A Special Time

Northlane ended their Europe and UK leg of the Alien Worldwide Tour with a blast at the Kulturzentrum Schachthof in Wiesbaden.

Following their sold-out London show (read here) earlier in December, Northlane, Polaris and Void Of Vision continued the tour in Europe (mainland) with their last show being at the Kulturzentrum Schlachthof in Wiesbaden. With the tour, the five-piece progressive metal band supported their fifth full-length album ‘Alien’ (2019, UNFD) which was released earlier this year. They shifted their sound away from the atmospheric and anthemic metalcore towards a more djent and progressive metal sound without losing their soul and signature sound that makes them recognisable. The shows showed how well their new songs blend into the setlist along with some of their older songs covering a huge spectrum of emotions and vibes.

Bringing Polaris and Void Of Vision along as their special guests, the crowd was treated to Australia’s finest upcoming metal bands ending the year and decade with a blast. With a few minutes behind the schedule, the lights turned off and the excitingly waiting fans welcomed the first band of the night on the stage. Void Of Vision kicked off the night bursting with energy and got the crowd moving right from the start. Their sound was a mix of heavy breakdowns, drop-tuned guitar riffs and mainly shouted vocals, occasionally alternating with melodically sung parts that cut through the orderly chaos. With the crowd moshing around, the energy level was set high and everyone seemed to be warmed up for the next band.

The five-piece metalcore outfit Polaris just announced the forthcoming release of their sophomore LP ‘The Death Of Me’ (via Sharptone) and released the first single ‘Masochist’ (2019, Sharptone) earlier this year which blended seamlessly in their set and was warmly welcomed by the crowd. Opening their set with the energetic ‘Casualty’ followed by the punchy ‘The Remedy’, Polaris picked up the energy inside the room and brought it to the next level. Playing a good mix of older and newer songs, as well as debuting a second song from their upcoming album, they captured the crowd right from the start with their punchy riffs and thriving drumbeats. Screamer Jamie and bassist Rick alternated between powerfully screamed vocals and melodically sung parts which created excitement and energy. The crowd was wildly running around in a huge circle pit and singing along to each song before the band ended their set with ‘Lucid’, setting the vibe for the final band of the night.

With the lights dimmed and turning into a neon green, the intro of ‘Talking Heads’ kicked off and the crowd was off their feet bouncing up and down. Marcus’ vocals were on point as always, seemingly switching between complex melodically parts and heavy screams up and down the range. Featuring nine songs of ‘Alien’ the fans didn’t seem to mind that the setlist which was mainly consisting of songs from the new album and sang on the top of their lungs during every song. It was a blisteringly heavy and energetic set that didn’t fail to impress and captured the crowd right from the start. While the dark and heavily djent singles ‘Vultures’, ‘Eclipse’ and ‘Bloodline’ got the crowd dancing around in moshpits, older favourites such as ‘Rot’, ‘Citizen’, ‘Obelisk’ and ‘Intuition’ saw the fans screaming back the lyrics on the top of their lungs, moshing around and crowd surfing their way to the front of the stage. But newer songs such as ‘4D’ and ‘Talking Heads’ didn’t disappoint and saw the crowd singing along just as much. Towards the end of the set, they took a quick break to get everyone from Polaris and Void Of Vison on stage to have a drink together and celebrate the end of the successful Europe and UK tour leg. ‘Bloodline’ marked the end of the set but as the lights slowly came back on, Marcus and guitarist Jon started the encore with the atmospheric and vocally challenging ‘Sleepless’ before finishing the whole night as a full band with ‘Quantum Flux’, which is still one of Northlane’s biggest songs and a crowd favourite. Even guitarist Josh took his chance and jumped into the crowd at the end and was carried by the crowd as the other members thankfully left the stage.

Overall, it was a special time with incredible musicians and great music. Everyone seemed to have an amazing time enjoying themselves either being the bands on stage or the crowd moshing around in front of the stage. All bands gave their best and were highly thankful for the continuous support and a successful tour. It was definitely a great way to end 2019 and to see what 2020 will bring.

Venue: Kulturzentrum Schlachthof Wiesbaden

Band: Northlane

Support: Void Of Vision, Polaris

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