liminalshroud-throughthefalsenarrows-reviews

Review from Ave Noctum

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 21:16:28 +0100

From: Ave Noctum

Published: February 1, 2021

The old-world charm of Victoria, British Columbia, isn’t the sort of place I’d associate with “black metal surging with atmosphere and anguish, melancholy and rage” but this is what we have.

With an eleven-minute track at each end of this 55-minute work, this plainly isn’t your old school “let’s make a statement, fill the air with evil and be gone” black metal. Epic and atmospheric is what it is. Fires burn on “A Hollow Visage”. There’s a continuous wall of sound. The vocals crackles to match the burning fire as black metal vocals should. I have visions of bleak landscapes. There is power but isolation. Liminal Shroud present a big vision, evoking natural forces and creating atmospheres not dissimilar to my blackgaze compatriots Fen. Such expanse is developed further in the gloomier “Tainted Soil”. The heaviness weighs us down. The piece flows but “pestilence, soil and disease” are reflected in the repressed darkness.

The themes of this album are “futility, passage, and individual and metaphysical transformation”. I got this when listening to “Through the False Narrows”. As a listener, it’s like being witness to a stormy, desolate world in motion. Tracks like “To Forget” evoke melancholy as the burning fires bring out pictures of regret over time: “What trodden earth has been lost in the relentlessness of time”. Amid the stormy forces, the music has a trance like quality. Both “The Grotto” and “Erupting Light” take us down the same path, and absorbing as they are, I couldn’t distinguish much between them. “Through aeons of nothingness I hear the earthen echo” sums up the bleak “Sentinel”. The atmosphere is cranked up for the final piece “Lucidity”. The energy is back and there’s an epic urgency about it. There is power in the delivery and the sentiment: “we are but whispers to the wind”. “Lucidity” ebbs and flows in intensity and mood, driving atmospheres which reflect the forces of nature, power, a sense of loss, disillusion and melancholy and doing so with epic structures.

Rather than surging as claimed, I felt that the middle section of this album became becalmed. It seemed that the band knew the atmosphere they wanted to create but the “anguish, melancholy and rage” became blurred into one mass. “Through the False Narrows” is loyal to its themes, and in particular the two big pieces on the album demonstrated how big themes deserves grand stories and epic structures. Liminal Shroud invoke and intermingle nature and human frailty. Musically they do this very well, and I’m sure they can develop in the future the intense theatricality which is here in part. “Through the False Narrows” is in any case absorbing, and at times its passages are inspiring.

Rating:7/10

Reviewed by: Andrew Doherty

Review from Metal Temple

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 23:07:56 +0100

From: Metal Temple

Published: December 5, 2020

Original Link

From their Bandcamp page, “On their debut full-length, “Through the False Narrows,” LIMINAL SHROUD takes inspiration from the surging ocean and mist-strewn coast to explore themes of futility, passage, and individual and metaphysical transformation. As the skies turn grey and dense fogs hang above the shoreline, LIMINAL SHROUD will expel a swirl of melancholia and torment over its moss-strewn forests and perilous waves.” The album contains seven tracks.

“A Hollow Visage” leads off the album. It opens with a depressing riff and some muted production, lumbering forward slowly. It picks up into a heavy rhythm, with lead guitar carrying some of the melody. The vocals are raspy screams, and there is an underlying tone of despondence present here. It takes an ambient pause towards the end, with clean guitars and more depressing tones. “Tainted Toil” begins with some guitar dissonance and what sounds like Black Metal BLACK SABBATH. The chord progressions are a bit odd here…but when they finally hit their mark, they are harrowing. The riff changes in the second half of the song to a new sound.

“To Forget…” is an eight-minute beast. It opens with some steady bass and drum work, while the guitars venture out a bit over top. Then come the raspy vocals. Again, the riff changes around the half-way mark, and seems to get lost a bit before coming back on track for the remainder of the song. The ambient ending is beautiful. “The Grotto” begins with fuzzy guitar chords and a bit more of a linear sound. It has a swinging groove to it as well. The chaos is dialed back a notch at first, but it gains steam pretty quickly. They always seem to find a secondary riff around the half-way mark, and this time it’s in the form of an extra guitar layer, doubling down on that sense of depression and utter hopelessness.

