LANDMVRKS – ‘Fantasy’ Review

A solid offering for that difficult second album from a band who could be massive 7/10

French metalcore/hardcore band LANDMVRKS deserve a lot of credit, they spent two years perfecting their craft before self producing and self releasing their first album Hollow in 2016. They managed to get themselves on the bill for Hellfest 2016 , spent another two years growing their following and this year got themselves a deal with Arising Empire Records. That’s pretty damn impressive. Now they face the tricky second album.

Fantasy is a decent album, there’s been a slight tweak in the band’s sound which is an improvement, it’s hard to put a finger on but it’s just a bit more of an adult sound. There are some massive riffs in this album and it’s very very solid.

The first single, Fantasy was released on September 30th 2017 then the next single, Blistering, wasn’t released until two months ago. That was quickly followed up with Reckoning and The Worst Of You And Me.

After a year long gap, Blistering features Aaron Matts of Betraying The Martyrs and he really doesn’t fit into LANDMVRK’s style too well in my opinion as he makes the track unnecessarily heavy. This creates quite a contrast with their other songs and makes it an odd choice as a single. Between the last two singles the band has either had a drastic makeover or was trying to tell a story with the video for The Worst Of You And Me.

I mention all of this because it seems like LANDMVRKS are having an identity crisis. The Worst Of You And Me starts with rapping, launches into massive riffs, we get screaming then it goes into a slower emotional part then comes back with a huge wave of sound which is amazing. Dead Inside sounds almost like a different band with its melodies and great chorus which is really the standout on the album, but why hasn’t it been a single as it’s easily the best song? Likewise, Alive, could be someone else again. Disdain is another song which is money before it veers off in a weird direction to close the album out.

It sounds like I’m running this down but to me LANDMARKS could be huge, they just haven’t quite found themselves yet. They need to get into a studio with a top notch producer who can help them with their craft or get someone to mentor them a little to turn this band into the diamond they could be. Not only would that help with songwriting but it would make a huge difference to the band’s sounds as the production here isn’t what it should be. And lads, if you’re reading this by any chance, then make sure you get a producer who knows why this is bad:

Fantasy is a good album that with a bit of tweaking could be great and with the right help their next album is going to be the one that makes them mega stars. 7/10  Click here to buy from Amazon UK.