French band Between The Lakes have crafted a beautifully atmospheric but powerful metalcore sound that they describe as “melodic, fierce and modern.”
The band started out with childhood friends Thibault Mongaillard and Valentin Leroy, who grew up in the small town of Xonrupt Longemer, close to the Swiss border in eastern France flanked by two big lakes, Longemer and Gérardamer (which we guess is where the name came from). The pair started playing music together as teenagers over 15 years ago, covering songs by the likes of Metallica, Pantera and Bullet for My Valentine before writing their own music. In 2021, after pursuing their own musical adventures, Val came back to Thibault with some riffs and the desire to create music together using new gear and technology to ease the creation process.
On the sound they’ve honed since, Thibault told us: “I would say that the common foundation found in all our music is the melodic aspect. It can take the form of a lead part, a vocal line, a solo, or even a background atmosphere in tempos that are sometimes heavy and modern, sometimes fast and aggressive.”
Our latest taste of this is Between The Lakes’ third single In Limbo. It opens up with glistening synth sounds that drop into a crushing guitar riff over pounding drums in a lively intro. The pace slows as it drops into dreamy synths and vocals, which are joined by a chunky bassline and piercing instrumentals as it builds towards a big singalong chorus “So lost in limbo, I wandered in the dark, Eyes turned to the sky” that explodes into life with heavy guitars and a vicious cry of “I’m boarding a vessel, hopefully will bring me home, No one can save me anymore.”
The intense screamed vocals continue supported by chunky guitars that develop into a cool darting riff then big low-tuned chords and a piercing synth sound. The pace suddenly slows down again, before a brief pause tees up a powerful chorus. It slows down again with spoken vocals over rolling drums and a light synth, before feisty rapped vocals take over and develop into a huge outro led by intense screams, guitars and synths.
On the track, Thibault said: “The reception has been really nice. In Limbo is our third single, we’re just getting started, but despite that, we’ve had a lot of positive feedback, especially about the contrast you can find within it. People can expect melancholic, dark music, reminiscent of Bad Omens at first glance, but with a nice twist after the first chorus. We’ll let you discover it for yourselves.”
In Limbo follows on from the equally excellent Dying Wisdom and Between The Lakes’ debut single Stargazing, which were both released last year. Dying Wisdom builds up to a stabbing guitar riff over big drum rolls before kicking into chunky chords supporting big screamed vocals. Twinkling synths creep in before increasing in heaviness, before a huge chorus ends with a delicious guitar solo. Stargazing dives straight into a cool bouncy riff that drops into heavy vocals that flow into a more melodic chorus. An even heavier second verse follows before deliciously low-tuned djenty guitars and a “bleugh” give way to a guitar lick supporting a big chorus. Suddenly, the pace drops with an acoustic guitar before powerful clean vocals tee up a big conclusion.
The Between The Lakes sound has been shaped by great British metal bands like Architects, Bring Me The Horizon, Bullet For My Valentine and While She Sleeps, along with fellow French band Landmarks, who Thibault says “have a big impact here in France for this whole new generation of musicians.”
And on what inspires them to write music, he added: “I would say that the common topic shared by all our music is growing up, becoming an adult, finding one’s place and identity in an increasingly oppressive, anxiety-inducing world, where information is no longer treated neutrally, where it is more lucrative to divide us than to unite us. Dreams give way to reality.”
If you like what you’ve heard so far from Between The Lakes then you’re in luck, as the band will release their debut EP REVERIE on 7 November. They’ll also be releasing a music video for the title track, along with more content, including behind-the-scenes and guitar playthrough videos, before the end of the year.
And Thibault added: “Between the Lakes is a project created by two old friends who have been listening to metal music for 20 years. We enjoy creating and sharing music with as many people as possible, so feel free to give it a listen and follow us on social media!”
You can follow Between The Lakes on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music and YouTube.
Listen to Between The Lakes and more new metal on our Spotify playlists GigRadar Core and GigRadar Metal
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