“Erupting Light” is a four-minute track, opening with clean guitars and bass notes, along with some cymbal crashes. Suddenly, it transforms with the shift of the riff, to a more monumental sound. “Sentinel” begins with the steady movement of bass and drums with some depressing riffing thrown in. Then, the riff drops back to a more traditional sound before returning to a more earnest energy. There is a plethora of riff changes here, keeping the listener on their toes. “The gateway opens before me, a path to liberation as the sun sets, I lay cold on the ground.” The lyrics aptly sum up the music here.

“Lucidity” closes the album; an eleven-minute opus. Beginning with drums, bass and more fuzzy guitars, it settles for a while with a steady sound, and angry vocals. The ending lyrics are quite poignant..”no longer to be cast aside, I wake from this deep, dark slumber. Break from old, trodden path towards the land of being. No longer will I wallow in this pit of despair. Every second, every hour I will spend in pursuit of meaning.” One doesn’t often look to the Black Metal genre for meaningful lyrics, but they are so reflective of the sound here that it’s hard not to notice.

A darkened depression along with tormenting thoughts pervades the album, but in the end, man triumphs over his issues with just one element: the will to live, and to rise above and conquer his problems by tackling them head on. LIMINAL SHROUD has taken Black Metal to new heights here, proving that it can be both intelligent and thought-provoking. It’s so well crafted, and these musicians have left no stone unturned. You aren’t often left with a sense of hope after hearing an album in this genre, but that is what they have left you with here.

Rating: 8/10

Reviewed by: Dave "That Metal Guy" Campbell

Review from Metal Wave

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 23:06:14 +0100

From: Metal Wave

Published: December 3, 2020

Original Link

Il debutto del trio canadese dei Liminal Shroud, band black metal formatasi solamente nel 2017, prende il nome di “Throungh The False Narrows”, all’interno del quale sette tracce danno vita ad un’ora scarda di ascolto riuscendo a miscelare moltissimo melodici su una base che incentra il proprio potenziale su andature moderate e mai troppo accelerate. Acerba non poco l’attitudine dello scream, gelido e malvagio il cui sapore assume sempre più i toni demoniaci sullo splendido lavoro della chitarra; il combo si cimenta quindi in scenari mai scontati o determinati ma spazia al meglio all’interno della propria creatività protesa costantemente al male. I brani ne sono un esempio, soprattutto anche per quanto attiene il senso di angoscia che trasuda nota dopo nota, lasciando un senso di malessere e di disperazione. Il sound, molto nitido, rende il tutto assai appetibile, offrendo, a cominciare da “A Hollow Visage”, forse un po’ troppo lungo per aprire un platter, un brano ricco di iniziative, in cui impervia moltissima melodia e tanto malessere; segue poi “Tainted Soil”, piuttosto lento in apertura e incentrato su una successiva e caratteristica accelerazione, tipica del black metal, senza inscenare chissà alcun particolare pergiuro. Anche “To Forget” si mantiene sulla linea compositiva del proprio predecessore offrendo un quadro ritmico ghiotto reso su un piacevole mid tempo; il seguente “The Grotto” parte con una ritmica acustica di chitarra nuovamente diretta ad offrire contenuti moderati dove il malvagio scream fa tutto il resto; un basso acustico invece segna l’inizio di “Erupting Light” del medesimo tenore della precedente con qualche linea ritmicamente maggiormente più tirata e intensa; “ Sentinel” risulta forse uno dei brani maggiormente significativi del platter in tipico assetto black metal tra velocità, cattiveria e freddezza che ci porta al conclusivo “Lucidity” altra lunga performance di oltre dieci minuti di ascolto che convalida, in conclusione, un disco non troppo particolare e abbastanza generico nei contenuti.

