Obsidian

After translating dark accounts of personal trauma into anthems on 2019’s <i>Alien</i>, Northlane frontman Marcus Bridge turns his focus to lockdown and other suffocating microcosms on the Sydney band’s self-produced sixth album. “Clockwork” bottles the anxiety of putting everything on pause during the pandemic’s first year, while the techno-laced “Echo Chamber” faces down toxic online discourse and “Carbonized” calls for abusers to be held accountable once and for all. Merging high-impact metalcore with dizzying electronic flourishes, Northlane bring a swell of drama and scope to Bridge’s unflinching lyrics. When he declares “You’re killing me” during opener “Clarity”, it heralds a layered assault of drums, intricate guitar riffing and cycling synth melodies. Mirroring how the melodic and the abrasive mingle in Bridge’s dynamic vocal range, <i>Obsidian</i> inhabits an intersection of heaviness and clubby abandon.