Northlane have released a stunning new single Afterimage featuring Ian Kenny of Karnivool.
The Sydney metalcore monsters debuted Afterimage live recently during their huge Australian tour, which set the internet alight and left fans hanging to hear the studio version. A nod to their Node-era, Northlane have always pointed to Karnivool as one of their biggest influences; Ian Kenny’s vocals sit so naturally in Afterimage that the song feels written just for him. It makes sense given, according to guitarist Jon Deiley, touring with Karnivool in 2013 had such a profound impact on his songwriting.
“Touring with Karnivool changed my perspective on songwriting by showing me a solid groove is more interesting than some flashy technical bit. Writing a good groove means you can exploit it in different ways while still keeping it interesting over time,” says Deiley. “Karnivool influenced Northlane by showing us that songwriting and nailing every transition live is more important than jumping around. We hopped on the Asymmetry tour years ago and were still riding the success of Singularity when we discovered pretty quickly some fans just want to stand and enjoy you playing the music perfectly. I think that's where our unhealthy hyper-critical evaluation of our performance came from!”
A pensive song about reflecting on the past whilst looking ahead to a better future, Afterimage arrives after previous singles Miasma and “Dante” and is the final preview before Mirror’s Edge arrives on April 12.
Mirror’s Edge was recorded with their old friend and revered heavy producer, Will Putney, in August last year. Described by Jon Deiley (songwriter/guitarist) as “the greatest hits of Northlane sounds”, the EP is a nostalgic journey through all the colours on their sonic palette, with bonus shades from special guests Winston McCall (Parkway Drive) and Ian Kenny (Karnivool/Birds of Tokyo) - two of the most influential artists in Northlane’s history. Their former bass player, Brendon Padjasek, also stopped by the studio to lend his scream to one of the tracks.
Penned just over a year after the release of their #1 award-winning album, Obsidian, the road to Mirror’s Edge was a bumpy one. Instead of riding high on the success of the album, the simmering tension and communication breakdown between band members threatened to engulf Northlane at any moment. Northlane tackled their issues head-on at a writing retreat in Victoria's Yarra Valley, where they worked through their problems and unlocked new channels of creativity in the process that reflects through the EP. From the expansive prog of Afterimage to their signature bottom-heavy groove and vicious breakdown of Kraft and compulsive beat and electronic focus of Dante, Mirror’s Edge is full of Northlane's most vivid colours and textures.
Thematically, the EP is about looking at yourself and reflecting on the past one final time before leaving it all behind to find hope in what lies beyond the mirror's edge. With the recurring theme of acceptance binding these songs together, frontman Marcus Bridge is hopeful that Mirror’s Edge will be the coda on this part of his personal life, so much of which he has shared in the last couple of Northlane releases.
“It’s like looking at your reflection, looking at the past and everything I've been thinking about, or caught up within the last little while. There’s not much positivity in these songs, but it is about acceptance," says Bridge. "Hopefully, by putting these songs out, I can leave that stuff behind and I can kind of find a new direction and something to be positive about on the other side of this mirror's edge.”
Karnivool recently announced an Australian tour for May. The Tri-Continental Drift tour will set off in May with the band making stops in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Frankston and Adelaide. Karnivool haven't toured Australia since their barnstorming headline slot on the larger-than-life Monolith Tour in 2022, so it’s been a while between drinks, even for Karnivool! What’s the occasion?
In June, the band returns to Europe for a run of massive festival appearances including Download (UK), Copenhell (Denmark) and Hellfest (France), and it really would be rude to head off overseas again and not give Australians a taste first, especially after having a sold-out headline run through the northern hemisphere last January. So, Kenny, Drew, Hoss, Jon and Steve are dusting off the guitars, opening the many cases of pedals and the collection of bent cymbals, and hitting it. As for the band's hometown in Perth, the band have the following words for local fans "Relax Perth, we live here. We will sort something out for you, too, just when we have a bit more time!".
Tickets for the Tri-Continental Drift are on sale now at Karnivool.com.
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