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Since Northlane’s breakout success, they’ve virtually dictated the course for any Australian metalcore band that’s wanted to follow in their footsteps. Each release to Obsidian has seen them paving new ways ahead, making them one of the country’s most forward-thinking modern metal bands, and their myriad of tag-alongs have followed closely behind.
With Obsidian seeing them treading water a little creatively, it makes a certain kind of sense that Northlane would look backwards on their latest release, and throw in some aspect of their previous glories with help from an old friend and two of Australia’s most renown metal singers.
Ian Kenny and Winston McCall add further layers to Northlane’s already deep sonic palette with their contrasting styles perfectly fitting within the band’s artistic framework. Kenny’s ethereal voice brings extra emotional spark to Afterimage, pushing back against Marcus Bridge’s electronically-modified howls while the band provide a synth-enhanced plod reminiscent of recent outings. When McCall’s huge bellow chimes in during the industrially charged Miasma, memories of the Singularity era are revived and former member Brendon Padjasek throws some looping bass moves into Kraft with its chugging riffs and bone-jarring electronic clanging. Both of these songs are the heaviest Northlane has sounded in quite some time.
The final two tracks see Northlane returning to the same multi-layered slabs of distorted emotions they’ve set up as their sound now. They’re decent tunes but hardly breaking new territory; Kenny and McCall add colour here and it’s nice to hear Padjasek again, but overall, Mirror’s Edge is only slightly more inspired than its lazy AI artwork.