Rating: 67/100

Reviewed by: Wolverine

Review from Rocking.gr

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 23:05:02 +0100

From: Rocking.gr

Published: December 3, 2020

Original Link

Οι Liminal Shroud παίζουν ένα οργανικό και αυθόρμητο ατμοσφαιρικό black metal που θα σε κάνει να αναλογιστείς τη δηθενιά που χαρακτηρίζει ένα σωρό μπάντες του ιδιώματος. Πρόκειται για ένα λιτό metal τρίο που πλάθει λειτουργικά αργά riff και πειστικά γρήγορα μέρη, με πολύ ωραία παιξίματα. Το ντεμπούτο τους "Through The False Narrows" είναι ένα όμορφα γκρίζο άλμπουμ που εμπνέεται από το υδάτινο φυσικό στοιχείο της γενέτειρας τους και, παρακαλώ, μην μπερδέψεις τη φυσιολατρεία για κατάθλιψη. Με κέρδισαν με τη διάθεση τους να παίξουν μουσική αντί να αυτοπαγιδευτούν σε γρανάζια φορμαλισμού και με έκαναν να νιώθω γέρος, αναπολώντας μέρες που οι black metal μπάντες ήταν πρωτίστως metal και δευτερευόντως οτιδήποτε άλλο. Χωρίς αυτό βέβαια να σημαίνει ότι πρόκειται για αναχρονιστικό γκρουπ. Το αντίθετο.

• Μια ομορφιά η Victoria, πρωτεύουσα της Βρετανικής Columbia στον δυτικό Καναδά. Ονομάζεται και Η Πόλη Των Κήπων, ενώ πήρε το όνομα της από τη βασίλισσα Βικτωρία.

• Αγαπώ και συστήνω ανεπιφύλακτα τον πηγαίο underground χαρακτήρα της Hypnotic Dirge Records. Κυκλοφορεί μόνο καλά άλμπουμ - κάποια σπουδαία - και προτείνω από τις φετινές της κυκλοφορίες να θαυμάσετε το "Echoes" των Wills Dissolve.

Reviewed by: Αντώνης Καλαμούτσος

Review from Metal.de

Sat, 28 Nov 2020 19:43:05 +0100

From: Metal.de

Published: November 27, 2020

Original Link

Unter dem Titel „Through The False Narrows“ erscheint dieser Tage das Debütalbum des kanadischen Trios LIMINAL SHROUD. In Form der damals selbstbetitelten Demo, haben die drei Musiker bereits 2018 erstmals von sich hören lassen und die Aufmerksamkeit des keineswegs mehr unbekannten Labels Hypnotic Dirge Records auf sich gezogen, das sich nun der Veröffentlichung der neuen schwarzmetallischen Langrille angenommen hat.

LIMINAL SHROUD – modern, melodisch und melancholisch

Das musikalische Grundgerüst für den Sound, dem sich LIMINAL SHROUD verschrieben haben, besteht zum größten Teil aus Versatzstücken des moderner ausgelegten, atmosphärischen Black Metals, wie er vor allem durch diverse Künstler aus den Vereinigten Staaten populär geworden ist. Vieles auf „Through The False Narows“ erinnert an WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM und ALDA, hin und wieder schimmert auch ein wenig PANOPTICON in den zum Teil sehr ausladenden Songstrukturen durch. Dass LIMINAL SHROUD all den großen Einflüssen und Vorbildern zum Trotze versuchen, sich einen einigermaßen eigenen Sound anzueignen, macht sich unter anderem in den teils progressiv anmutenden Einschüben und im dynamisch experimentierfreudigen Umgang mit einer Vielzahl an ausschweifenden Melodien, besonders in den überlangen Tracks zu Beginn und gegen Ende des Albums, bemerkbar.

Die Songs, denen über weite Strecken eine melancholische, aber keineswegs depressive Stimmung anhaftet, bewegen sich nahezu ausschließlich im Midtempo und erzeugen nicht zuletzt dadurch einen tristen Sog, welcher den idealen Nährboden für den Soundtrack zum stürmischen, kalten Herbst bietet.

