Northlane

Named after the Architects songs of the same name, Northlane was originally comprised of vocalist Adrian Ftlipaldes, lead guitarist Jon Deiley, rhythm guitarist Josh Smith, bassist Alex Milovic, and drummer Brenden Derby. Prior to the release of their debut EP “Hollow Existence” Milovic and Derby were replaced by Simon Anderson and Mitchell Collier, respectively. The EP introduced the band to a wide audience and was supported by extensive touring around Australia.

Due to this success Northlane signed with UNFD towards the tail-end of 2011, who issued the band’s debut studio album “Discoveries” in November 2011. Charting at No. 85 on the Australian Albums Chart, the record earned a wave of positive reviews and was produced by William Putney. The album was supported by more relentless touring opening for the likes of August Burns Red, House Vs Hurricane, and Parkway Drive. Following a Canadian tour alongside Counterparts and Stray from the Path, the group returned to the studio with Will Putney to record their sophomore album.

In the wake of the band’s second album “Singularity”, Northland embarked on a modest regional tour across Australia with In Hearts Wake. Led by the single “Worldeater” the band issued their second studio album “Singularity” in March 2013. Promoted via a clever hype campaign that led fans to decode details and guess track listings, the record proved to be their most successful to date, peaking at No. 3 on the Australian Albums Chart. Northlane supported the album by embarking on their “Singularity” tour alongside Stray from the Path, Statues, and Karnivool.

The group subsequently made their U.S. touring debut, initially with Veil of Maya and Structures, and later on the American Dream Tour alongside Bring Me the Horizon and Of Mice and Men. In September 2014 it was announced vocalist Adrain Fitipaldes was leaving Northland due to health issues and a month later his replacement, Marcus Bridge, appeared on their new single “Rot”.

It’s not just the pop world in which the artists involved are getting younger and younger. Casually flick through an issue of Kerrang! these days and you’re sure to find a band whose members are too young to get into their own shows. It’ll be a very long time before they can do things that seemingly define heavy metallers like drinking and staying out until first light either. The truly terrifying thing is that these artists aren’t just tiny, they’re also better musicians than most could ever hope to be, who’ve spent their childhood and early adolescence burning through Metallica and Pantera tab books when most were playing Crash Bandicoot.

After The Burial is a pretty crystal clear look at what’s probably going to happen when those bands grow up. This is because they too are a band whose members, Nick Wellner, Trent Hafdahl, Justin Lowe, Greg Erickson and Dave Coleman, met and formed in high school and got to be pretty mind-blowing players before they’d even graduated. If the modern wave of young bands ends up anything like them, then they’re going to innovate, inspire and rock like absolute bastards. It’s not like the band began as anyone’s wannabe’s either, they began touring immediately after high school and by late 2005, they’d recorded their debut E.P “Forging A Future Self”, who title says it all.

From the very beginning this was going to be a band that did things by their own rules and created their own sound, and this continued even after line-up troubles resulted in the departure of Erickson and Wellner. Undeterred, the band signed to Sumerian Records for the release of their first full-length album “Rareform” and since then, they’ve toured and sold out shows all over the world, and released a further two albums. The band are living proof that no matter how “uncommercial” or “inaccessible” music can be, talent wins out in the end. Highly recommended.