I admit the picture of the two guitarists on the back of this
release in leather and spikes made me leery of putting this release
in my CD player. I had visions of a terrible Judas Priest cock-rock
band trying to recapture their youth.
Disappointment is a blessing. This is a five song blitz of 20:00
that has me still picking up my jaw.
This release starts out with “Death Machine,” an aggressive,
fast, Pantera-ish “Mouth For War”-like tempo. Then at the 2:50
mark, the band changes tempos and plays an interlude, a variation
of the melody of the fast section, before building back up to its
frenzy by the 3:30 mark. But it is in that 30-plus seconds that
From Beyond made their mark in my mind. Typically, a lesser band
would have played fast for the entire song and not shown that they
have a sense of musicianship. At the 4:46 mark, the band launches
into a syncopated section, typical of thrash bands, but it is
immediately preceded by some slick hi-hat work. “Death Machine” is
the right foundation to start building this release upon. It is a
strong opening track.
So after 6:37, you get to the rest of this CD, which consists of
3 tracks of similar style to track one. The difference I hear in
this band, that makes them stand out, is that they sound like they
have musical training. They have a sense of phrasing their riffs so
that it sounds pleasing to the ear.
They are able to expand the thrash genre, not just paying homage
to bands like Exodus or Testament here. There are individual
characteristics of this band that make them stand out. The drummer
doesn’t rely on a rumbling of double-bass to establish his sound.
The guitarists work together and sound like they actually composed
their parts instead of flying-by-the-seat-of-their-pants. The
vocalist, while not really ‘singing’ all the time, is not annoying.
And that’s enough for me.
The last track is a short 1:31 acoustic track, called
“Epilogue.” I have a problem with thrash and rock bands including
short acoustic tracks at the end of their releases because they
seem tacked on and presented as evidence that the guitarist has
some skill. Some bands, like Disarray’s “Life is Gone” are
successful because they carry forward the theme of their CD into a
different ‘voice’ (the acoustic guitar).
I’ve heard a lot of these short metal band promos. I have to say
that this From Beyond release stands out with my other favorite
short metal band promos like Grain and the Gooseflesh EP.