„Through The False Narrows“ – generisch und noch zu wenig atmosphärisch

Die immense Anzahl an Bands, die sich innerhalb der letzten Jahre dem Atmospheric Black Metal verschrieben haben, ist ein maßgeblicher Faktor für den angestiegenen Anspruch der Zuhörerschaft, dem sich eine junge Band wie LIMINAL SHROUD entgegenstemmen muss. Leider weckt „Through The False Narrows“ noch zu oft lediglich Erinnerungen an stärkere, wesentlich atmosphärischer umgesetzte Veröffentlichungen, zu selten sind die musikalischen Höhepunkte, mit denen sich das Debüt der Kanadier bleibend ins Gedächtnis einbrennen könnte.

„Through The False Narrows“ ist gewiss kein Totalausfall und hat durchaus seine atmosphärischen und emotionalen Momente. Um aus der Vielzahl an wirklich großartigen Veröffentlichungen innerhalb des Subgenres herauszustechen, fehlt es den Musikern momentan leider schlichtweg an Eigenständigkeit und dem notwendigen, packenden Songwriting.

Rating: 6/10

Reviewed by: Robert Langgemach

Review from Echoes and Dust

Thu, 19 Nov 2020 22:17:48 +0100

From: Echoes and Dust

Published: November 19, 2020

Original Link

Liminal Shroud are a relatively new band, based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The trio have produced a raw black metal sound since their inception in 2017. The following year came a much vaunted demo, three of the four tracks of which are reworked here. Through the False Narrows is their debut album and is released by Hypnotic Dirge. The band are the first local band the record label has released since their relocation to Victoria.

Before I delve into the seven tracks that make up the almost hour runtime of Through the False Narrows, I think it’s worth highlighting the major issue I have with the record. I am a fan of raw black metal, but I have a limit to what I’m prepared to call ‘raw’ and what I would determine to be poor recording. Sadly, I believe the latter is true here. I reach that conclusion due to the lack of balance found on the LP. The guitars sound good, although weedy in places. The vocals pack a decent enough punch, too. But the rhythm section is not done justice whatsoever. I struggle to hear the bass much at all and when I do it sounds muddy and lacks any punch of menace.

The drum recording is not good. What is all the more frustrating is that this seems like a simple issue of how the room and the drum set was miked up. When two thirds of your overall instrumentation are not firing on all cylinders, not sounding quite how they could or indeed should on the record, then clearly the overall sound of the LP and listener’s own enjoyment of it is going to suffer. There’s a heroic mixing job done by the band’s own Aidan Crossley, which mitigates some of the aforementioned issues at times, but unfortunately for Liminal Shroud the damage had already been done.

Right, now that’s out of the way, let’s get to a review focusing on the music. Happily, we can move onto positives almost immediately. Through the False Narrows is an album bookended by two eleven-minute epics, with five other tracks averaging about six and half minutes encased within. The record opens with ‘A Hollow Visage’ and wrong foots the listener’s expectations with a robust yet deeply melancholic doom passage before it transitions into the far more expected black metal maelstrom. Influenced by their evocative surroundings, of misty forest and wind-scoured, frozen coast, Liminal Shroud wield a spacious version of black metal, allowing tracks to breathe and the listener to reflect between passages and even between riffs. It is effective in that their ability for musical storytelling seems to be exacerbated by such an approach. In that respect, Liminal Shroud share much with those post-rock acts that can paint intricate landscapes and stories with no words at all. The trio do have clearly defined vocals however, shared between guitarist Crossley and bassist, R. Taylor, with lyrics dealing with nature, mysticism and transformation. It is a heady world they weave, tied inextricably with their locale.

‘Tainted Soil’ is almost a contracted version of the opening track, a reprise. It once again opens with all the hallmarks of doom before it finally erupts in fury. There is less time for reverie in this song, with Liminal Shroud eschewing such pondering for later in the track-list, instead allowing themselves the first of many instances to show the power they can excerpt as a trio, moving in imploring crescendo to a thundersome finale. ‘To Forget’ is the first of the tracks to usher in the folk elements of the album, baring more than a passing reminiscence of their North American black metal brothers operating in the Cascadian region in the north west. The passages are executed well and persuasively, providing counterpoint to the fury previously unleashed, all the while reaffirming the connection of place and time Liminal Shroud clearly have with their surrounds.

