Australian progressive metalcore band Northlane will release Obsidian very soon, following 2019’s phenomenal dark and experimental project Alien. Part of understanding Alien involves taking a look back at Mesmer, released five years ago this day. Mesmer dropped as a “surprise” full-length on March 24, 2017 with no prior announcement of its release date. Earlier that month, the band provided fans with cryptic clues involving lyrics to the song “Citizen”, and an ambient track called “Mesmer” containing snippets of different songs on the album. A step up from Node, this project marked Marcus Bridge’s second album as the band’s frontman. Mesmer was not only an excellent album in its own right, it showed glimpses of what was to come next for Northlane.
The eleven tracks of Mesmer maintain an atmospheric, spacey overtone at some point or another. Aggressive riffs from Jon Deiley and drop-tuned bass lines from Alex Milovic set a heavy backdrop that is balanced out with atmospheric vocals and electronics. Compared with Node, the overall presentation is more cohesive, as the writing and structure builds around Marcus Bridge’s vocal skill rather than simply integrating his voice into the band’s previous sound. Showcasing his beautiful vocal delivery reminiscent of Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington, tracks like “Colourwave”, “Zero-One” and “Render” float in and out and emphasize melody. The catchiest song “Heartmachine” echoes Periphery with an infectious djent riff and chorus. “Intuition”, the heaviest and angriest track, follows as a strong counterpoint. Northlane show their strength with dynamics, pacing and structure throughout the album.
On Mesmer, rhythm guitarist Josh Smith wrote most of the lyrics, while vocalist Marcus Bridge wrote two songs. Marcus would later take the reins as the primary lyricist on the following album. While the songs are about specific situations, they vary in subject matter. Loss is a primary theme. Opener “Citizen” discusses surveillance and loss of anonymity, and refers to the CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden. “Solar” is about environmental destruction, echoing previous songs like “Rot” and “Leech” with a similar ecological message. The final track “Paragon” is a tribute to the late Architects guitarist Tom Searle, who died from cancer in 2016. Other tracks deal with personal issues such as “Colourwave”, which Josh wrote about going through dark times.
While I consider Alien to be Northlane’s opus in terms of concept, structure and lyricism, Mesmer shows great strength in the songwriting department as well. The music and writing work in sync – the subject matter reflects the sound. A cyclic riff with a pulse-like rhythm drives “Heartmachine”, one of the two Mesmer songs Marcus penned. Lyrically, Marcus wrote “Heartmachine” about the ending of a relationship with his former girlfriend and the difficulty of moving on, a topic many of us can relate to at some point or another. The other song, “Fade”, has a driving guitar riff and foreshadows the lyrical direction the band would later follow. This track discusses the death of Marcus’ father due to a drug overdose. “Fade” marked the first Northlane song to discuss their frontman’s violent and troubled upbringing, which would be addressed more in-depth on Alien.
However, with all these different themes, none of these songs feel out of place here. As with Alien, the music of one song often flows right into the next track. So while these songs may be discussing different topics, the album maintains a cohesion and unity throughout its runtime. The production, which is neither raw nor polished, is also consistent. While overall it could be sharper and clearer, it gets the job done.
Northlane is a band of two different eras. Their early material with Adrian had a distinct sound that other artists would follow after. (Invent Animate’s underrated Stillworld is a good example). With the arrival of Marcus they again found a niche, emphasizing atmosphere and his vocal strengths. Through it all, Northlane is a band that never stops moving forward, always trying something new while keeping the quality high.
What do you think of the idea of releasing a surprise album? Do you have a favorite Northlane song?
