The wait is finally over - Aussie metalcore heroes Northlane have announced their fifth studio album Alien will be upon us on August 2, and they've given us a little preview of what's to come with a new single titled 'Bloodline'.
The atmospheric tune has a dark tone to it, and is based around vocalist Marcus Bridge's violent upbringing. Check it out below, then scroll on to read a bit of backstory from Marcus about the song's theme:
"I was raised in hell but I made it out. Raised in a place I shouldn't have been, and no child should have been. But I've been able to break free."
"'Bloodline' was one of the first songs that came about in the writing process for the album. When we were trying to decide what we wanted to write about, we decided early on that we wanted to keep the album pretty personal. I wanted to tell the stories of my upbringing and the ups and downs that come along with that."
"It talks about that idea of growing up in a broken home despite all odds and what might be expected of someone who grows up like that. You are able to be what people think of you and break out of that spiral, that terrible world. For me, that's a mix of telling the story simple, but then it also tells some parts of my story in really fine detail. For example, the second verse goes into a lot of moments that I actually remember growing up and these landmarks — all these things I remember seeing. This song is a perfect way to sum up the album and also be the first toe in the water to be able to tell this story."
"We've grown as a band together with Jason. He understands the stories we’re trying to tell through our videos. When it came down to the more personal subject, I don't think it would have been possible to do it with someone we hadn't worked with before because I don't know if I would have felt comfortable having someone that we hadn't worked with before telling this story and someone that doesn't really know me and know how I want to tell this story. Jason delivered again, and this video is one of my favorite videos that I have ever done. It goes into some fine detail once again about that environment of growing up around parents who use drugs, violent parents and all that stuff that a lot of people do deal with that maybe don't feel comfortable talking about. This video is going to make you feel pretty uncomfortable, but I think it's a story that isn't really told often enough."
This will mark the first album with new bassist Brendon Padjasek (ex-Structures), following the departure of longtime bass player Alex Milovic in September.
Northlane have also announced their Australian Alien tour, which will see the guys headline over Counterparts, Void Of Vision and Silent Planet:
Listen to Northlane now.
