Like the Planeteers and Power Rangers before them, Northlane and Parkway Drive vocalist Winston McCall have combined powers, uniting to form an unstoppable titan of Australian heavy music power, ‘Miasma’.
Hellbent on their mission to charter hitherto uncharted regions of noise, Northlane have opened a portal to their sound of yesteryear, while honouring the growth between then and now. ‘Miasma’ is a chugg-driven, groove-fest with hints of 2015’s Node, combined with the svelte and sophisticated textures from 2022’s Obsidian.
Naturally, there’s a lot going on lyrically, but the use of the term ‘Miasma’ – an oppressive, unpleasant atmosphere, and deploying the seismic boom of McCall goes a long way to tell us what’s going on here.
The frustration within ‘Miasma’ transcends all other things. Vocalist Marcus Bridge more than holds his own in the dynamic team-up as he sends forth the slings and arrows with a sustained and tactile rage. Miasma sees Northlane pay homage to where you’ve come from in more ways than one, with guitarist Josh Taylor speaking to the importance of Parkway Drive on Northlanes origins.
“Parkway Drive were always our number one inspiration as a band”, he says.
“When we first started, their DVD created a roadmap to success which we did our best to follow. At a time where every band was ripping their sound off, we chose to take our own path but instead emulate their work ethic, and for us it paid dividends.
Over time that respect has flowed both ways. With this track being so heavy we couldn’t think of a more perfect guest than Winston. He flew down from Byron just after we toured together in North America and we tracked his parts in Jon’s home studio. His brute voice just tore the track to pieces and we were stunned with the result.”
The new single comes with news of a forthcoming EP from the band, Mirror’s Edge, which has a street date of Friday, 12th April. The good times are far from over as well, with another Australian heavy royalty collab queued up – Ian Kennedy from Karnivool / Birds of Tokyo will also feature on the EP.
Speaking to what fans can expect from Mirror’s Edge, which also contains erstwhile single Dante, Bridge says, “It’s like looking at your reflection, looking at the past and everything I’ve been thinking about, or caught up within the last little while.”
“There’s not much positivity in these songs, but it is about acceptance. Hopefully, by putting these songs out, I can leave that stuff behind and I can kind of find a new direction and something to be positive about on the other side of this mirror’s edge.”
With a run of headline shows set for Feb, there’s a high chance fans might cop a live performance of other new singles from the EP, but for now, Northlane and Winston McCall have given us plenty to keep us busy:
Northlane Dante Australian Tour
Ticket available now.
Friday, 9th February
Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane
Tickets: Northlane
Saturday, 10th February
Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Tickets: Northlane
Sunday, 11th February – SOLD OUT
The Forum, Melbourne
Tickets: Northlane
Thursday, 15th February
The Forum, Melbourne
Tickets: Northlane
Friday, 16th February
Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide
Tickets: Northlane
Saturday, 17th February
Metro City, Perth
Tickets: Northlane
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