“The song hits with massive force, with the kind of pulverizing riffs and merciless rhythm section that bring to mind some kind of enormous concrete-grinding demolition machine with a howling madman at the controls. The dismal little melody that surfaces in the midst of this catastrophe is icing on a very black and poisonous cake. Yes, I mixed my metaphors. Tough shit.
”
No Clean Singing
“Nothing new, just the usual punishing 10-ton in-your-face hammer. Great!
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Sven, MORBUS BLAST BEATS
“I’m fucking beyond impressed the new NORTHLESS record! Cold Migration is heavy as fuck and full of monolithic soul.
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Sean, CVLTnation.com
“So, while I savagely attacked the toilet to the opening howls of ‘The Curse Of Being’, I was curled on the couch whimpering by the time the last echoes of ‘Conduit’ faded away. RIYL being crushed by a filthy brick.
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Russell Hall, Echoes And Dust
“The band’s first solo release since 2013’s mammoth World Keeps Sinking, Cold Migration is yet another highlight in Northless’s discography, reveling in both extreme heaviness and intricate musicianship. I had mentioned seminal post-hardcore and experimental punk label Touch & Go when referencing their emphasis on technicality in conjunction with hardcore intensity, which is definitely echoed here (especially in Jerry Hauppa’s incredible bass work – you can tell he’s a guitarist by trade), but Northless definitely ups the ante with the 11-minute closer “Conduit.” A mammoth, heartfelt “post-metal” ballad, I was mildly surprised to find frontman Erik Stenglein abandon his trademark sasquatch yell for a (unfortunately dialed back) clean voice. It’s these moments which can either redefine or completely destroy a band, and this was one of those magnificent moments in evolution which bolsters Northless’s status as a mainstay.
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Jon Rosenthal, Invisible Oranges
“Northless has been pumping out releases for a few years. They began in 2008. Since then, they have released three albums – including the amazing, World Keeps Sinking, three EPs, and three splits. A fourth split with Denver’s Primitive Man is impending as well. While on that split, they get aggressive and spastic for a few, here is a calmer, colder batch of songs.
The title track, “Cold Migration”, plods along with a callous feeling, distant and damning. The tune ebbs and flows between a dissonant, clanging part and a coarse, thick distorted part. For eight minutes, the vocals are haunting, looming above the track, speaking with an omniscient sense. Lines build tension.
“Conduit” meanders for twelve minutes. Again, Northless go for the epic, sweeping feel, trekking through waves of sonic desolation. Slowly creeping, the song lingers. Northless rock through sludgy doom that surprises us with elusive moments of light. Those searing respites feel like false hopes, breaths of air before you fall below the surface of the cold ocean again. Even as a big doom fan, I could trim this down by a few minutes. But that really is the one mark on this EP. And in the end, a matter of opinion.
“The Curse of Being” tunes down and punishes speakers, chaotic and tumultuous. The drums slam harder and the riffs are uglier. The vocals seer, as guitar. This song feels relatively quick at under four minutes. But this sacrifices nothing. It is a bruiser, hellish and frightening. The mid-paced romp illustrates a world crumbling around someone.
Northless again deliver fierce, intense music. The three tracks here are confrontational and reflective. Diseased thoughts pervade as ugly , thick riffs distort and bandy bent notes. Between this and the Primitive Man split, Northless are having a hell of a year.
3/5
”
Hutch, New Noise Magazine
“What better album to crank up and get lost in on a cold, snowy day than the new three-song EP, Cold Migration, from the Milwaukee, Wisconsin band, Northless? It clocks in at less than 25 minutes, but feels as meaty, strong, and satisfying as a full-length LP. Northless evokes the desolation and loneliness of an endless winter’s journey.
The album kicks off with “The Curse of Being,” the fastest track on the album. It sounds like a brutal street fight on a winter night. The other two tracks, “Cold Migration” and “Conduit,” are downright dignified in comparison. Northless slows things down and stretches out these compositions to nearly eight minutes and eleven and a half minutes, respectively. Northless fully embrace their sludge roots and make the songs almost symphonic in their shifting tempos and loud/quiet moments. An added nice touch is the way they employ gang vocals that are buried beneath the wash of distortion.
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Tim Murr, PopShifter.com
“Northless has used this EP as a means to explore the softer elements showcased on previous records a bit more, and the results are absolutely stunning. With sweeping instrumentation that has a bit of a post rock influence, the material regularly switches up between calmer sections and outright destruction in a way that proves to be incredibly engaging. Northless has hinted at some of these elements on ‘World Keeps Sinking’, but they’ve really pushed themselves to new heights and showcased they can be just as good at the softer, introspective side of sludge.
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Chris Dahlberg, Tometal.com
“ This EP is about as efficient a metal release as you’ll hear this year. The band syncs nicely and put together three solid tracks that should please most doom and sludge fans and John Gleisner’s versatility behind the drum kit really sets this EP apart in Northless’ discography.
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TJ Kliebhan, thesludgelord.blogspot.co.uk
“Translation: "...In the newsletter there is a very interesting phrase, saying that "aggressive music can sometimes lose their focus." is Northless not the case at all. These guys are very well focused, and if there is one aspect that never loses its way in the music of the band, that aspect is called Aggressiveness. Just check and enjoy as they do, these guys are good at what they do. "
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Martes, puroruido.blogspot.com.ar
“The local sludge titans once again create a sound that sticks to your ears like tar. The dragged-out guitar reverb at the start of the title track acts like a chain slowly reeling you into a swamp. And "Conduit" is grandiose from the first strikes of thundering guitar all the way to the climactic swarm of noise and haunting lingering fade that comes more than 11 minutes later.
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Piet Levy, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“They show off genuine depth and variety, without committing the cardinal error of novel, over-variation in most current music. In an era of over-thought concepts and over-produced records, Northless packs almost no pretense while traversing multiple sub-genres.
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S. Anderson, Just the Tip
“If you’re looking for dank and claustrophobic atmosphere fraught with crushing low-end, then you’re in the right place here... The music that Northless creates here takes many different forms but it’s layers come together to make something both thoughtful and memorable. It’s not often you can say that about a record with an eleven-minute plus song!
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James Williams, This Noise is Ours
“It took eight years for the echo of the name of Northless resonates in these pages. Three albums, two split albums, short formats, this group of Milwaukee has nevertheless worked hard. In addition, a group that uses the pignant Elegy of Jesus Lizard should be of interest not? It is thanks to Cold Migration , a new EP three titles on Triple Eye Industries that just provide a brilliant split between Buildings and Volunteer, Northless that rears its snout. And it's huge. And dirty. Northless is the heavy category, very heavy-rock, the kind crushing heaviness Neurosis, trample Sumac, saloper work Kowloon Walled City, outbid the incredible density of riffs in the impenetrable thickness, making flees beasts of the forest when the huge voice gets under way, to fart dykes one low blow. Impressive. By cons, what is less clear is when singing a melodic claims that the heaviness decides to become air, as post-rock elements come clutter the mass slaughter. Northless can therefore spend three minutes The Curse Of Being in blitzkrieg fashion to eleven minutes of high contrast Conduit combining the best and much less better. Not to mention the seven minutes as Cold Migration too light to chant to be honest. Northless is therefore good representative of all current trends that last for a while the heavy-rock / metal / sludge anything you want with these free attacks divinely put lower than dirt but all these tics fashionable, these illuminations who want to make a presentable kind that do yet flourishes in violence, the dark ugliness and unsustainable conquering spirit of Huns rolling down the steppe. Northless does not lose the north but distributes beautiful blowers which vibrates the rind. It is always better than nothing.
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SKX, Perte & Fracas
