“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