‘The Grotto’ follows and reminds me somewhat of early Drudkh, not only in its approach to the genre, but also the recording style that some favour. I would argue Drudkh were hampered by circumstance, especially given how amazing their more recent LPs sound production-wise, and I can only assume this is the same for Liminal Shroud, rather than it being by choice. A better studio set up and an even greater, more effervescent mix and mastering job, and Liminal Shroud could no doubt produce a very fine album indeed. For now, we have Through the False Narrows that showcases promise and many moments of fantastic musicianship undercut by the aforementioned issues. ‘Erupting’ and ‘The Sentinel’ build towards the close, with the former being the shortest and to the point material on the record and feeling slightly out of place because of it. The latter is another impressive cut, showcasing what the band is capable of, albeit feeling like it may be treading some old ground covered elsewhere.

By the time we get to the closer ‘Lucidity’ my reservation in review was that the tracks I had enjoyed most on the record were those culled and reworked from their self-titled demo. Not a bad thing to reuse such quality material, but also not the most glowing report on forward momentum and the band’s progression. However, ‘Lucidity’ proves to undo much of that fear, as it is by far the best track on the album. It moves between all the elements the three-piece have exhibited thus far on Through the False Narrows, proving not only to showcase that they can meld all those separate influences and elements into one sound, but also delivering a strong, well-rounded conclusion. Melodic, at times fragile, yet also venomous and brooding in its heaviness, ‘Lucidity’ must surely sound massive live. It almost reaches that accolade on record but is dulled by the album’s overall hindrance.

Through the False Narrows is an exciting debut from a raw black metal band to watch, delivered on the much admired Hypnotic Dirge. I won’t labour the central issue with the record, but it is worth reflecting quite how much better the LP could and should sound. With those issues cast aside, I may be proclaiming this album to be one of the better black metal releases of the year, but instead I must only highlight it as a record to make sure you check out, in preparation for the trio’s next solemn offering.

Reviewed by: Chris Keith-Wright

Review from Musipedia of Metal

Thu, 19 Nov 2020 22:15:40 +0100

From: Musipedia of Metal

Published: November 19, 2020

Original Link

This is Liminal Shroud’s first album, the band released their self titled demo two years ago. The band, who are based in Victoria in British Columbia, have been together since 2018, and feature Rich Taylor on Bass and Vocals, Drew Davidson on Drums and Aiden Crossley on Guitar and Vocals. The bands sound is a mix of Orthodox Black Metal, Depressive Black Metal and Atmospheric Black Metal, all of which is tempered with a large amount of melancholic Doom. The Black Metal styles present on this album are similar, with a lot of crossover between them so the specific type of Black Metal is more of a feeling rather than overt differences in sound. Several songs feel closer to one style more than one of the others. The slower doomy elements are present on all the tracks, and surround and enhance all of the Black Metal parts, adding melancholy tunefulness, and a lilting, soft tempo that helps to emphasise the desolate sadness.

The opening track A Hollow Visage is a good example of the basic sound. The track opens with heavy and deeply sad doomy riffs, before going into some blasting Black Metal that feels equidistant between Depressive Black Metal and Orthodox, low-fi Black Metal. The track then vacillates between the savage Black Metal sound I’ve just described and a slower, mid-paced style of Depressive Black Metal that has some layering to it and a nice bit of melody. The feel for the whole track is sorrowful, pensive and desolate, but also manages to feel cathartic. The Atmospheric Black metal style comes over well on the track To Forget. The song opens with blast beats and tremolo picked riffs, but it’s a smoother style of blasting than on a lot of the other songs. There is a lot of layering in the tremolo picked riffs, and the band have used this to inject a huge amount of morose melody and funereal tunefulness. The song also has a more purposeful and driving section near the end, but the overall sense is of Atmospheric Black Metal rather than Orthodox or Depressive Black Metal.

