October 4, 2013 | , | 4

Beyond, Fatal Power of Death

Beyond: Fatal Power of Death

Sounding as though it were recorded in the same godforsaken hole as Sepultura’s Morbid Visions/Bestial Devastation combo EP, the debut album from Germany’s Beyond is raw, messy and pretty damn badass. Fatal Power of Death is tinny and echoey, but also das ownright burly and violent as old school influenced death metal can get — each track is just as or perhaps even more aggressive than the previous.

After a brief bit of atmosphere setting, Beyond get right down to business with the bludgeoning album opener, “Expressions.” There’s little to no fanfare throughout this song as the guys channel their inner Incantation and Necrovore into this blasphemous eruption of intense fury. Musically, the song (and album for that matter) is full throttle, thrashing death metal delivered with an unrelenting fervor — buzzing riffage, maniacal drums and rumbling bass lines. Vocally, lead belcher “R” shreds his vocal chords with a powerful performance that teeters on the unhinged abilities of Autopsy’s Reifert. The solo work throughout Fatal Power of Death remind of Morbid Angel in their complete lack of structure and injection of chaos into the already dense and writhing mayhem.

“Merciless at Heart” continues the evil and ugliness with blasting drums that seem to lose shape here and there, devolving into a rumbling wall of malevolence as the buzz-sawing guitars join the fray. This song is violent as fuck and delivers the goods wonderfully, even tossing in a bit of a moshtastic respite about halfway through. “Whirlwinds” is probably the most appropriately named song on the album as you’ll be lost instantly in the churning, miasmal whirlwind that is created as everyone in the band does their damnedest to grab your attention all on their own regardless of their bandmates. It’s a chaotic track that just begs for multiple listens.

Beyond do well to mix things up periodically. They know that one can only take so much of a frenzied attack as theirs at one time. Tossing in smoothly transitioning refuges of groove and swirling lead work amongst the blasting rhythms is sure to be enough to keep your attention. The title track utilizes a deeper tone and submerged, guttural vocal delivery stand out a bit from the rest of the songs while “Appearance from Beyond” brings in a bit of vile melody to throw you off your game before descending into the seething depths of Hell. The thirteen (and then some) minutes of album closer, “Consuming Black Void,” brings a feeling of unease as the group brings in more eerie atmosphere and sound bytes to accompany the relatively slower moving song.

All in all, Fatal Power of Death is one of those albums that not only encompasses the old school and new school successfully, but also engages the listener, challenging them to hang around for the full 49 minutes it takes to survive. Beyond certainly have themselves one hell of a debut effort here.