Review: Rise of the Northstar – Welcame

Rise of the Northstar - Welcame[avatar user=”Mosh” size=”50″ align=”left” /]Back in September we published the news that Rise of the Northstar had been signed by Nuclear Blast and that their debut album would be released through the label on November 24th… that’s this coming Monday.

Rise of the Northstar are a wonderfully heavy act, with just a touch of silliness. Their lyrics are tinged with Manga reference and stylings, and there’s the odd touch of Nintendo/Sega electronica in an intro/outro here and there, bit on the whole they’re a damn fine, crunching metal act.

A definite hardcore tone to the vocals – and indeed the rhythm – of a lot of the tracks is mixed in with a fast, frenetic style more reminiscent of classic thrash. The combination works well and tracks such as “Samurai Spirit” just conjure up a live video focussed on a circle pit. Indeed, the quality live show which they apparently put on, and which was part of the reason they were signed, comes as no surprise after giving the album a listen through.

Hell, there are even sing-a-long “Wo-ah-oh” moments in “Bosozoku” to go with the head-slamming, foot-stomping beats. Guitars wail and whine, drums thump and there is just no denying that this band can cause carnage on a massive scale.

“Dressed All In Black” is probably the closest to a traditional hardcore track on the album and very much showcases one half of the band’s sound. As such, I’d actually list it as one of my favourites on there. It’s sheer anger crammed into a sub 5-minute slam-fest.

Check out the album trailer video below and have a look on their other web pages for more samples if you’re not convinced. But this is a killer of an album, and a superb debut. They’ve worked damn hard to get where they are right now and it shows.

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April 23, 2015 10:10 AM

[…] Their debut album ‘Welcame’ (mixed and mastered by renowned producer Zeuss – Madball, Hatebreed, Emmure) was released in November last year globally via Nuclear Blast Records to widespread critical acclaim – certainly, we loved it! […]