Band:	One Step Beyond
Album:	Beyond Good And Evil
Style:	Experimental death metal
Release date:	2007
A review by:	Raiden

01. True Faced
02. Birth Of Disease
03. The Party
04. Your God
05. Maniac / Watch Your Back
06. Mirrorstance
07. Everyday
08. Black Light Blue
09. Depth Of Mind
10. Made For Cable
11. Chase
12. Foot High Tough Guy
13. Blinding Haze
14. The Calm Before
15. Free To Air

Style: Experimental Death Metal
Label: Self-Released
Length: 44.25
Recorded: 2004

Line-up:
Mad Matt - Bass, vocals, drum programming, guitars
Justin Wood - Vocals
Rufus - Guitars


Along with last year, this year has been quite a good year for Death Metal. This album, "Beyond Good And Evil", is another album that displays such "goodness", but for rather different reasons. One Step Beyond describe themselves as a fusion of Napalm Death and Primus, which wouldn't be far off. These South Australians' music is certainly original. It's extreme and...well..."funky" I guess, at the same time. It's a surprisingly fun combination.

There are some bands out there that have almost non-existent bass lines. Some that use bass nicely as a backing instrument, or others where it's a little more aggressive and prominent. With One Step Beyond though, it's become just as important an instrument as the lead guitar or drums. Sometimes it's leading with a solo, or backing up as the solid foundation. It'll jazz up songs when necessary, but also take a back seat in some of the more linear tracks. "Your God" and "Everyday" are two contrasting examples of this. Your God, being more of a "normal" song, actually sounds quite good. There's a nice wailing guitar solo (most of the solos are like this, a real plus I think), and slower but heavier guitars throughout. The song Everyday is a funkier song laden more heavily with groovier elements. Yet both songs are excellent.

The vocal work in Beyond Good And Evil is varied, but not outstanding. It's good, but not superb. Death Metal growls and Grindcore-esque rasps are used, but they seem to be lacking a little depth. They're not absolutely terrible though; they don't let the album down much. In a lot of the songs, the singing is blurted out pretty quickly, even in the slower tracks. As for the drumming, it fits really well with the rest of the instruments. It's in time, and provides a steady beat. It's not made to be blasting every which way, but to follow the line of the rest of the music.

As well as the faster, extreme songs and the more laid back songs, there are a couple of mostly instrumental tracks in the middle. They sound like one of those interlude tracks you'd hear on a Soulfly album. I guess the whole album can't run at the same pace, but if I'm not in the mood for songs such as this, I'll be sure to just skip them.

So I think this album would fit best in the collection of a Death Metaller who has a bit more of an open mind. This isn't your usual Death Metal release, but it's still an extremely fun romp. Not every song is great, but there are some gems in there, and they make the album worth it.