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BEYOND THE GRAVE BIOGRAPHY

So what is / who are / from whence came Beyond the Grave? Well weary metal traveller you’ve come to the right place to find out…

The five-piece heavy metal juggernaut that is Beyond the Grave has been fighting the good fight for the past four years and shows no sign of throwing in the white towel any time soon. With their “soaring leads, crushing riffs and atmospheric interludes” (Terrorizer 12/08) Beyond the Grave play “shit-kicking metal that pisses over everyone else at the moment” (www.voltcase.com).

In the past two years Beyond the Grave have successfully expanded beyond their roots in the North East of England to bring their music to audiences throughout the UK and beyond both though touring and the release of their EP’s The Craven Betrayal (recorded and produced by former Stampin’ Ground guitarist Scott Atkins) and most recently, the critically acclaimed (see below), Sands of Desolation.

In their relatively short career to date Beyond the Grave have already made some notable achievements. The band closed out the first ever Hard Rock Hell festival in Minehead in November 2007 following a summer tour of the UK, which saw the band sell out room two of Carling Academy Newcastle. Beyond the Grave have played with bands from across the metal genre and across the world including Cradle of Filth, Cult of Luna, Sylosis, Dry Kill Logic, Sacred mother tongue and Weapons to name a few.

2008 saw the release of the band’s latest EP Sand’s of Desolation; recorded and produced by close friend and Immanis guitarist Bryan Ramage. The release of Sands of Desolation coincided with the band signing a distribution deal with French company Believe Digital meaning that you can now find Sands of Desolation available for download from all major online distributors. The closing months of 2008 saw a tremendously positive critical response to Sands of Desolation including a 9/10 review in the December issue of Terrorizer magazine.

2009 will see Beyond the Grave take greater steps than ever before! The band are considering a number of offers from record labels and will be touring Sands of Desolation in April (North East / North West / Scotland) and August (Midlands / South) and are hoping to record a new album for release later in 2009.

If you want to know anything more about us then why not get in touch and ask us?

If you want us to play your venue / gig / festival please contact us through this page or via the contact information on the left side of this page.

Keep it METAL!

Adam, Warwick, Luke, James, Jackson - BTG

SANDS OF DESOLATION REVIEWS

9/10 - TERRORIZER (Dec 08 issue)
Variety is the spice of life, and this Newcastle-based group serve it up in spades. Crushing riffs, soaring leads and atmospheric interludes are all here, endowed with a crisp, clean production and proffesional sounding musicianship... This is powerful stuff which doesn't suffer from a lack of originality, like too many other UK metal bands.

9.5 / 10 www.louciferspeaks.com
Beyond The Grave don't let you down. Their riff-heavy, aggressive yet melodic brand of metal really stands heads and shoulders above many other bands of the same ilk. Beyond The Grave really do seem to live up to the hype… could Beyond The Grave be one of the crowd pleasers at forthcoming festivals or arena tours? Quite possibly.'

4 / 5 www.rockmidgets.com
'BTG's strength is that they mix in a love of the old school without avoiding more modern tactics… (giving) this band just the edge of individuality that should see them stand out from the pack.'

DEVOLUTION MAGAZINE, ISSUE 19
'This Newcastle five piece have done exceptionally well over the past two years and their latest ep, Sands Of Desolation, is their best work to date. Beyond The Grave are an example to all striving bands, the music is clean, crisp well put together, just because you are unsigned doesnt mean you can excuse production values. There is, within their sound, subtle flavours of current metal bands but none so much that they sound like a carbon copy. This is very good metal with a strong fanbase and live show, and is much better than a lot of similar bands around. They are formulating their own sound and it's enough so far to stand out among full time metal fans and I don't think it's far off of standing out to a wider audience. 8 of ten metal fans will agree.'

