CoC : Beyond the Embrace - Against the Elements : Review

Beyond the Embrace - _Against the Elements_
(Metal Blade, 2002)
by: Aaron McKay (8 out of 10)

A very tightly packed debut from this Massachusetts six-piece, Beyond the Embrace drives the sense of intrigue fused with power to heights not often reached by most U.S. bands. Forced ahead with an up-front style, the vocals provided by Shawn Gallagher (also picking up the keyboard duties) are a nice blend of hoarse, husky and melodious. Worked ever so nicely into the ear-pleasing song structure are ambitious riffs of the infectious kind courtesy of Oscar Gouveia, Alex Botelho and Jeff Suade. Yup, that's -three- guitarists alright and BtE sounds as full as any band out there today. Vim and vigor course through this ten track disc, so much so that you'd swear to everything holy these guys were reincarnated Berzerkers. Completely compelling cuts are strewn generously throughout _Against the Elements_ with two finding themselves back-to-back: the instrumental "Drowning" and the title track, "Against the Elements", on which Adam Gonsales pushes a thunderous bass line, the likes of which appeal to me like all-you-can-eat BBQ. Not to let that momentum dissipate even for a second, Mike Bresciani on drums joins Adam's bass barbarity on the next track, "Release" -- the song is ripped wide open as a result. As a side note, recently Beyond the Embrace has replaced drummer Mike Bresciani with Kevin Camille. A small bit of background for those readers who are interested, Mr. Camille's former bands include Voices Forming Weapons and Roswell. Enough said that, BtE is one of those things you might hear for yourself to appreciate. This is a young outfit age-wise, so expect even bigger things headed our way from Beyond the Embrace. Time and talent are sure on their side.

Contact: http://www.beyondtheembrace.com

(article published 16/3/2003)

GIGS
15/3/2006	A McKay	Green Carnation / Beyond the Embrace / Deimos	The Quiet, Acoustic Light of Darkness