Beyond All Reason

Metal is so easily corrupted. With a genre of music that embraces screaming vocals and rates guitar work partly on how easy it is to bang your head in time to it, it’s no wonder. ‘Beyond all Reason’ is shamelessly a metal band, but contrary to the points made above they are associated with the genre for all the right reasons and within seconds of them starting it was clear that they were all talented individuals.

The guitar work was frantic and relentless in its technical brilliance, never lingering on a note for more than a semi-quaver and always doing something individual but nevertheless complementary to the rest of the music. The sound quality, however, didn’t do all this justice. The whole concert was too loud for such a small venue and as a result it was sometimes hard to distinguish one instrument from another. If the volume was lower then there could have been more room for subtlety and detail within the sound that could have made the experience more enjoyable. The fact that the melodies on the guitar were unique went so far in rectifying this fault.



Vocals, in metal bands, tend to be somewhat overshadowed by the rest of the band when they play live. ‘Beyond all Reason’ front man ‘Venno’, however, could be heard clear as crystal and the precision of his pitching was very impressive, especially as his pitching was octaves above what most fully grown men can reach. His melodic and accessible style pleased what little people there were there to hear it and inspired them to try (and fail) to sing along.

The enthusiasm shown by the small but loyal fan base in the Barfly was not enough to make up for the distinct lack of numbers. The room was as good as empty, which left the atmosphere a bit limp and some members of the audience looked quite awkward and out of place. The rest of the crowd, though, seemed contented with just the band playing and flailed their long hair in appreciation.


The band themselves, despite the small turn out, were playing their hearts out, and loving every minute of it. They were just as, if not more, excited and animated than most bands are while playing stadium shows and this really was a heart-warming spectacle to watch. The emptiness surrounding them, though, was filled only so far with their presence. It did serve to accentuate their love for their work and their positive approach to it, but still left the viewer with the feeling that it could have been so much better if ‘Beyond all Reason’ got the turnout they deserved.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.