9/10 Rhythm & Booze webzine
Having rediscovered this CD I've been literally bouncing off the walls, I grew up with metal, it was my first true musical love, but in recent times I've lost the faith, sure there have been bands such as Expedestrian who have managed to maintain my interest but on the whole I've drifted from the genre. But now Beyond The Grave have come to restore my faith. Sands Of Desolation is a twenty four minute, four-track headfuck of an EP, Beyond The Grave weld molten riffs, bombastic beats and a combination of guttural growls and clean melodic vocals to create a truly devastating blend of metal. At the times the band manage to tear down the walls with their intense instrument pounding and yet they still manage to throw in a few nice melodic passages to add texture to the mix. In fact just to prove that Beyond The Grave aren't just about fury they even manage to add a little bit of sitar to the opening number Before My Eyes on the stunning intro, whilst the lead singer delivers a mixture of growls and clean vocals to incredible effect. Elsewhere on the EP the band crush the listeners cranium with punishing riffs, bile infested lead vocals and blast beats aplenty before finishing with a few nice melodies on the final few moments of the closing title track. This is metal played how it's supposed to be and I love it.

www.subba-cultcha.com
'Fuck yes, some stabbing metalcore guitar lines and the same sort of Metallica-worshipping rawness of Bullet For My Valentine, nice slap bass effect too-these guys rock with their cocks out, bigger than most too-definitely worth your attention fellow metal brethren!'

8 / 10 www.obliveon.de
'The quintet is ready for a deal… I can see them in Europe and on festivals'. (Translated from the original German review).'

4 / 5 www.metal-rules.com
'SANDS OF DESOLATION is the third demo release from an unsigned U.K. band, the packaging, artwork, and overall production quality belie the fact that this band doesn't even have a label yet, which I believe speaks for itself in regards to the band's devotion to their art. Beyond the Grave deliver a riff-heavy blend of melodic thrash and metalcore... a mix of music that takes some getting used to but ultimately proves to be far more listenable than any metalcore rip-off act could be. Since the band just signed a digital distribution deal with Believe Digital, you have no reason not to check them out on iTunes or other similar music services, and you should be watching carefully for any future material they may release. Beyond the Grave's SANDS OF DESOLATION is a worthwhile release that will appeal to all types.'

www.metalteamuk.net
'This is an act that manages to combine the currently favoured metalcore screams with solid playing that pays a respectful nod to classic UK metal, the length of the tracks, averaging a good 6 minutes, allowing the band to showcase their instrumental skills.'

94% www.rock3music.com
'Simmering below the national metal conciousness are British metal band Beyond The Grave, earning a rave review in Metal Mag Terrorizer, and booked to support acts as diverse as Cradle of Filth, Cult of Luna, Sylosis, Dry Kill Logic and even chosen to be the closing band at the 2007 Hard rock Festival, Beyond The Grave's fresh stylish originality has been recognised by the industry and everyone wants a piece of them. Now able to headline their own gigs such is their reputation, the Sands of Desolation 4 track EP has continued to be circulated amongst the metal fraternity. The Sands Of Desolation EP has four infectious tracks of pure unblanched British metal, raw around the edges with the fire and passion of quality musicians, in some sense the opening track Before My Eyes reminds me of early Thrash metal with its non stop pacey twin guitars, melodic and well built guitar solo's threaded through the right places. This is real classic metal tunes with modern attitude, growling passions mixed with tuneful, audience embracing singing and plenty of rhythmic head nodding moments....'

www.live4metal.com
I don't want to influence anyone with any comparisons with Beyond The Grave's music, because if I mention a band that someone doesn't like, then you won't give them a chance. Instead I'm just going to recommend that you check them out for yourselves because if they can continue with material of this quality, then they are going to be the next big thing from the UK.

www.lordsofmetal.nl (translated from original Dutch review)
'The fact remains that Beyond The Grave have delivered a strong product with their third demo, which will definitely apply to a broad audience. With the right promotion the band just might get a break and gain international fame; they do show ambition, enthusiasm and musical expertise…'

7.4 / 10 www.komodorock.com
''Sands of Desolation' shows a new, more polished side to an up and coming metal band the UK can be proud of. This is classic metal, verging on proper old school thrash, and it's good to see a UK based band in a position to put their name on the map… all in all, this is an excellent snap shot of a band that could well be about ready to storm the UK. Keep a close watch!'

www.hardrockhouse.com
"With songs like this Beyond The Grave can go far beyond their wildest dreams, definitely for anyone searching for the next British metal band!'

www.voltcase.co.uk (Craven Betrayal review)
'Overall? Shit-kicking metal that pisses all over everyone else at the moment… Check em out. Now!'