Limbes strips bare.
After several years under the name Blurr Thrower, French multi-instrumentalist Guillaume Galaup (Rance) changes his approach and renames his project. In 2024, he signed to Frozen Records and unveiled Liernes, his new album.
Lyrics are written by him and Marie “Ciguë” Husson.
Being used to Limbes’ universe, I wasn’t surprised to discover a very progressive approach on Pied de Pilori, the first track, which slowly captures us in its haunting atmosphere, but I was intrigued by the airy break, then totally stunned by the visceral eruption’s power accompanied by chaotic screams. Saturation nails us to the floor, vocal parts terrify us, and we find ourselves as during a sleep paralysis moment, savoring the keyboards and falling prey to the repeated lacerations of the rhythmics, which only stop to give way to Les Côtes à l’Unisson, where the dissonance returns more calmly and envelops us in a very natural and almost imperceptible way when the misty screams return. The mix thickens with each passing second, taking us to Buffet Frigide where a heady approach awaits us before welcoming Russian artist Kariti, whose words resonate differently before the conflagration, where Guillaume‘s words magically reappear. The duo offer us an almost unreal experience here, fusing two rather complementary worlds in waves of intensity before adopting other influences on the final, then it’s alone that the musician continues with Aulnes & Poussières, breaking his dynamic one last time to shape it even more gloomily afterwards, invoking leads and other piercing harmonics to let us imagine emerging from this dungeon of darkness where we have to face his madness before letting ourselves be won over by the melancholy of silence.
Limbes is a unique project, with a rather personal approach to Black Metal. There’s no in-between, you’ll either love Liernes or hate it, and for the same reasons: its viscerality and its ethereal, hazy, almost unreal aspect.
95/100