Northlane are the biggest, hardest Australian rock band you never heard of. And now they are No. 1

HARDCORE band Northlane have proven Australian rock is far from dead, smashing into the top of the ARIA charts with their new album.

Northlane

LOCAL hardcore band Northlane have proven Australian rock is far from dead, smashing into the top of the ARIA charts with their new album Node.

The surprise No. 1 debut from the five-piece band based in Sydney’s western suburbs who formed six years ago was achieved with no commercial radio airplay or other mainstream exposure and due mostly to their devoted fanbase.

The metalcore band are just the latest of a raft of Australian hard rock acts who are ruling the ARIA charts or selling out tours throughout Europe and America including Parkway Drive, In Hearts Wake, Hellions and Thy Art Is Murder.

Northlane’s alternative rock stablemates Dead Letter Circus are expected to debut in the top 5 with their third album Aesthesis when it drops on August 14.

Northlane’s success comes after they decided to follow AC/DC’s lead and find a new lead singer to record their third album after original frontman Adrian Fitipaldes quit the band for health reasons.

Founding member Josh Smith said they involved the fans in helping to decide who would be their new singer from more than 2000 audition tapes in late 2014.

“That was quite overwhelming; there was no way we were expecting that many auditions and it was such a broad scope of people to choose from,” he said.

“It made the process longer and a lot harder for us but I think the fact we did it so publicly and were honest with our fans about what we were doing did not go unappreciated.”

Frontman Marcus Bridge, a 22-year-old rock journeyman from Sydney’s northern suburbs was selected in October, filmed the video for their single Rot two days later and made his debut in front of 2500 rabid Parkway Drive fans in Stockholm three weeks after that.

Bridges said he was a fan of the band for a few years before deciding to throw his hat into the ring.

“It is so insane and amazing the gigs and other stuff we get to do and I never really thought I would get to be a part of it,” he said.

“Everything we have done is another step to getting bigger and bigger; we’ve just played at some Europeans festivals that I dreamt of playing for most of my life.”

Smith, who studied marketing before devoting all his energies to the band has furthered their popularity online with clever guerilla promotional campaigns.

“You should always involve your fanbase as much as you possibly can when it comes to promoting records,” Smith said.

“With one of the songs leech, we scattered it around the internet in parts with a hashtag with fans having to piece it together. Things like that keep people interested as much as the singer search did.”

Node has received critical acclaim throughout the UK, Germany, America and Canada, with local hardcore critics celebrating its ambition and heavy precision.

Smith, Bridge and their bandmates Jon Deiley, Alex Milovic and Nic Pettersen tour North America throughout August and Europe in October before returning home for a headlining run of concerts in November.

“The chart is cool recognition of where we stand in the industry but I don’t think it’s the best indication of success. Gigs are where bands make their bread and butter with the way records sell these days,” Smith said.

The band kick off their Node tour in Fremantle on November 4.

Originally published as Northlane are the biggest, hardest Australian rock band you never heard of. And now they are No. 1