CORPUS DELICTI

“Just keep on following the sign. Just keep on following..this hell way.”

Emerging from the dimly lit streets of Nice in 1992, Corpus Delicti came together as if drawn by unseen forces: Sébastien on vocals, Franck on guitar, Chrys on bass, and Roma on drums. Their formation was almost fated—a chance meeting in a record store, whispered conversations about music, and a shared hunger for the darkness that lingered beyond the pop charts. Franck had only been playing guitar for a few months when he joined the project; Sébastien brought a voice untrained but magnetic; and Chrys and Roma completed the quartet, bound by both friendship and artistic compulsion.

Their debut album Twilight (1993) placed them firmly on the map of European gothic rock. The band quickly became known for a sound that blended strong melodies with a darker post-punk edge. Follow-up albums Sylphes and Obsessions expanded their profile, building a reputation for thoughtful songwriting and a distinctive identity within the genre. International tours soon followed, including concerts across Europe and a 10-date tour through the United States—significant achievements for a young French band in the early 1990s.

Their reach extended far beyond the Mediterranean. Tours across Europe and a landmark 10-date journey in the United States carried their music to audiences where dark atmospheres and strong melodies were equally appreciated. Onstage, they were precise and urgent, leaving impressions that lasted long after the lights dimmed. Yet in 1997, as suddenly as it had begun, their activity came to a halt. The band dissolved, leaving a notable void in the gothic landscape—but not silence. Across continents, a dedicated fanbase kept their music circulating, preserving the band’s legacy through physical releases and later through digital platforms.

Time, however, did not diminish their presence; if anything, it sharpened it. Reissues, biographies, and rediscoveries introduced their work to younger generations, while critics and historians positioned Corpus Delicti as one of France’s essential contributions to dark music. Their influence threaded quietly but persistently through the veins of the genre, a reminder that certain artistic imprints never fade.

In 2022, the long-anticipated reunion finally took shape. With drummer Laurent Tamagno joining the original trio, Corpus Delicti returned to the stage to overwhelming enthusiasm. Sold-out halls from Cannes to Mexico City confirmed that their music had not only endured but grown in relevance. After decades of absence, the songs once again found their place before live audiences.

With Liminal, released thirty years after their last studio album Obsessions (1995), Corpus Delicti step once more into the night air. Returning this fall, the band strengthen their legacy with a work shaped by experience, intuition, and the core energy that has always defined their sound. Produced by guitarist Franck Amendola together with the band, and mastered in London at The Exchange by Graeme Durham—whose credits include Björk, Massive Attack, U2, and The Pogues—the album stands at the intersection of past and present, grounded in their origins while embracing a more contemporary edge.

Written and recorded over two years while the band crossed continents, the new album reflects the resonance of the world they travelled through. It underscores that Corpus Delicti stand not as ghosts of a distant era but as a living force, attracting a new generation of listeners and now surpassing three million annual streams. For decades they have been counted among post-punk’s essential names, appearing repeatedly in international “best of” lists—Liminal once again shows why. It is a work that carries their unmistakable imprint: an evolution shaped by lives lived, roads travelled, and years of experience. You hear it in the clarity of the edges, in the restraint within the arrangements, and in the modern haze that threads through the production. Liminal carries the same spirit that defined Corpus Delicti in the nineties, now approached with a maturity that folds time into the music, proving that their essence remains firmly etched in dark music history.

Like that quiet, unsettling moment when you sense eyes watching from a place where the light barely survives—only the faintest glimmer giving away that something is there, waiting—Liminal lingers just outside full view… until November 28, when the album finally steps into the light.

• Liminal | Bandcamp
• Corpus Delicti | Official Website

Hayley CLX
24/11/2025