Sean McLennan

Alaska-born, Texas-based heavy metal giants Turbid North comes from a unique set of circumstances now cemented as part of the history surrounding their name. Having come such a long way since forming in Alaska in the early ‘00s, Turbid North have endured major shifts such as relocating to Texas, lineup changes, self-releasing a bulk of their music, and a hiatus—things that have the proven ability to break a band.

However, Turbid North developed their reputation around two things: persistence and quality music. Today—seven years after the release of their sophomore album Eyes Alive—there’s no question that they sound heavier and more powerful than ever on their third, self-released full-length, The Decline.

Guitarist and vocalist Nick Forkel, whose title now dips into nearly every aspect of the band from working on all the visuals to songwriting and audio engineer, joined after the band had already formed. As the band’s lineup shifted around, Forkel took on lead vocals as well as playing guitar, continuing to forge a path for Turbid North alongside bassist Chris O’Toole (bass) and Jono Garrett (drums). Although not born in Alaska, Forkel spent a good portion of his younger teenage years there.

“I was born in South Dakota, but my dad was in the military, so he got stationed there (Alaska) when I was about 10. We stayed there until my dad retired, so I lived up there until I was 21,” Forkel recalls. “It’s super isolated, and growing up there, you were indoors so much, so for me, finding guitar and playing music, that was the perfect place to do it.”

He continues, “It was hard to find musicians who were into the same kind of music… I just got lucky finding those guys. Bands would come through there occasionally, and we’d get a chance to open for them, building our name up as the metal band of where we lived. It was just fun to have that support.”

For Turbid North, relocating from Alaska to a more centralized, populated area of the states was something that the band began to understand was necessary for their growth. Although they were initially thinking West Coast/PNW, Forkel mentions, “We got in this situation where we opened for a band from Texas, Drowning Pool,” who mentioned that Texas, specifically Dallas, would be a great spot to relocate. The band did their research and ended up winging it and heading out to Fort Worth, Texas.

Turbid North’s 2010 debut, Orogeny, which introduced the band’s prog-tinged, sludge-infused death metal style, was an ambitious release that really caught the attention of the metal underground. “That was just an awesome and exciting time… just young and super excited to have an album out,” says Forkel. “It was our first time touring and getting a van, just good memories, man. Also, too, trying to formulate our sound… still getting that refined, laying down the steps.”

Although the band have had experiences working with labels in the past, Forkel describes the band’s work ethic as real DIY. Through that mindset, he’s worked on expanding his set of skills over the years to allow the band to keep releasing material while not breaking the bank.

“(We) just invested money in (the band), got PR, pressed our own stuff, and did everything. That feels like the best way for us to do it, is just self release. I’m not against labels or anything like that; it just depends on your situation really.”

Forkel explains, “It definitely started with recording; that was just something I was into doing. We had experiences in a studio, paying a lot of money and not being happy. That rolled over to spending a lot of money on a video and being like, ‘I could probably do this just the same.’ Fortunately, with all that, I got some experience with video editing; it wasn’t just me thinking I could try it out. It was just out of necessity. I’m just interested in keeping things going and keeping it relevant and making sure the quality is there.”

As for The Decline, Turbid North come across as hostile, yet their music sounds more refined than ever, bolstered by a robust production that enhances every instrumental detail. As grinding blasts merge with psychoactive segments of clean string work and doomy overtones, the band continue their tradition of writing songs that wind through peaks and valleys. Forkel achieves a hefty guitar tone that reinforces his utterly heavy riffs that shine throughout the album. When thrown in the pot and combined with the colossal drums and thick, fuzzy bass, it sounds like an atomic bomb went off.

The depressing, epic opening of “Eternal Dying” leads into the devastating heaviness of “The Oppressor.” Songs like “Life Over Death” and “The Road” come loaded with riffs, showcasing the band’s top-notch jamming power. For me, though, it’s death metal offerings such as “Slaves,” “Patients,” and “The Old Ones,” that make the biggest impact.

“It definitely expands on the aggressive side of this band… It’s just what we were feeling at the time. I’d gone through some personal stuff, and Jono, our drummer, was like, ‘Dude, this is perfect writing materia—Write about it’,” Forkel reveals. “That was when we just started writing, and I didn’t know where we were gonna go, and he was right. Just reached to the darkest spots of the mind at the time, and that’s what came out. It was almost therapeutic. It’s cliche-sounding, but when you write about something real, it feels good.”

With all of the new material being written before 2020, the band found themselves sitting on it. Turbid North reached a point where they weren’t doing anything, communication was kind of low, and they decided to go on hiatus mode for a while, even with 90% of the new record completed.

“Basically, the other two guys were super busy with touring schedules, and their other bands were releasing albums,” explains Forkel. “But when the pandemic hit and everybody wasn’t doing anything, it kind of opened the door again for Turbid North stuff. That kind of helped things start to move along again because it was dead in the water for a little while. That allowed us to start working up ideas for this album to have a proper release… super happy with how it turned out.”