes to fill, of their own making!
In many ways Obsidian is the spiritual successor to Alien, especially seemingly an extension of Alien’s “Eclipse”. By which it follows that a greater emphasis on the synthscapes painting grand electro-pictures. Be that as it may, Obsidian kicks off with “Clarity” by ways of a lengthy synth-intro which would not be amiss a Direct-To-Netflix SciFi flick and Marcus (Bridge) crooning “Clarity, don’t let me down”, before dropping us into among the highest tempo riff/drum combinations on the record, with dark aggression contradictory to the song title. “Clarity” brings the heavies and the synths and is probably the most Alien track on the record. An interesting choice for album opener, one with very little, if any, chill!
The next section of the record is the trios of released singles, album lead single and Rainbow Six Siege OST track “Clockwork”, the radio friendly that caused many ripples across the community with its heavy synthwave aesthetic, with pleasantly punchy outro. With “Echo Chamber” we begin to see the Nine Inch Nails influence creep in, and take firm hold over the Obsidian narrative from here on out. This isn’t to say that the latter half of the track has its moments of bananas heaviness. The tempo-slowdown closing out the track feels very classic-Northlane at this point, almost downright predictable. In contrast, “Carbonized” goes the Nu-Metal route way with its Korn verses and trademark Marc-horus. The Northlane formula is already beginning to take shape at this point, at time feeling forced on tracks like “Carbonized” with the jarring verse-chorus transitions.
Four tracks in and we are already having the “Is Northlane/Obsidian/this metal?”, with equally strong voices on both sides. It is abundantly clear that Obsidian isn’t a direct copycat of Alien, which would admittedly disappoint many who come in with that expectation. Obsidian leans “heavier” into its electronic elements, pushing the guitar work further and further into the background, much to the chagrin of the more unyielding of metalcore purists.
None of this is clearer than on “Abomination”, again belying its title-tone aesthetic coming across more upbeat than “Clarity”. By this stage of the record NorthInchNails has fully stepped into techno territory; so much so that “Abomination” eschews a traditional breakdown for a dark-techno bass-drop stomp that any techno-head would instantly be transported to a Paris tunnel and trigger their PostTechnoStressDisorder of taking spurious drugs.
RaveLane is taking better form on “Is This A Test” with its FruityLoops drum lines and ethnic-esque string intro. Obsidian is now a techno record with guitars. This realization made the initial jarring dissonance with my internal metalcore purist a lot easier to digest. With the optics of Obsidian and tracks like “Is This a Test” being straight up techno with guitars thrown into the mix to enhance the bass line, these songs sparked a lot more joy! However, with great electro comes great vocal-distortion, and “Is This a Test” reaches near Cher levels of autotune/vocal distortion that seems to become more and more fashionable among the kangaroos down under (looking at you Thornhill!)
As dark as the album art and title portrays a dark malicious and otherworldly vibe, most of the tracks remind me of an OST of someone giving you a tour of their streamer den with all the flashing neons and RGB keyboards and glowing CPUs. “Xen” continues TechnoLane’s foray into RGB land, with a melody nearly ripped off the Cymatics “Science V Music” track.
By “Cypher”, CarpenterBrutLane give us no option but acquiesce that there are less than seven guitar riffs on Obsidian, ten if you count the tremolo picked harmonic sections that After The Burial made famous. Most of the guitar work is simple three chord progressions on the bottom strings, or Dot Note zero chugs that are nothing but percussive cushions to create space for the electronic elements and the vocals to take center stage.
Yet, by “Nova” Northlane has decided that we’ve had too much guitar work and scrubs it all away for their entry into the “LoFi DjentWave to Chill and Study to” youtube playlist. Jokes aside, “Nova” is a breath of fresh air, and is a beautifully crafted piece of ambient synthwave and a haunting vocal performance. “Nova” would not be entirely amiss on a Matrix spinoff, and that is high praise.
This author’s personal favorite, a delightful return to Alien form is “Inamorata” is just the right balance of electronics, now subdued, and a raised tempo, with a near Animals As Leaders writing style (who coincidentally also have an amazing track named “Inamorata”) but with the trademark Northlane catchy clean-to-scream chorus. Undoubtedly, the second and probably most “Oh Shit” moment on Obsidian (the first being “Abominations” techno drop), is “Inamorata”s dark key change. Marcus seamlessly twists his chorus into a darker more minor-chordal tone and begs for a lengthier extension. Well played!
Title track “Obsidian” is NoiseLane for most of the early sections, settling into breakdownsville as the song reaches its conclusion, and would be more enjoyable if nearly every track on Obsidian didn’t follow the exact formula. Conversely, “Dark Solitaire” is an upbeat with an almost Linkin Park-ish vibe leading into a frantic drop, and that is surprisingly not a bad thing here! This works surprisingly well as the record loops back into the darker “Clarity”.
Obsidian’s creativity in their musicianship is a testament to studio and preproduction magic. Every track on the record is densely packed with bass lines, synth bass, pads, drums, percussive guitars, vocal melodies, and overdubs that takes its own kind of genius to coalesce. As much as many metalcore purists will scoff at the lack of guitar-driven tracks on Obsidian, the record is not without creative merit. The production is nearly pristine, which is increasingly difficult to pull off with so many competing elements in the low-range space. Obviously there is a wish that guitarist Josh Smith would be utilized more, but with Jon Deiley pulling multiple duties of guitar work, synth and programming, and bass, Obsidian feels like his baby. Drummer Nic Pettersen is playing his heart out, jumping expertly between “metal” drum lines, and more electronica-stereotype drum arrangements, showing his erudition of the writing styles across various genres. Marcus Bridge does some of his best work on Obsidian, yet his formula is becoming more predictable, and has diminishing returns after the flash bang success that was Alien.
Obsidian, is Northlane flexing in all directions, metalcore? Djent? Techno? Why not all? When stretched in so many directions, elements do fall through the cracks and this isn’t a perfect record, but when appreciated at face-value, has plenty of enjoyable moments!
