A Special Time

Northlane ended the UK leg of their Europe and UK tour with an incredible sold-out show at the Electric Brixton.

The Australian metalcore quintet comprising vocalist Marcus Bridge, both guitarists Josh Smith and Jonathon Deiley, bassist Brendon Padjasek and drummer Nic Pettersen are known for their atmospheric ambient sound mixed with heavy breakdowns, buzzing guitar riffs and thriving drums. Especially Marcus’s impressive vocal range lifts the sound onto another level, seamlessly switching between heavily screamed and melodically sung vocals within both spectrums of the range. The calmer more anthemic parts balance out the heavy breakdowns and add to the spacious atmosphere of their music. With their fifth full-length album ‘Alien’ (2019, UNFD), Northlane added a darker and more industrial sound while lyrically addressing topics such as domestic violence, alcohol issues and abuse which was part of Marcuse’s difficult childhood.

Opening its doors around 7pm, the space in front of the stage at the Electric Brixton filled up quickly with an excited crowd waiting for Void Of Vision to open the stage. The Melbourne based metalcore band comprises vocalist Jack Bergin, both guitarists James Mckendrick and Mitch Fairlie, as well as George Murphy who got the crowd moving right at the start. With their energetic and heavy sound, they got everyone hyped up and saw the audience moshing around just before Polaris entered the stage and took the energy to the next level. The Australian metalcore quintet comprising vocalist Jamie Hails, the guitarists Rick Schneider and Ryan Siew, bassist Jake Steinhauser, as well as drummer Daniel Furnari burst with energy and saw the crowd going crazy in circle pits and moshing around. They warmed up the audience with their heavy breakdowns and grooving drumbeats, setting the energy levels high.

With the lights turning off again and the first riffs of ‘Talking Heads’ kicking in the crowd went absolutely mental and no one was on their feeds. The energy in the room peaked and Northlane gave their best to deliver an unforgettable gig. Focusing mainly on their newer releases, they added some older favourites such as ‘Intuition’, ‘Rot’, ‘Citizen’ and ‘Obelisk’ which saw the fans screaming the lyrics on the top of their lungs. New songs such as ‘Details Matter’, ‘Jinn’, ‘4D’, ‘Freefall’, ‘Vultures’, ‘Eclipse’ and set closer ‘Bloodline’ didn’t lack in heaviness and got the crowd spinning in circle pits or surfing their way to the front of the stage right from the start of the set and saw the fans chanting for more at the end of the set. Marcus and Jonathon came back on stage for ‘sleepless’ which ended with the full band joining in and ending off the night with the energetic but atmospheric ‘Quantum Flux’.

Overall, it was an incredible evening with great music, amazing bands and a highly energetic crowd. Everyone seemed to have a great evening enjoying themselves moshing around and singing on the top of their lungs which was highly appreciated by the bands. All bands gave their best and had a blast on stage. It was definitely a special time.

Venue: Electric Brixton

Band: Northlane

Support: Void Of Vision, Polaris

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