Sydney metalcore/progressive metal outfit Northlane nonetheless thumbed their collective noses at industry convention via new album Mesmer. 

The whole album was released in physical and digital formats the same day it was announced earlier this year.

Although not the first act to take this approach, it was still a gamble.

It paid chart-topping dividends, though. 

Mesmer (named after Franz Mesmer, who devised the theory of animal magnetism) scored them a top three debut in Australia, landing behind Ed Sheeran and Lee Kernaghan.

“I think we wanted to do something a bit special for the fans, and give them a gift for all the ups and downs they’ve kinda been through, sitting with us for the past few years,” vocalist Marcus Bridge said.

“It’s been quite a rollercoaster ride, so we wanted to do something and release it all at once.”

This success followed the band claiming the No.1 ARIA Charts spot in 2015 with Node (Bridge’s first album with the band). 

The singer said among the upsides of Mesmer’s release method was it afforded instant feedback from listeners who could absorb the material as a cohesive whole. 

“You kinda just get the immediate vibe from the album from people, as opposed to them picking apart one song,” the vocalist said.

“(Instead of) them being like, ‘oh, this is alright, but maybe the rest of the album won’t be like this’, or ‘I don’t like this, so the album must be crap’.”

Among the new tracks is Fade, which explores the death of Bridge’s father, lost to an overdose five years ago.

Elsewhere, Mesmer’s wide-reaching themes span from Edward Snowden to depression and anxiety.

“I’m more comfortable in writing about some more personal stuff,” Bridge said.

“Josh (Smith, guitars) is somewhat opinionated in his views on more worldly stuff, but we all share very similar views... I’m more inclined to bare my soul I guess, and get more of a personal view on things.

“There’s definitely a few songs that were (about) going through harder times, stuff that people can all relate to and have all been through. I guess that’s something that’s very important for me to bring into this album.”

Having clocked up countless road kilometres both here and abroad, Northlane now represents Bridge’s main source of income. 

“From time to time I’ll record a local band or something, but I haven’t done that in a little while, I’ve just been catching my breath,” the front-man laughed. 

“Everyone has a few little things they do on the side, but this is our job I guess.

“When we have that time off we need it to recuperate and get our heads back before we head away again.” 

Northlane play at the Wollongong UniBar on Friday, May 19.