Through The False Narrows is a great album. I’m genuinely surprised that this is a debut album, as everything has been done so well. The album is a collection of very well written songs that all work as individual tracks, but also works as a complete piece of work in itself. The way the album ebbs and flows works very well, and helps to make it feel dark, despondent and sorrowful, whilst still having a cathartic feel that in a strange way is uplifting and hints that sunshine is possible after dark clouds and rain. If you like a certain amount of unhappiness mixed in with your savage Black Metal then this is an album for you.

Rating: 8/10

Reviewed by: Paul Scoble

Review from Metal Pit

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 21:16:12 +0100

From: Metal Pit

Published: November 15, 2020

Original Link

Questa fine di novembre ci porta una piccola gioia, perfetta da gustare in un periodo tetro come questo: il 20 novembre, infatti, uscirà il primo full-length dei Liminal Shroud sotto Hypnotic Dirge Records.

I tre componenti del gruppo, Rich Taylor, Drew Davidson e Aidan Crossley sono essenzialmente al loro debutto più importante. I tre provengono dal Canada, più precisamente da Victoria, una cittadina sulla costa pacifica.

In “Through The False Narrows” la provenienza diventa un elemento cardine del loro concept, i testi ruotano attorno a immagini di onde, mari aperti, burrasche e uragani, abissi e nebbie fitte. E come una burrasca è anche la loro musica, cupa e desolata ma con un nucleo vitale possente e cangiante, come un vortice nel mezzo dell’oceano.

“Lucidity“, l’ultima traccia, condensa un po’ il carattere del disco, con i suoi 11 minuti che non annoiano di certo. La batteria è un tuonare costante e cupo all’orizzonte, come il preludio di una tempesta in arrivo, il genere è un raw black metal che non trascura la componente atmosferica e melodica, le chitarre infatti accompagnano l’ascoltatore con ritmi accattivanti e che restano fissi nella mente anche dopo un solo ascolto. La voce è perfettamente inserita nel contesto, con il suo suono a tratti gorgogliante e a tratti graffiante e crudele.

I sentimenti espressi qui variano da una rabbia sorda a punte di desolazione e perdita di speranza testimoniate anche dal testo:

“A monument to nothingness

Must we all die for this empty illusion?”

Una visione del mondo critica, negativa, disillusa pervade anche tutti gli altri pezzi. In definitiva un bel disco e un bell’esordio per questo trio canadese che sembra avere le idee molto chiare riguardo a cosa vuole trasmettere all’audience.

Review from Angry Metal Guy

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 21:18:28 +0100

From: Angry Metal Guy

Published: November 12, 2020

Original Link

Earlier this year, I wrote a two–part feature looking at three relatively small, independent metal labels that consistently seem to put out great metal. One of those labels was Hypnotic Dirge, whose boss Nicolas Fernandes-Skog gave up a huge amount of his time to answer my dumb questions, just as he was relocating Hypnotic Dirge (and, I guess, his life) across Canada from Saskatoon to Victoria, BC. Now, Hypnotic Dirge is about to drop the full-length debut from Liminal Shroud, the first release by a local band since the move.

AMG is pleased to host the premiere of “Tainted Soil” from the forthcoming Through the False Narrows, which releases on November 20th. Opening in slow, claustrophobic and doom-laden tones, with a harrowing black metal rasp over the top, “Tainted Soil” gradually builds in intensity, as pounding blastbeats are introduced beneath the mid-paced tremolos. By its conclusion, Liminal Shroud are holding nothing back, with jagged, crunchy melodies soaring over grinding bass and pummelling drums in a raw, black metal maelstrom.1

