By Jase Walker
I have a relatively short list of bands I’m willing to burn a day off work for, especially one that needs travel to a weirdly awkward place to get to, which in this case is Tilburg. But somewhere in the top five of such bands, Northlane is in there and I wasn’t going to pass up on a rare chance to see these because they don’t often make it to Europe from Australia. This is a headline set as well and my previous time seeing them with Sleep Token in Manchester left me with a real hunger for a massive slice of more Northlane.
Not only this but the strength of their supports on this jaunt around Europe is staggering. Novelists and ten56, two of France’s strongest metalcore offerings right now, my cup doth runneth over. And in addition to this, I’m absolutely awestruck about how massive the main hall is in 013, for once the Netherlands isn’t the one with the more intimate venue on this tour, boasting a capacity about twice the size of most of their ÜK shows.
The room is beginning to fill up nicely in time for ten56 to rock up and go straight for the jugular and I’m eagerly awaiting the crowd trying to annihilate each other from the start. The sound in this venue is outrageous, I’ve not felt my arse shake from the bass at a show for a real long time, my legs and chest yeah, but my glutes are rocking out whether i like it or not.
Ten56 sound absolutely devastating, we’ve also got a guest spot for the previous singer of Novelists as well! Ten56 aren’t fucking about tonight, they know they’ve got to bring the big stuff on a tour like this and make the most of 013’s massive stage: make hay while the sun shines lads. Wall of death time and it’s time to demand popping off time, then following it up immediately with a ladies only mosh pit, the French still have some (brutal) class. Ten56 have done anything but waste the 30 minutes allotted to them for this show, colossally heavy and devastatingly brutal, this is how you get an opener slot done.
After chatting to the old Novelists singer for maybe a bit too long and reminiscing over the shows I saw in the past a bit too long, I’ve gotten back in just after Novelists start, whoops. Seeing them on a huge stage like this is fantastic, I loved the show at Arnhem Willemeen but this is quite a different beast entirely. Their busy, poppy, intensely melodic style rings true here, they may be a far cry from their old days but Novelists have developed into an act that has a distinct maturity to their sound. Infectious hooks, meaty riffs, layers and layers of noise, Novelists are truly on the top of their game right now and deserving of a stage the size of 013.
It’s pretty obvious that they’re past their difficult stages that plagued them over the past couple of years or so and have nothing else in mind than giving everything they have to their music. One thing that does always strike me about Novelists as well is how often they have a proper classic rock style guitar solo in their songs, they’re about as modern metalcore as you can get but they’re not afraid of whacking a solo in there that even Slash would be proud of. Novelists have never disappointed on a live show, always upping their game every time.
And finally, Northlane. Australia’s synthy metalcore outfit and one of the most unique bands on the circuit. Opening with a massive banger like ‘Carbonized’ is getting this show off to the right start, time to lose my voice I guess eh? Oh no it’s absolutely definite with a follow up like ‘Intuition’. I’ve been looking forward to the new EP songs like ‘Miasma’ too and holy hell do they go hard, they’ve taken the sound that developed during Alien and fully ran with it. Not only that but a double whammy of my favourites from Alien, ‘4D’ and ‘Talking Heads’, I am eating the good shit tonight. The breakdown in ‘Talking Heads’ elicits a gigantic pit in the middle of the crowd as people spill over the barriers after being carried around by the brave bunch at the front. By the time ‘Bloodlines’ finishes I think I’ve already shot my voice, whoops.
I’ve spotted one brave soul who decided to grab a selfie video as he came surfing over the top of the crowd, I’ve done it before and that is risky. No wait, ‘Echo Chamber’ is going to finish me off I think! That high vocal stretch is quite something to match. During ‘Clarity’, Marcus manages to get a massive wall of death going and I can see hundreds from the sideline all going mad at each other! ‘Solar’ gets a bit of a different twist as they’ve opted for a more drum and bass styled version to mix things up a bit, admittedly I’m not super keen on remixes myself.
Anyway it’s time for the home stretch and not missing their title track of the new EP and literal name of the tour, ‘Mirror’s Edge’ leading into ‘Afterimage’, which feels ‘home’ for Northlane to me, a big spacey chorus is exactly what I love. ‘Nova’ is an interesting one to finish off the main set with admittedly as it’s such a chill song in comparison with the high energy of the rest of the show. It’s obvious they’ve got a big one in store to finish things off with though, no chance they’d miss that. Of course it’s ‘Citizen’, the song that got me into them in the first place!
Absolutely bloody superb show and I can’t fault any band in any way. This was absolutely worth the trip and subsequent awful train ride home. Hopefully it won’t be long before Northlane returns.
- All content © Über Rock. Not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of Über Rock.