SINGLE REVIEW: Northlane feat. Winston McCall – Miasma

the latest in a long line of releases from this band that pushes the very limits of what metalcore is capable of

It doesn’t get much better than this.

It’s hard to overstate the sheer importance of Northlane in the metalcore scene. Their first two records with vocalist Adrian Fitipaldes are revered as classics, whilst their more recent material with Marcus Bridge has been instrumental in transforming the heavy scene’s style. Their fifth album, ‘Alien’, particularly acted as a moment of musical revolution, harnessing industrial and electronic sounds in a manner metalcore had never seen before.

This trend isn’t one that’s getting bucked any time soon, however, if this latest release is anything to go by. ‘Miasma’ pushes the band’s artistic boundaries further and further, with its jarring, aggressive, and utterly relentless approach leading to a track that pulls both from the band’s earlier ambient metalcore style, and their ferocious industrial modern material.

This leads to a track that sounds purely like a Northlane song; there is not an outfit out there that could produce something like this. The absolutely luscious electronics that are woven throughout the dense layers of metal fury are spellbinding, especially during a particularly gorgeous second verse. Meanwhile, Nic Pettersen delivers the percussion performance as if he is fighting for his life; it’s a brilliantly amorphous beast that roils and writhes as the track evolves through different sonic phases.

Of course, Winston McCall’s feature is certainly a major cause for excitement on this track, and it holds up to those expectations perfectly. The Parkway Drive vocalist perfectly contrasts Marcus Bridge’s more melodic and higher pitched vocal performance, with beastly growls that slam into the listener with catastrophic force. It works perfectly, and is executed with incredible musical intelligence; this isn’t just a guest appearance, but a moment of electrifying unity between two of the scene’s titans, with no sense of it feeling forced or otherwise out of place.

Northlane are acclaimed and well-loved, certainly. Yet it feels as though few speak of how important Northlane have been and continue to be to a scene often plagued with stagnation and repetition. ‘Miasma’ is the latest in a long line of releases from this band that pushes the very limits of what metalcore is capable of, heralding what could be one of the band’s finest eras to date. Once again, Australia’s heavy scene just does it better.

For Fans Of: Void Of Vision, Spiritbox, Polaris, Erra, Invent Animate

Northlane’s new EP ‘Mirror’s Edge’ releases April 5th, and is available to preorder here.

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