For the last four days the Vale of York, UK, where I live, has been sitting beneath a layer of damp, misty fog. Although this has made me and my toddler fairly irascible, it is, conveniently, the ideal conditions in which to appreciate Canadian black metallers Liminal Shroud. Formed in 2017, the trio dropped a viciously raw self-titled EP the following year, the four tracks of which, in reimagined form, make up the backbone of their debut album, Through the False Narrows. Their utterly indecipherable, but very cool, logo2 reminds me of the dark, misty forests of their home on Canada’s west coast and from which they draw a lot of inspiration, both musically and lyrically. Tradition dictates that I ask some incredibly insightful question at this point in my review – you know, something like: Do Liminal Shroud successfully navigate Through the False Narrows or are they simply unable to see the wood for the trees? – but, frankly, the fact we are premiering a track from the album probably gives you some idea where this review is headed.

Liminal Shroud’s onslaught blankets the listener in organic black metal, which embodies the dank wilds of their home region. Claustrophobic and oppressive in its intensity, Through the False Narrows doesn’t try to be the outright heaviest, nor the fastest, although lightning tremolos and battering drums are there at times. Instead, the defining characteristic is a sort of natural rawness, supplemented by forlorn harmonies (epic opener “A Hollow Visage”) and brief spells of folky acoustic melodies (“To Forget”). As a trio, Liminal Shroud eschew the ‘wall of sound’ approach, delivering in its place a direct, slightly stripped back feel, where every bruising note is discernible. Vocals are handled jointly by guitarist Aidan Crossley and bassist Rich Taylor, favoring a gnarled, throaty rasp for the majority of the record, with occasional hoarse whispers woven in, delivering a dose of haunting atmosphere during Through the False Narrows’ more reserved moments.

Falling somewhere between the pitch black tumult of Drudkh and the distorted, howling despair of Hypnotic Dirge label mates NONE, Liminal Shroud layer on the ambience of those wave-worn shores and ancient woodlands but do so without relying on lengthy ‘atmospheric’ passages. Take “The Grotto,” which opens with a mid-paced, repeating riff and delicate work on the cymbals, that progressively intensify, before Liminal Shroud cut loose. Similarly, the initial, brooding doom of “Tainted Soil” sucks the listener down to a dark, lightless place before unleashing its full fury. This is married with lyrical themes of abandonment, loneliness and despair in a hostile wilderness (emphasized by additions like the dripping rain and mocking bird calls that accompany the keys arrangement at the end of the “The Grotto”).

Through the False Narrows is excellent throughout but, for me, saves its best for last. Bookended by 11-minute epics, the record closes with “Lucidity.” A monster of a track, it combines a mesmerizing, almost fragile, melody with fearsome, crushing heaviness and harsh vocals, which gradually relent, falling back into a mellow, almost hopeful, folksy section some seven minutes in. A welcome respite, it is short lived, as a nasty drone begins to ripple beneath the surface and the rasps are reintroduced, before the storm breaks again. For a trio, Liminal Shroud conjure quite the sonic palette, balancing that stripped back directness with enough weight to avoid that truly raw, lo-fi black metal sound, which does little for me (though I know is mana from heaven hell for some). This is helped greatly by the production, which while not itself great, works well to give the album an organic sound, which evokes the nature that inspires Liminal Shroud, without sounding messy or chaotic. It’s worth noting that the record was mixed by Crossley.

This late in 2020, with TYMHM pieces already published and List Season looming large on the horizon, I was not expecting another great black metal record to hit me like Through the False Narrows did. Atmospheric without falling into the trap of relying on extended ambient passages, crushingly heavy without falling back on simple speed and fury, Liminal Shroud have put out the perfect soundtrack to a bleak, dark autumn.

Rating: 4/5

Reviewed by: Carcharodon

Review from Permafrost

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 04:39:45 +0100

From: Permafrost

Published: November 10, 2020

Original Link

Liminal Shroud comes from a really beautiful part of Canada, but they still manage to make a raw black metal. Wavy seas and foggy days create dark moods. The band draws inspiration from the landscape where they live and creates an atmospheric, dark music that reflects the despair and rage they have. The three Canadian musicians offers a very good black metal in my opinion!

Reviewed by: Om Ulf Backstrøm