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Portraits Of The Absurd

    
       
       
       
     
             
Beyond This Earth are a heavy rock band from Greece formed in 2013 releasing their debut E.P. 'Tales From Beyond This Earth' in 2014, and debut album 'Universal Fury' in 2016. The bands musical style is bluesy, hard come heavy rock bordering on traditional heavy metal, with the bands story telling lyrical approach making for an intriguing and infectious listen. Beyond This Earth's sophomore album 'Portraits Of The Absurd' was released in 2023...    
             
...featuring nine songs across a fifty four minute run time - and sees, or rather hears, the band expand their horizons much further than ever before! Throughout 'Portraits Of The Absurd' there are touches of Southern rock, sprinklings of the progressive, and good old fashioned rock 'n' roll - 'In Orbit' launching the album with a tense, highly atmospheric and crescendo building first minute or so, adopting a deep groove laden rhythm as it gets going proper! And the vocals too are deep, perfectly suited to either heavy rock or Southern rock - which is very apt, as Beyond This Earth meld together those two styles of rock perfectly. And that togetherness is carried over into 'The Overseer', the groove metal riffing simply getting stronger and stronger - or perhaps that should be groove rock riffing! Either way, the band are standing proud in a triangle that covers three genres - hard rock, heavy rock and heavy metal! It's not absurd to say that, I just can't place them in only one - '...Of The Absurd?' moving the album on with a little bit more pace and a lot more rock and roll swagger! Even heads are gonna start rocking back and forth at a much faster rate too, '...Of The Absurd?' one of those kinda songs that appeals equally to fans of both rock and metal.    
             
Since the album began, the levels of energy and oomph have been getting stronger and stronger, Beyond This Earth bombarding listeners with an all encompassing array of heavy hitting rockers - upping the ante in the shape of the mighty 'The Fall Of Reason'. Pounding the ground harder than anything heard so far, 'The Fall Of Reason' is gonna reduce buildings to rumble, the band marching on by with a high level of authority and purpose. Such intensity is incredible, 'Portraits Of The Absurd' portraying an unnatural amount - 'Utopia' gliding in on the crest of mellowness and serenity! Yet with more menace and tension than every song heard up to this point, Beyond This Earth move in the direction of melancholic rock - just two steps away from doom rock! The slower tempo and deeper, much gruffer vocals, will have many listeners diving for the relative comfort of behind the sofa, the band creating one helluva scary ambience! An ambience that disappears rapidly, 'Gray' emphatically returning the albums overall groove orientated rock come metal stance. Pounding the ground with phenomenal force, 'Gray' batters every listener round the head with a glorious "to die for" groove, everyone's jaws dropping to the floor with an almighty thud!    
             
And with even more energy and pace, 'Portraits Of The Absurd' strides on with 'In A Nutcell', the band planting one "foot on the monitor" ala the classic pose of traditional heavy metal. The iconic gallop of pioneering metal bands Iron Maiden, Saxon and Angel Witch is highly evident, Beyond This Earth aiming 'In A Nutcell' directly at the metal traditionalists. The album has weaved a path through, and around the genres of rock and metal since minute one, the band not content to just sit in any one genre of music - rumbling thunder coming over the horizon as 'The Jade Empire' wreaks havoc across the airways with its brash and abrasive nature. It's getting harder and harder to describe just how heavy and groove laden the album is, Beyond This Earth pounding the ground so fucking hard volcanoes all around the world are gonna erupt along with the shifting of every tectonic plate across the surface of the planet! Bringing the album to a close is the nine minutes plus 'Land Of The Wise', by far and away the longest song on offer - and what a song! The band throw everything they have in their locker at listeners, from mean and menacing, to a power driven march, 'Land Of The Wise' features so many styles it'd take me an absolute age to list 'em all!    
             
Overall, a hard hitting, ground shuddering slab of heavy rock guaranteed to rhythmically move heads back and forth.    
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for Metal Gods TV    
             
             
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