MEN IN BLACK

From the second they kicked down the doors with their 2010 Hollow Existence EP, the fusioncore firestarters in Northlane have been hell-bent on shaking up the Australian heavy music scene. There was the labyrinthine viral campaign that launched their breakthrough 2013 record, Singularity; the revolutionary Equinox EP with UNFD labelmates and fellow ‘core lords In Hearts Wake, and the volcanic eruption of inner-fandom calamity they spurred when 2017’s Mesmer hit shelves without a word of warning.

Now, for their fifth album – the punchy and punishing, yet equally buoyant Alien – Northlane have peered inwards, reinventing their core sound with a soul-tickling blend of ferocious, gnashing guitars and crisp, kaleidoscopic synths.

“It was quite natural to squeeze that stuff in, as long as the song was still heavy and impactful,” lead guitarist Jon Deiley