Far Beyond – The End of My Road
Release Date: 16th February 2024
Label: Prosthetic Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Melodic Death Metal, Symphonic, Extreme Metal, Power Metal, Progressive.
FFO: Primal Frost, Wintersun, Septicflesh, Mors Principium Est, Brymir, Ensiferum.
Review By: Rick Farley
Germany’s melodic extreme metal band Far Beyond is set to release album number three, The End of My Road via Prosthetic Records on February 16th, 2024.
Formed in the early 2000s, Far beyond is the solo project of mastermind Eugen Dodenhoeft. Combining the rich elegance of symphonic metal with the extremes of melodic death metal and the energetic, heroic bombast of power metal. The band creates an intoxicating blend of metallic drama that naturally progresses from 2005’s An Angel’s Requiem and 2016’s A Frozen Flame of Ice, marking the forging of their next chapter. Right from the beginning, it is noticeably clear this will be a musical trek that takes the listener in several epic directions, exploring the boundaries between reality and fantasy worlds. Huge in sound and atmosphere, The End of My Road is an emotional journey that requires multiple listens to even scrape the surface of the lusciously complex layers here, which is mostly a plus, but also a bit of a drawback as well. Across the seven tracks and forty-three-minute runtime, Eugen compiled up to 140 layers of vocals, synthesisers, and orchestral textures in total. While I thoroughly enjoy this record, the overall mix is at times muddled and a little flat. The songwriting and musicianship are clearly top-notch, but sonically lacks an organic feeling that would liven up the songs to the epic levels they deserve to be. The drums could use a little extra punch as well, that would go a long way in beefing up the power of these songs.
With that said, this is still a highly enjoyable record full of ripping guitar solos, gargantuan orchestral atmosphere, beautiful melodies, and jagged guitar riffs. There are haunting moments of pure anger and despair to moments of tranquillity and triumphant heroics. Tracks like A Symphony of Light, in its nearly eleven minutes of magnificence, takes the sonic choral harshness of a band like Septic Flesh and melds it flawlessly with the sword wielding glory of power metal. Its cinematic symphonic sound and blistering speedy riffs will have you banging your head and raising your horns high. Track three, Ad Infinitas leans more towards the melodic death metal realm, at least at first; growling vocals, hard charging guitar riffs, and that sweet melodic influence from Scandinavia. The track goes from harsh vocals to expressive cleans, toeing the line between progressive, death and power metal, again with ease and great coherence. The middle of the track winds down to a serene cinematic feel with a slower pace and softer atmosphere. Crunchy guitars, orchestral synths and emotionally rousing solos followed by the main chorus line give this track a grandiose feel all the way to the end. From the Stars and the Crescent Moon was the only single that Far Beyond and the label released, and for good reason, it is a glorious example of what this record entails. Highlighting all the elements The End of My Road has to offer, the track feels like an otherworldly journey through the raging darkness only to come out the other side bloodied and bruised, but victorious.
Despite my criticism of the recording/mix, this is a record that deserves to be jammed loud, and I felt that I should still score it accordingly. Check this out.
(4 / 5)
