Turbid North Released New Album “The Decline”

Turbid North announces the January 20th release of its third album, The Decline.

On The Decline, layers of radiant space-rock, suffocating doom, and full-blast death-grind combine into a stunner of a comeback from this Alaska-born, Texas-based band. Owning the territory between Black Sabbath and Napalm Death, The Decline is one of the first crucial metal albums of 2023 and a must for music fans of all stripes.

Turbid North’s first new release in seven years, The Decline unites extremes of metal and rock in glorious ways. First single “The Old Ones” melds mournful guitar flourishes into its metallic assault, resulting in a track as lustrous and ominous as it is brutal. As the song charges forward, guitarist/vocalist Nick Forkel’s deeply soulful playing bears equally the melodicism and weight of his three earliest guitar heroes: David Gilmour, Tony Iommi, and James Hetfield. Monster bassist Chris O’Toole, a member of Unearth, locks into machine-like harmony with drummer Jono Garrett who flows with power and grace at all tempos. 

Recorded, mixed, and mastered entirely by Forkel, The Decline is a transcendent experience – its unique combination of aggressive and atmospheric elements strikes a balance of sheer speed, earthquaking intensity, and rapturous beauty.

Set within a sci-fi world, The Decline is nonetheless rooted in real life struggles. Forkel describes the concept: “It’s all part of one story. It’s a collection of songs that delves into the downfall and self-destruction of a person. I went through some personal things that spawned this idea. Real experiences influenced these songs, lyrically and musically. It’s darker and more personal for me than any other Turbid North record.”

Founded in Alaska in the early ’00s, Turbid North relocated to Fort Worth, Texas in 2007 and finally delivered its debut album, Orogeny, in 2011 via Unearth frontman Trevor Phipps’ Ironclad Recordings. The current lineup of Nick Forkel, Chris O’Toole, and Jono Garrett was solidified in 2012. Sophomore album Eyes Alive was released in 2015, receiving these words from Metal Hammer: “A devastating piece of work; from moments of full-throttle, sludgy thrash to lolloping, red-eyed stoner riffs… Turbid North swoop and attack like some monstrous, three-headed bird of prey.” The trio toured with Entombed A.D. and Full of Hell in support of the album.