Style: Progressive Metal, Power Metal (Mixed vocals, mostly clean)
Recommended for fans of: To/Die/For, Evergrey, Unto Others, Katatonia, Voyager
Country: Italy
Release date: 10 January 2025
With the resurgence of surrealist humor in the late 2010s came a fascination with the surreal outside of a humorous context: vaporwave artist Macintosh Plus and the ‘creepypasta’ horror subgenre became common subjects among chronically online millennials and gen Z thanks to their otherworldly sensibilities. However, no modern surreal work continues to have as much cultural staying power as The Backrooms, a creepypasta borne from a relatively innocuous picture of a then-unidentified activities center in Wisconsin. Its musty aura and uncanny emptiness struck a chord with many, inspiring a new genre of horror revolving around ‘liminal spaces’: barren and featureless areas that imbue existential dread by delicately toeing the line between reality and unreality. However, on latest opus Liminal Spaces, Italian prog metallers Beriedir see these landscapes as an opportunity for expression and a metaphor for processing trauma. Will Beriedir help us safely escape the Liminal Space, or are we doomed to navigate these empty hallways on our own?
Born from keyboard-heavy power metal, Beriedir have gradually introduced more progressive elements into their sound on each new release, and Liminal Spaces sees these sensibilities explored in full: whereas tracks from previous releases AQVA and The Path Beyond the Moon limit their exploration mostly to tempo changes, the pieces on Liminal Space are self-contained balls of chaos, introducing tracks with Fleshgod Apocalypse-style theatrics (“In the Corner of My Eyes”), mercilessly cranking the tempo up and down (“Neon”), and pummeling the listener to oblivion with heavy breakdowns (“As Tight As Phantoms Hold”). Some things never change, however: the keyboard is as prominent as ever, giving the music a bit of edge (“Anemoia,” “Massive”) and approaching an EDM tone at times (“F.I.V.E.”). Keeping the chaotic instrumentation in check is vocalist Stefano Nüsperli, whose mournful and melodramatic delivery adds a gothic feel to Liminal Spaces.
It would be easy for Beriedir’s compositional style to render songs into a formless mess, but Liminal Spaces threads the needle between chaos and cohesion with little problem. Opener “Halo,” for example, establishes a simple guitar riff and chorus to act as home base while the verses twitch back and forth between seductive hushedness and harsh outbursts; “Neon” enacts a clever bait-and-switch by recontextualizing its quiet and minimal introductory moments with a considerable tempo and energy increase; and “As Tight As Phantoms Hold” suppresses chaos for most of its runtime, holding off until the bridge to let it all out with staccato outbursts and a dramatic multi-part breakdown. Usually, this style of progressive metal rolls off me completely, but Liminal Spaces proves to be an exception by restraining its tracks through shorter song lengths and clever integration of established ideas.
Just as integral to the songwriting is the moody and passionate vocal performance: Stefano Nüsperli adorns tracks with earworm vocal melodies, helping to further ground Liminal Spaces’ tumult. “Halo” makes itself instantly memorable through Nüsperli’s brooding and subdued approach in the verses juxtaposed with a simple yet explosive chorus; “In the Corner of My Eyes” is introduced with a throat-tearing screech before switching to cleans full of power and melodrama; and “As Tight as Phantoms Hold” conjures heartbreak in its melancholy delivery. “F.I.V.E.” contains many of my favorite vocal moments, whether it be Nüsperli’s vocals gliding effortlessly over a thunderous bass or the absolutely killer layering of clean and harsh vocals used later in the track. Though a note or two may come off a bit nasally or grating, particularly on “Halo” and “In the Corner of My Eyes,” Liminal Spaces’ vocals radiate personality and give a lot of life to the album.
However, Liminal Spaces doesn’t make it out of The Backrooms unscathed. “More than Starlight” is one of the more chaotic tracks and ends up feeling the most disjointed, featuring a few moments of interest but failing to weave its ideas together cohesively. Additionally, its introductory verse features a bright and almost sing-songy melody that sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of Liminal Spaces’ gothic melancholy. While not entirely out of place as it faithfully adheres to Beriedir’s kitchen-sink songwriting approach, it would have worked much better as a closing track given its comparative leap in mood. On the flip side, when Beriedir don’t deliver tornadic composition or compelling vocal hooks, the music falls into anonymity: “Massive” and “Anemoia” are decent tracks, but due to their simpler structures, they lack in standout moments and roll off the mind almost entirely. Ultimately, these tracks feel like afterthoughts, leaving me wanting more bombast and entropy. “Burnout” is similarly straightforward, but maintains interest in its singular mood by introducing a fast-paced harsh vocal delivery and a small symphonic aside in each verse.
Liminal Spaces utilizes a chaotic and explosive songwriting approach that, most of the time, works magnificently in Beriedir’s favor: when it’s done in moderation, the end result is lightning in a bottle, coercing musical interest through expressive passages with unbridled intensity and deliciously melodramatic vocals. Occasionally, though, Liminal Spaces fails to reach an ideal balance and demonstrates the need for growth to master this style, whether it be more chaotic tracks that need to be reeled in for their own good or juicing up the relatively anonymous pieces with more frenzied moments. Overall, though, I’m quite sold on Liminal Spaces, leaving me eager for a follow-up, or at least an evening of barren exploration.
Recommended tracks: Neon, F.I.V.E., In the Corner of My Eyes, In the Liminal Space
You may also like: Darkwater, Ions, Turbulence, Alkera
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Rockshots Records – Facebook | Official Website
Beriedir is:
– Stefano Nüsperli (vocals, keyboards)
– Simone Bacchi Mottin (guitars)
– Francesco Ideo (guitars)
– Ciro Salvi (drums)
– Daniele Cantaboni (bass)
