From Left to right: Josh Smith, Marcus Bridge, Jon Deiley, and Nic Pettersen
Feeling all the love, I swear that it's in the air
Leaving me, floating forever, into infinity
Leaving me, floating forever, into infinity
— "Quantum Flux"
Northlane are an Australian Metalcore band from Sydney, formed in 2009. They are one of the faces of the Australian metalcore scene alongside Parkway Drive, The Amity Affliction, and In Hearts Wake.
The band released their debut album Discoveries in 2011 and sophomore album Singularity in 2013, before frontman Adrian Fitipaldes left the band due to severe vocal issues, and was replaced by Marcus Bridge.
With new frontman Marcus Bridge, the band released their third album Node in 2013, which debuted at No. 1 in the Australian charts, their first time on top. They continued with Mesmer in 2017, Alien, their most successful record, in 2019, and most recently, Obsidian in 2022.
Band Members
- Marcus Bridge - lead vocals
- Jon Deiley - lead guitar
- Josh Smith - rhythm guitar
- Nic Pettersen - drums
Discography
- Discoveries (2011)
- Singularity (2013)
- Node (2015)
- Mesmer (2017)
- Alien (2019)
- Obsidian (2022)
Feeling all the Tropes, I swear that it's in the air
- Audience Participation Song: Quantum Flux is probably their best example.
- Atomic F-Bomb: Their debut single Dispossession has a handful of this."Cast aside the fear of reality, face the fucking world!"
- Badass Boast: At the end of Eclipse: "I WILL NEVER LET MYSELF BE LIKE YOU!"
- CAPS LOCK: Their band name is rendered this way on their logo and album covers.
- Continuity Nod:
- Details Matter briefly references Quantum Flux and Vultures references Aspire.
Aspire: I'll carve my own name into the earth.Vultures: Let the earth where I carved my name burn!- The music video for "Echo Chamber" features several nods to the band's earlier videos. These included re-using sets and scenes from the music videos for "Rot" and "Solar", as well as footage from the video for "Bloodline". The white car from the video for "Clockwork" also appears.
- Cover Version: The band has covered Fatboy Slim's "Eat Sleep Rave Repeat", Tame Impala's "Let It Happen", Silverchair's "Anthem For The Year 2000", and The Vines' "Get Free."
- Darker and Edgier: Alien is this in comparison with their previous albums, both instrumentally and lyrically.
- Determinator: Some songs in Discoveries and Singularity are about this.Corruption: I will become the end of this sad and bleak corruption that reigns on all.Exposure: In the arms of my kin, my family, in the hearts of those sincere, in the face of adversity, here I am!The Calling: I am here to show there's hope in a dying world, and I won't stand by and watch the dream wither and die, this is my destiny in life!
- Djent: The band was firmly in this genre for their first two albums. Node and Mesmer went for a more melodic and progressive sound, while Alien and Obsidian moved even further away to experiment with electronics, industrial music and nu-metal.
- Fading into the Next Song: A handful of songs on Mesmer, Alien and Obsidian do this.
- Green Aesop: A handful of their songs have themes of this, especially Solar.
- Homage: The band's name is taken from a song by UK-based metalcore band Architects.
- The final song of Mesmer, Paragon, has most of the lyrics taken from Architects songs (and a few from Rise Against), as a tribute to Architects guitarist Tom Searle, who passed away before Mesmer was released.
- Lighter and Softer: Their post-Fitipaldes albums have had more clean vocals and a greater focus on melody.
- Node is a much lighter and more melodic album than any the band have released before or since.
- The music video for "Echo Chamber", compared to other music videos the band have made. Usually Northlane videos are serious in tone, but this one is very lighthearted and silly.
- Live Album: Analog Future and Live At The Roundhouse.
- Meaningful Name: Alien, with its theme being centered around being an outcast, being different, but wearing that label proudly, is this.
- Metalcore: One of Australia's frontrunners of the genre, alongside Parkway Drive and The Amity Affliction.
- Metal Scream: Former frontman Adrian Fitipaldes is mainly a Type 2, occasionally shifting to Type 3. Marcus Bridge mainly uses Type 1.
- New Sound Album:
- Node, their first album with Marcus Bridge, had a more alternative and experimental sound that had more in common with more progressive Australian bands like Karnivool and Dead Letter Circus.
- Mesmer brought some of the metalcore elements of the earlier albums back, but still had a progressive metal sound overall.
- Alien saw the band bring in nu-metal and industrial metal elements to their sound, which they expanded even further on Obsidian.
- Non-Appearing Title: Most of their song titles, at least.
- Nu Metal: Alien and Obsidian both have elements of this.
- Oh, Crap!:
- The child in the Bloodline music video has a brief moment of this when his father nearly crashes their car with a container truck.
- In the Clockwork music video, where Marcus starts getting chased by a car.
- Parental Neglect: The entire album of Alien was essentially about lead singer Marcus Bridge growing up with heroin-addicted parents. His father would die from an overdose, while his mother never cleaned up. She ended up passing away while the band was touring Alien.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "SET! ME! FREE!"
- Progressive Metal: One of the frontrunners of the progressive metalcore style along with Periphery and Erra.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: "Carbonized" is a tirade against sexual abusers and predators in the music industry, and how they must be held accountable for their actions no matter the quality of their work.
- Soprano and Gravel: Both Fitipaldes and Bridge switch between screaming and singing, though Bridge generally uses clean vocals more frequently.
- Surprisingly Gentle Song: "Nova" from Obsidian is a trip-hop styled song reminiscent of Massive Attack and Portishead, and is very different from the rest of the album (or, indeed, anything else the band has written before or since).
- Switching P.O.V.: The music video for Bloodline tells the story of a child (playing as a younger Marcus Bridge) living with his heroin-addicted parents. Later, the music video of Eclipse is shown from the perspective of the child's father.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: "Clarity". It's Marcus venting his feelings about his mother after her death. She found out while she was still alive that Marcus had written Alien about his childhood, and she didn't take it well.
- Unplugged Version: 2D is an acoustic EP of several songs from Alien.
- Vocal Tag Team: Brendon Padjasek and Marcus Bridge was this during the former's time as Northlane's bassist and backing vocalist.
It's time to remember, WHAT IT'S LIKE TO FEEL ALIVE!
