Northlane : "Obsidian"

 

In the realm of what I expect from a so-called modern metal core band, these Australians check off all the boxes, though it is tempered with a progressive pop sense of melody.  The guitar tone when things come down with more weight in an attempt to get heavier, strikes me as just being too processed. If it had a more organic production quality, I think it would be heavier, though the edges of the songs dance with the bristle of electronic effects so these guys are readying themselves for the meta verse. All of this holds up pretty well though there is a happier dancier under current to echo chamber that begins to wear on me. They need to move in a darker direction rather than a more upbeat one to appeal to me, though I am not their fan base. 

"Carbonized" really strikes me as being nu-metal, with the bouncy cadence of the vocals factoring in high in this regard. The more 30 Seconds to Mars like vocals are more appealing to me, the tough guy screams are not believable. They continue to push things in an almost Linkin Park direction by the time we get to "Abomination" to their credit this is more listenable than if they sounded more like Suicide Silence or any of the bands in that zip code "Plenty" just kind breezed past me, I had to go back and listen to it again, not sure my opinion of it was any more well informed though I did focus in more on the groove amid some of the other sonic collisions at work here. They are very effective at what they are doing.  I can say there is a trend where the deeper into this album I get the less the songs grab me and the more the songs begin to sound the same even with the more pop feel driving "Is this a Test: 

By the time we get to "Xen" these guys are the best argument for my belief that metal core is the new nu-metal. "Cypher"' gets harder and the vocal form hooks amid what they are doing which varies in atmosphere and bouncing metallic crunch. But I cannot shake the Linkin Park comparison, good thing they do not have a rapper.  "Nova' was playing then it just kind of faded into the background. It has a 90s easy listening electronic feel I am thinking of Savage Garden in this regard. "Inamorata" might not present a case against them being nu-metal, the groove it moves with makes it one of the album's best songs.  I am less impressed by the title track that sounds like a more atmospheric version of Meshuggah. The last song kind of throws all of the elements into a last hail Mary kind of thing, not that it is epic or too busy, but it sums their sound up leaning into the atmospheric tendencies. In terms of song writing and hooks it is more about the sound.  I will give this album an 8.5, a fun listen, not my thing, but they were good background music and I respect where they are trying to go with this.