Paul Cordebard & Rudy Purkat - LANDMVRKS 'French Language Is Very Complicated'

Combining creative fire with the power of their native language, LANDMVRKS are carving their path to world domination, and with their ever so impressive 2025 studio release, The Darkest Place I've Ever Been, they're closer than ever to achieving it. As unique as a fingerprint, this class act stands apart from the crowd by blending emotional depth with their bilingual talents, seamlessly fusing their metalcore roots with elements like rap to create a sound that’s truly unreplicable.

It’s no secret that LANDMVRKS have captured the hearts of heavy music fans worldwide—dominating main stages at major European festivals and touring the U.S. alongside metalcore heavyweights like Fit For A King, The Devil Wears Prada, and Australia’s own Thornhill. Following a successful debut Australian tour supporting Northlane in 2024, the French metalcore quintet returned to our shores—this time to leave their mark with a headline tour of their own.

As the Frenchmen were preparing for their performance in Melbourne, we grabbed bassist Rudy Purkart and rhythm guitarist Paul Cordebard to discuss the new album at length, their influences, the thriving heavy music scene in France and what the future of LANDMVRKS may look like.

Watch the full interview here or read on for the best bits.

From my very first listen to The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been, it was hard to miss the unmistakable influence of two of alternative music’s most iconic acts, Linkin Park and blink-182, notably on track number seven, 'The Great Unknown’. When probed as to whether they are fans of those bands, the couple chuckled and Rudy cheekily replied with:

“Oh yeah, quite a lot. Paul, Nicolas and Kévin are really into blink-182 and Box Car Racer. In fact the initial name we gave that track when we were writing it was ‘Blinkin Park’ (laughs). You can see the intention behind that, those bands have been instrumental to us."

LANDMVRKS may be influenced not only by the sound of these legendary acts, but also by their blueprint to success by following in their footsteps by carving out a successful path as a globally touring force in alternative music. With a growing number of French bands following a similar path, it’s hard not to take notice. Acts like Novelists, Ten56., Resolve, Gojira, and even the now-disbanded Betraying the Martyrs have all found lasting success on the global stage, there seems to be a secret ingredient within the baguettes that is gifting French musicians with artistic capabilities that has almost created envy the world over.

“I think it’s harder to pop as a French band. Perhaps us French bands are working harder than bands from countries where it is easier to get attention."

One key factor to their success may be their cultural authenticity and the way they support each other’s growth, mutual development and collaboration over competition to reach wider audiences.

“We all stick with each other, and support each other. Whenever we can we take other French bands on tour with us. Even bigger acts such as Gojira do this aswell, we’re all trying to support the [French] scene and get it bigger.

A couple of years ago the French scene wasn’t getting attention at all. Even if some bands were doing great outside of France, there wasn’t a big French scene.

I think it has begun to slowly grow again in the last four years. The fact that it is working good for us, and how we are friends with all of these bands who are helping each other. Novelists helped us, then we helped Novelists, then Novelists went on to help other bands like Ashen. We do stuff with Resolve all the time.

All of the French bands are friends together. We also feature on each others tracks, and even get input from them when we are writing new songs. We [French] are very collaborative."

That key to success, rooted in authenticity, collaboration, and a distinct mutual respect has not only earned LANDMVRKS recognition across Europe and North America but has also captured the attention of fans around the globe. Nowhere is this growing momentum more evident than in Australia, where listeners have quickly embraced the band’s sound and ethos.

“Australia is our second [largest] market. Australians are really into it. You guys have the Triple J radio station which is super big. It’s different for us in France. We don’t get any radio or media attention. It’s (Australia) kind of like the U.K., you guys are rock countries. There is more rock music on the radio and on the television.”

Now having garnered so much success, followed by a wildly impressive fourth studio album, which pushes just about every boundary you could imagine from a five piece band from Marseille, the question lingers, are there many more boundaries left for them to push?

“I’m sure there is. Not only with exploring other genres, but just in terms of the writing and technically getting better, improving our show and production. There are always boundaries to push somewhere. Nobody can say that they are at the top.”

Interview by Adam Rice @riceyadam

‍The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been is out now. Stream/order it here