I’d like to tell you one of my romantic stories about how I ran into Liminal Shroud, but that’d be lying more than usual. I was looking for discounts on Bandcamp and saw that Through the False Narrows was cheap, so I bought it after listening to one track. It was solid Black Metal with Prog touches. The same could be said about All Virtues Ablaze. Hence, Visions of Collapse has a difficult task ahead: overcoming solid albums that, without much drama, have solidified the band’s reputation as a respectable act. Hopefully, this won’t ruin it. Let’s go!
Visions is a reasonable step forward from Liminal Shroud‘s previous album. It continues to dive deeper into a more Post-Metal/melancholic approach to Black Metal than before. The songs are still long, but they don’t feel like a chore because there’s simply too much good stuff going on here! It’s the kind of Metal that speaks the language of lost souls in the forest—their sorrow, their agony, their endless search that offers little but silence. But beneath all that apparent calm, there’s the constant struggle to find purpose. So, yes, it’s Melodic Black Metal that speaks to you in riddles.
Imagine if Dissection and KVAEN managed to combine into one band. Well, that’s what Visions sounds like. Yet, there’s more! It’s more emotional somehow, like a procession in the woods, which can only remind me of Frigoris, another band with a deep understanding of how to create tracks that make you want to punch a wall while crying (just listen to the melodic phrases in “Nucleonic Blight” or “Resolve” and tell me it doesn’t make you want to hug yourself). This thing is dynamic, and I never got bored, because Visions has only a handful of songs; all with similar structure (except “Malaspina,” a break that didn’t devolve into a forgettable interlude), and their pace is exquisite. It hurts in all the right ways!
So, what should I hate? Liminal Shroud has ticked all my boxes lately, so it’s going to be hard to complain about many things, but I’ll try just for the sake of the keyboard warriors. If you don’t like your Black Metal epic and majestic, maybe this isn’t for you. It’s polished and professional, plus the songs are mostly 10-minute epic journeys, and that’s not a level of introspection most people are willing to perform. If I had to be a nitpicking smug, I’d say the short song should be in the middle of the album instead of after more than 30 minutes of heartbreaking melodic work. I could’ve used the “break” a bit sooner.
It’s indeed a totally stupid comment! I think Liminal Shroud has quietly dropped one of the best Black Metal albums of the year. I love how sad and nocturnal this album feels without sounding like something recorded in a festival toilet in the middle of a hot summer. Next time you go out to howl at the moon, pretending you’re cool instead of cringe, Visions of Collapse could make you look all that much cooler.
Label: Willowtip Records
Release date: 5 July, 2024
Website: https://www.facebook.com/liminalshroudofficial
Country: Canada
Score: The eternal lament of a pointless life, or 4.0/5.0 for the annoying ones.
Metal Eclipse Reviews 