For All Eternity – Beyond The Gates (2012)

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That’s it, guys. I’m moving to Australia. I’ve come across some pretty awesome bands in the past few years and it seems like at least half of them hail from Down Under. The newest discovery was For All Eternity and their new full-length album entitled Beyond The Gates.

Just a few seconds into the second track (the first track is only 30 seconds long and you can’t hear much), “Vacant Room”, I already knew that I was going to enjoy For All Eternity. The lows sound exactly like Winston McCall of Parkway Drive. Winston is my favourite vocalist, so for me, the similarity is a huge positive. Later on in the track, there are a few choruses that feature cleans that are very similar to Jesse Cash of Erra. Again, this is a huge positive because I love Erra’s cleans, especially on their newest album, Impulse.

Instrumentally, Beyond The Gates bridges the gap between metalcore, melodic hardcore, and progressive metalcore and touches on each area several times. The drumming is great throughout, but the most impressive aspect instrumentally lies in the guitars. Every track contains a few awesome riffs or guitar leads and there were several times that I found myself captivated by the melody. The bass completes the package and makes everything sound extra tight.

One of the most noteworthy parts on Beyond The Gates is the tapping bit about 30 seconds into “The Wide Path”. A few other tracks that I’d like to make note of are “Vacant Room”, “Solid Ground”, “Renewer”, and the instrumental track entitled “Bright Eyes”. In my opinion, these are the strongest tracks and they would be good starter tunes for someone just getting into For All Eternity.

The only major flaw with this album is the second last track, the title track. “Beyond The Gates” really slows down the tempo and it kind of messes up the flow of the album too. By no means is it a bad song, but it’s one of the weaker tracks and For All Eternity would have been better off to slide it back to the final track.

A week ago, I had never heard of For All Eternity, but I’m more than glad that I gave their new album, Beyond The Gates, a few listens. It impressed me the entire 42 minutes that it was ringing through my ears and lead me to give their EP that they released in 2009 a listen.

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By Steven Pongrac ~ Me Gusta Reviews