“Can I inherit what’s beyond the mirror’s EEEEEDGE?” – the opening title track of Northlane’s six-track Mirror’s Edge EP pauses to reflect for a sec, before bravely pushing through the cycle of fear towards acceptance.
Following the release of their latest single Afterimage (feat. Ian Kenny), fans trumpeted, “Old Northlane is back!”.
The band has admitted this proggy track nods to their Node era (2015), with songwriter/guitarist Jon Deiley sharing that opening for Karnivool on their 2013 Asymmetry tour taught him the importance of a solid groove, which profoundly shifted his own songwriting focus.
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Winston McCall, another influential artist for Northlane, features on the so-heavy Miasma: “Manipulated, THIS ISN’T WHAT I DESEEEEEERVE!” – Parkway Drive’s vocalist closes this one out with enough rage and intensity to make all our hairs stand on end!
Nothlane’s former bass player Brendon Padjasek also stopped by the studio to lend his blood-curdling scream to the beautifully brutal and complex Kraft. Let Me Disappear’s instrumentation, dense as a tarpit, is juxtaposed by a singsongy “da, da-da-da, da” refrain.
Across Northlane’s previous two award-winning albums – 2019’s Alien and 2022’s chart-topping Obsidian – lead singer Marcus Bridge shared intensely personal details about his traumatic, violent upbringing at the mercy of drug-addicted parents.
“Could anything really have made a difference? Could open arms change fractured minds?” Bridge wonders aloud during this EP’s epic closer. Built from a relentless, nagging electronic pulse, Dante pares right back to gentle piano tinkling and concludes on a reassuring, hopeful note.
LABEL: INDEPENDENT
RELEASE: OUT NOW
