Chicago’s brightest three-piece band Belmont return with their third album, and it proves to be a major step-up in class. Since forming in 2016, this crew have evolved from pop-punk upstarts into fully-fledged rock monsters and have developed a signature sound that incorporates everything from electronica to metal. Eclectic, but delectable, Liminal is the sound of a band firing on all cylinders and is sure to propel them towards the biggest stages.
As befitting a band who are on a mission, there’s no time to waste on elongated introductions or extraneous preambles, just a dizzying guitar solo and then the band are off and running. ‘SSX Trickmont’ is the opener and it attests a band who are lean and hungry. This is the sound of a band who are tightly focused; they’re a three-headed hydra who create a sound far bigger than their constituent parts with each band member jostling for their place in the spotlight. In short, there’s a confidence on display that only emanates from a band happy in their own company and ‘SSX Trickmount’, adorned with bold splashes of colour, is indicative of that.
Although Belmont’s musical career has been characterised by a constant flux, they haven’t shed their skins and have retained much of their former DNA. Subsequently, ‘Two’s A Party’ is a prime piece of pop-punk; it takes deep, vulnerable lyrics and melds them to a buoyant beat and the result is a song that’s sure to set venues alight wherever its played. Yet, true to the band’s chameleon-like nature, Liminal doesn’t stay in one place for long and ‘Day By Day’ is a fine slab of modern metal. There’s an emotional quality to these songs that stitches them altogether and ensures that no matter in what guise the band appear, they’re always recognisable.
Liminal is the type of album that works on several levels; the searching, questioning nature of the lyrics will suit nights of contemplation in solitude, yet the explosive nature of cuts such as ‘Dark Paradise’ will work equally well at rowdy gigs and seem tailor made for stage dives and pile-ons. Likewise, ‘All Bite’ is very air guitar inducing and strangely danceable, while ‘B3ND BUDGE’ introduces some quick fire rap vocals. The key to Belmont is to always expect the unexpected, so don’t be surprised if next time you encounter them they’re in corpse paint and unleashing ferocious blast beats.
Belmont’s third album (and second for Pure Noise) is the sound of a band confidently flexing their muscles and powering forwards like an unstoppable force. Who knows where the band are heading, but they’re sure to get there in style.
- Liminal is released via Pure Noise Records on 12th April 2024.
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Track List:
1. SSX Trickmont
2. Two’s A Party
3. Liminal
4. Day By Day
5. Moxie
6. Dark Paradise
7. All Bite
8. B3ND BUDGE
9. Counterfeit
10. N2
11. Play Pretend
12. I Don’t Really Care
