Landmvrks is at the top of its game.
Since their debut in 2014 in Marseille, the band has gone from strength to strength, creating track after track, playing gig after gig, but their journey is becoming increasingly followed around the world. In 2025, Florent Salfati (vocals), Rudy Purkart (bass), Nicolas Exposito (guitar), Paul C. Wilson (guitar) and Kévin D’Agostino (drums) unveiled their fourth album, The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been, via Arising Empire.
The eponymous track The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been is the first to strike, initially with its calm, melancholy approach, but Florent quickly adds his intense vocal parts before an unexpected but striking explosion that reaffirms that devastating contrast the band wields to perfection. The jolting rhythm will no doubt be even more effective live, but the surge subsides to make way for Creature, another familiar hurricane that blends fast phrasing and vindictive hardcore influences that subside to make way for a soaring sound on the choruses before welcoming Mat Welsh (While She Sleeps) on A Line In The Dust. If the composition was already quite ferocious, the guest gives it a real second wind with vocal parts and raw melodies that fit the band perfectly, but Blood Red soothes the atmosphere with an intro that starts out steamy and is then tinged with Rap influences that spill over into the whole track. The vocalist’s delivery is as impressive as ever, while it’s his more aggressive side, sometimes accompanied by backing vocals, that comes to the fore on Sulfur, which is of course totally different from the quietude of the choruses. Sombre 16 allows us a well-deserved break with a Nu Metal-influenced interlude where rap phrasing and scratching mingle, before moving on to The Great Unknown, which keeps the 25 years old atmosphere, brought up to date with the band’s signature sound, including this unexpectedly explosive finale. French language returns for La Valse du Temps and its calm but heady introduction, which naturally catches fire and allows the band to go wild with its catchy groove and its deliberately more majestic break, which sets the tone for the end of the track. Rage is also back with the energetic Deep Inferno, which benefits not only from the full power of the musicians, but also from a few samples that make it imposing and fit in perfectly with the aggressiveness of the composition, unlike the opening moments of Requiem, which allow us to catch our breath. The rest of the track is obviously dedicated to the band’s furious roots, with overpowering passages where the vocals mingle, then the final lets us breathe one last time before we face the moving, minimalist Funeral where Florent closes the album alone with a melancholic piano.
From the outset, Landmvrks have always shown their originality by combining their roots, however diverse they may be, with a rage to conquer, and this is what has enabled them to give such consistency and depth to their music. The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been is as much an introspective album as a major piece in their discography, which can only contribute to their ascent.
95/100