Country of origin:
New Zealand
Location:
Auckland, Auckland
Status:
Active
Formed in:
N/A
Genre:
Doom/Post-Metal
Themes:
Instrumental
Current label:
Unsigned/independent
Years active:
N/A
Compilation appearances:
- "Karana Mudra" on Doomed & Stoned in New Zealand (Doomed & Stoned Records, digital, May 2018)
- "In Der Fremde" on Windburn Doomed & Stoned Festival (Doomed & Stoned Records, digital, April 2020)
- "Mara" on Swamp Haze (The Swamp Records, April 2020)
- "Form" on The Instrumentalists: Vol. 6 (Doomed & Stoned, digital, September 2024)
Thousand Limbs is an instrumental doom/post‑metal collective from Auckland, active since the late 2010s and built around a fluid, collaborative approach to composition. Their music focuses on atmosphere and dynamic contrast rather than vocals or narrative, using layered guitars, textured keyboards, and slow, deliberate rhythmic development to create long-form pieces that move between meditative calm and crushing heaviness. The absence of vocals gives their work a cinematic quality, allowing themes and emotional arcs to emerge through repetition, tension, and gradual evolution.
The project first surfaced with the Form – Live Demo in 2017, capturing their raw early sound and improvisational energy. Their first studio EP, Woe (2018), established the core of their identity: expansive instrumental doom shaped by post‑metal crescendos and a strong sense of mood. Mara (2020) pushed further into atmospheric territory, while singles such as A Dim Light to Guide and The Aurochs – Ensnared (both 2022) showcased a more refined production and a growing confidence in long, immersive structures. Later releases—including A Boundless Heart and Fall of Body and Mind (2023)—continued to expand their sonic palette, leading to the full‑length The Aurochs in 2024, their most ambitious and cohesive work to date.
Thousand Limbs’ lineup centers on guitarists Andrew Shaw and Nick Baldwin, with Baldwin also contributing bass and keyboards. Patrick Gray adds additional guitars and keyboards, enriching the band’s layered, textural approach. Drummer Stuart Harwood joined in 2022, replacing Jacob Hetherington, whose earlier performances helped shape the band’s formative sound. Together, the group constructs dense, emotionally resonant instrumental landscapes that draw from doom, post‑metal, and ambient influences.
Their work has also appeared on several compilations, including Doomed & Stoned in New Zealand (2018), Windburn Doomed & Stoned Festival (2020), Swamp Haze (2020), and The Instrumentalists: Vol. 6 (2024), placing them firmly within the broader international community of instrumental and atmospheric heavy music.
| Form - Live Demo | Demo | 2017 | Â |
| Woe | EP | 2018 | Â |
| Mara | EP | 2020 | Â |
| A Dim Light to Guide | Single | 2022 | Â |
| The Aurochs - Ensnared | Single | 2022 | Â |
| A Boundless Heart | Single | 2023 | Â |
| Fall of Body and Mind | Single | 2023 | Â |
| The Aurochs | Full-length | 2024 |