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On disc: Beyond Surface



- Destination's End - Claudia Ehrhardt - 8 stars


www.beyondsurface.de







Destination's End

Destination's End
(Sanctuary Records - 2004)


With Beyond Surface the third band of the Young Metal Gods competition is releasing their album. The sextet is around for several years and since summer 2001 they play with this line-up. Their first demo got them on the Young Metal Gods competition. Musically they band offers gothic rock / metal. Great melodies, catchy combined with heavy guitars and grooves. Singer Gerrit has a dark, partly hoarse voice. There have been comparisons with HIM... Well, there are parallels. Listen to the title track Destiny's End and you will understand. They rock, they are heavy and they are catchy. Here Gerrit's way of singing is also reminding me of Ville Valo. I like the Finnish and so this isn't a bad thing to me. But Gerrit ain't copying the charismatic singer. The opener is slightly heavier then the title track, the vocal line is a little bluesy, then heavy guitar riffing lead into a catchy chorus. With Feel the band shows a slightly different side -a little more electronic and at the same time heavy and with a little aggression in it. With The Cure is a heavy power ballad which let me think of Sentenced... In the beginning every band has to stand the comparisons, when they established newcomers will be compared with them. Some way to go for the German sextet, but they have the possibility. They have the skills and they have with Sanctuary a good business partner.
My Fading Love starts with a keyboard line, then the band joins in heavily. A kind of gothic power ballad. Remind me of HIM and partly of Paradise Lost... Words Burn Down Like Fire has also the melancholy vibe the British carry in their compositions. Even if Gerrit's voice gives it a fragility.
Another song which I should mention is their cover version of Paul Young's hit Come Back And Stay. The band from Mainz present this pop tune in a heavy, rocking version. Their version fits well to their own compositions. I can imagine this one will make it to the gothic dance floors....
The album is produced by Piet Sielck at the Karo Studio in Brakel and the Powerhouse-Studio in Hamburg. Here Piet Sielck proofs his critics wrong, coz he can more then just produce the Helloween-influenced sounds. A powerful productions which can compete with genre releases. An album I can recommend to everybody who listens to bands like HIM, Sentenced or Paradise Lost at times of Draconian Times and One Second.


8 stars

Claudia Ehrhardt
 

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