Northern Blues

Nowhere EP

Written by: MBC on 31/03/2015 23:00:44

Northern Blues is a Copenhagen-based band with less than two years in existence. Earlier this month they released an EP entitled “Nowhere” which is an impressive debut from the young band. The EP offers five tracks, including one instrumental, that fall in the same category with the likes of Heart In Hand, Counterparts, Defeater etc. Northern Blues know their melodic hardcore/post-hardcore and this EP shows great promise for a future full length from the band.

Produced by Chris Kreutzfeldt of Scarred By Beauty fame, the EP has a clear, yet raw sound that compliments the band’s style perfectly, as they balance aggressiveness with sorrowful emotion. The band has a great understanding of writing songs that are both dark and dynamic, and these five songs feel very satisfactory as material for a debut EP. The only thing that feels slightly out of place is the instrumental title track that is about a minute long. It is a quite soothing guitar melody, but it could have been left out or maybe used within one of the other songs. As a standalone track it does not quite hold up, but this really is a minor detail. The remaining four songs are all very well-written and give a perfect impression of what kind of band Northern Blues is.

The vocalist gives a powerful performance with heartfelt and tortured screams in a mid-to-high pitch that is shrill, without being annoying. He is backed by equally impressive musicians that play fast paced riffs, heavy breaks and guitar harmonies that balance beautifully between melodic and noisy. For me, the opening track “Two Years” stands out as the highlight of the EP featuring haunting, melodic guitars parts accompanied by heavy drums, noisy guitar harmonies and the vocalist’s raw screaming of lyrics dealing with estrangement which seem to be of a very personal nature. But these songs fit so well together that the EP really should be listened to in its entirety. “Nowhere” is a great first effort from this young band whose musical progress will be very interesting to follow in the near future.

Download: Two Years, 07.04.13, Silence
For the fans of: Heart In Hand, Counterparts, Touché Amoré, Hundredth, Defeater
Listen: Facebook

Release date 01.03.2015
Self-released

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