Pennsylvanian natives Beyond Fallen come tearing out of the starting blocks with their debut album Mindfire, and show the world that Power Metal isn't just the domain of their European cousins.
With a twin guitar attack, and more gravely vocals, this is Slayer playing Helloween after a bottle of Jagermeister. It's fast and heavy at times, drawing on influences seemingly as varied as Metallica and especially on Fields of Honour an almost Dream Theater esque sound at times.
Beyond Fallen claim to make no compromises to their sound, this is the way they want to sound, these are the songs they wanted to record, and for that you have to give them credit. What's more impressive is the previously mentioned varied influences. It's often the case where a band, by the end of their debut album, have already become stale and predictable. That's just not the case here. Again refer to Fields of Honour, a complete change in the pace of the album, an almost complete change in style, and yet one of the strongest tracks on the album for all of that, and it's an instrumental track to boot!
And then out of nowhere, Fields of Honour becomes the album's title track Mindfire, and your listening to a song that could quite easily have been written by Slayer, and it's transitions like this that make this album a success.
This might not be an album of the year candidate, but with their debut release, Beyond Fallen have set their stall out for the future, given themselves a superb platform to build from, and, oh yeah, put together a solid album to boot!
Lineup:
Joe Karavis - Vocals
Steve Jasuilewicz - Guitars
Mike Johnson - Guitars
Chuck Donahue - Bass
Tom Carden - Drums
Track Listing: 1. Act Of War2. Blood On The Ice3. Enemy Of An Open Mind4. Closer To The End5. Fields Of Honor6. Mindfire7. The Dominence8. Sniper9. Illusion Of Life10. Bomb Inside Your Head
With a twin guitar attack, and more gravely vocals, this is Slayer playing Helloween after a bottle of Jagermeister. It's fast and heavy at times, drawing on influences seemingly as varied as Metallica and especially on Fields of Honour an almost Dream Theater esque sound at times.
Beyond Fallen claim to make no compromises to their sound, this is the way they want to sound, these are the songs they wanted to record, and for that you have to give them credit. What's more impressive is the previously mentioned varied influences. It's often the case where a band, by the end of their debut album, have already become stale and predictable. That's just not the case here. Again refer to Fields of Honour, a complete change in the pace of the album, an almost complete change in style, and yet one of the strongest tracks on the album for all of that, and it's an instrumental track to boot!
And then out of nowhere, Fields of Honour becomes the album's title track Mindfire, and your listening to a song that could quite easily have been written by Slayer, and it's transitions like this that make this album a success.
This might not be an album of the year candidate, but with their debut release, Beyond Fallen have set their stall out for the future, given themselves a superb platform to build from, and, oh yeah, put together a solid album to boot!
Lineup:
Joe Karavis - Vocals
Steve Jasuilewicz - Guitars
Mike Johnson - Guitars
Chuck Donahue - Bass
Tom Carden - Drums
1. Act Of War2. Blood On The Ice3. Enemy Of An Open Mind4. Closer To The End5. Fields Of Honor6. Mindfire7. The Dominence8. Sniper9. Illusion Of Life10. Bomb Inside Your Head