ALBUM REVIEW: Lost In The Waves – LANDMVRKS

As the tectonic plates of modern metalcore continue to shift – you wonder where LANDMVRKS fit in this new world. Though released in 2018 – the bands previous record Fantasy still managed to feel like a throwback. An album that would have fit more comfortably in the early 2010’s commercial outburst of MEMPHIS MAY FIRE, OF MICE & MEN, and SLEEPING WITH SIRENS than it did arriving at the back end of the decade.

That wasn’t necessarily the French men’s fault. Bands like CODE ORANGE, SANCTION, and VEIN swiftly arrived to steer metal and its sub genre’s towards new waters: LANDMVRKS‘ tried and tested metalcore formula suddenly sounded obsolete. That puts the Marseille crew in a difficult position on third record Lost In The Waves. Only seven years into their career – it’s already starting to look like their game changing album needs to arrive soon, or have its access point cut off.

Lost In The Waves isn’t going to be the LP that transforms the band’s profile – but it should give them more time to write the album that could. At its best: it parades LANDMVRKS nailing the best version of their stylings yet. At its worst: the record displays the bands worrying habit of repeating old mistakes.

Peaking with the opening duo of Lost In A Wave and Rainfall: you can see flickers of the bands promise. A beatdown riff to kick-off a record will never go a miss, and though the lead up is predictable – the opening track’s breakdown is adrenaline junkie fuel. The latter is where things get interesting though. Its two-step rhythmic bounce is counter balanced against Kevin D’Agostino‘s nu metal snare reverberation, it’s arguably the first time LANDMVRKS have ever sounded truly unique. Once you catch onto the production echoes around D’Agostino‘s savage slams – you can’t help but picture Clown standing over a barrel with a baseball bat.

The record’s true attraction ends there though. What follows ranges from by the books metalcore numbers, to the frankly quite bizarre. Leaning much closer toward the peculiar end of the scale is Visage. Vocalist Florent Salfati‘s use of lyrics in the bands native tongue sounds endearing enough at face value, but in practice it falls flat on its face. As does the obligatory slow, morose album closer Paralyzed – which is painfully bland in its pursuit of genre tropes.

Offering some brief personality – Always‘ TINY MOVING PARTS-esque guitar flow is encouraging, but Salfati‘s vocal presence never cements itself – a recurring theme throughout LANDMVRKS‘ career. Say No Word is Lost In The Waves‘ most frustrating moment though. The tempo manipulation and cutting guitar lines in the track’s final third would make it an album highlight, had it not been for the odd, and unwarranted hyper-rap style vocals that precede them. It highlights the quintet’s largest issue: too often you have to spend time digging through rubble to find a scratching of gold.

Though time does seem to be running out if LANDMVRKS want to rise to prominence – the clocks haven’t stopped yet. There’s still enough promise here to suggest that, though unlikely, the bands milestone achievement may still be waiting in the wings. And Lost In The Waves gives no reason for pre existing fans to run for the hills, but if the French men want to reach the next rung of the ladder – this version of them doesn’t have the legs in it.

Rating: 6/10

Lost in the Waves is set for release March 19th via Arising Empire. 

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