Review from a magazine from waaay back when. Don't blame me, I just typed the thing in.
Feel attracted me to The Beyond some years ago, when they were a rough edged,somehow incoherent embryo of a life yet to be. Now, here's Crawl, courier of the Beyonds maturity. Or is it? Without a handful of spins, it's difficultto tap into a groove which has become wildly more sophisticated, esoteric andinaccessible than previously. The loss of simplicity is to be mourned. Perhapsfor an hour and a half, by which time you're ready for a third listen and your ear has adapted to The Beyonds radical new paradigm. The effort is rewarded with a dense and challenging plaid of jazz-thrash artcore, hung on a tapestry of busy drumming and juxtapositional guitar parts. It demands analysis!
An open minded attitude is also necessary. Much of the melancholy grace of No More Hapy Ever Afters could feature on Geroge Michael's next album but I can't see the Primus end of things appealing to the designer stubble king. And maturity? Well, a step back from the frantic musical IQ trip would allow a complete view of the songs. Deep rivers of pattern and simplicity flow beneath the vortices of chaos, or so they say
8.4 / 10
Richard Heggie