LANDMVRKS battle through burnout while pushing metalcore to new places on innovative fourth album, The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been.
Pressure creates diamonds, as the saying goes, but what if the pressure’s too much? After 2021’s third album Lost In The Waves brought LANDMVRKS a rapid influx of new fans and increased attention, they aspired to outdo themselves on the follow-up but found themselves daunted by the weight of the challenge. Then they found a silver lining – though burnt out and uninspired, they had an overflowing well of emotion to draw from.
They make no attempt to blunt their struggles with a thick wall of overly glossy production – the emotion that spills out as they diarise their pain is potent and acute. As frontman Flo Salfati’s voice wavers when he sings, ‘Of all the places that I've seen / And all the monsters in my dreams / It feels like the darkest place that I’ve ever been,’ it becomes obvious that they represent something raw and real. Then, he lets out a larynx-tearing scream, and simultaneously the record becomes not just about catharsis, but the reclamation of power.
Along with that, LANDMVRKS have a huge amount going for them. Obviously, there’s their knack for a towering chorus – see the turbulent Creature or the rippling melodies of Sulfur – but they’ve also leaned into a skill few bands have: a knowledge and aptitude for French hip-hop. There’s no aping the neanderthal aggression of textbook nu metal (though The Great Unknown does heavily imply they had Linkin Park posters on their walls growing up, but not to their detriment) – Flo’s slick, agile Francophone verses are unbelievably satisfying whether you understand a word he’s saying or not. Sombre 16 valiantly embraces hip-hop and pulls it off effortlessly, while La Valse Du Temps dovetails into a mournful, piano-led take on the genre and Blood Red beautifully synthesises the opposite poles of their sound.
LANDMVRKS were bruised for a while, but never broken. They created that diamond from the pressure after all, while offering a genuinely refreshing, innovative take on a saturated sound. Lost faith in metalcore? This lot might just make you believe in it again.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: Polaris, While She Sleeps, Linkin Park
The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been is out now via Arising Empire
