ENFORCER - From Beyond (2015)

The Beyond Comes to Town

Forgone holiday time became very memorable not only because of offensively high temperature here in Poland, but due to three heavy metal albums that conquered my senses. About “Popioły wiar” and “Dreamstealer” I wrote some days ago, now it’s time to praise “From Beyond” created by Swedish Enforcer. But, it wasn’t a quick enchantment or easy love. Hard to explain that, as it was shooting forth sluggishly, at first I was skipping the first track even, claiming that is not good enough and needless one (?!). Then tracks 2 – 6 made my day, making me forget the bloody rest. Some days passed, I tortured only “The Banshee” and “Hell Will Follow”. Finally, the opener convinced me, and now I worship the whole album building an altar for this. A total madness, isn’t it?

 

Strange and crazy moments indeed, as the Swedes don’t deliver difficult tunes. Again ten songs in the heavy and speedy sauce, and this time with the longest LP in their career. These 43 minutes run very quickly because “From Beyond” contains of ten fascinating compositions deeply rooted in the UK / US scenes of the mighty eighties. They base on well-known patterns and designs, yet Olof Wikstrand & company know how to bespice the entirety with their hot-tempered youth, talent and skills, avoiding becoming stupid retro clone. So I got really fresh dish, not an old rechauffe. And it is very hard to choose the leader amongst the unleashed crowd as each song has something to be another heavy metal pearl. No matter if I talk about speeding firecrackers like “Destroyer” (yes, after all!), “One with Fire” or smashing “The Banshee”, or the tracks with slower tempo “Undying Evil”, mysterious title piece or the ending “Mask of Red Death”. The miraculous ennead is split up by instrumental “Hungry They Will Come” with all the best Iron Maiden memories.

That’s true they look like and play their sounds definitely the old-school way, but the most important is they perfectly know how to vitalize into the well-known tunes. There’s no monotony, no time to yawn, the whole is put cunningly and all these elements make the surrounding world seems to keep still. The mind flows to the Beyond.

  

This album is definitely the best Enforcer’s performance to date, I give it very high mark and I’m not afraid to place “From Beyond” next to the heavy metal classic. And it is a perfect antidote for many, many modern sterile productions. Beware, it lives!

97/100

-Tlacaxipehualiztli

(written in September, 2015)