Mixing up the metal

Judas Priest. Tool. Black Sabbath. Nine Inch Nails.

To Beyond Fallen, it's all good. So, not surprisingly, they put all of it into their own music.

"More than anything, we're trying to play our own interpretation of the kind of music that we like, as fans, and preserve the traditions of this type of music," says vocalist Joe Karavis. "When people say 'heavy metal,' you could be anywhere. It's one end of the spectrum to the next. When you say 'heavy metal band,' that's a really tough label to try and sort through, because there's so many different kinds of metal. We're trying to be modern with some of the things we do, and we're also trying to preserve the metal sound that seems to be timeless."

Formed just over two years ago, Beyond Fallen also features Steve Jasvilewicz on guitar, Mike Johnson on guitar, Chuck Donahue on bass and Tom Carden on drums. The group released its first four-song self-titled EP in 2004, and have just released a full-length CD, "Lost In The Shadows."

The band has performed at area venues such as The Staircase, Corkscrews, the former Club 77 and Crocodile Rock in Allentown, and have opened shows for acts such as W.A.S.P. and Overkill. Influences also include Pink Floyd, Slayer, Rush, Metallica, Dream Theater, Deep Purple and David Bowie.

The band's latest CD is a blistering 10-track effort that flexes plenty of metal might. There's elements of thrash, modern-metal and some traditional sounds, including scorching solos and churning riffs. And that's just how the band likes it.

"More than anything else, it's the kind of music that I'm capable of doing," says Karavis. "I love metal. I like the diversity of it. As far as the music being powerful, or how 'heavy' it is - that's not a big issue. You can make all the noise in the world, but if the song doesn't have a flow to it, or it doesn't really climax at any point, than I think it's kind of worthless."

Karavis says Beyond Fallen combats that problem in two ways: working well together as a musical unit and making sure the songs have some purpose.

"It's all a part of having good chemistry with the guys in the band," he says. "Everybody in the band is growing, and is trying to do some new things, and is trying to bring some new elements to the music. We want to tell stories with the music sometimes, or say something a little bit political, without getting too topical about it.

"Like a lot of people, my lyrics come from everyday life experiences, and observing the way other people are living, or the way your life is," he adds. "Some of it is personal experiences, but I definitely don't want to write songs that say 'I'm so depressed' or 'I want to party.' A lot of it is speaking from the third person, so that maybe somebody can relate to it."

The band's new album was recorded at Sound Investments studios in Scranton and was self-produced. It was engineered by Joe Wegleski and mastered by Tom Borthwick. Karavis admits Beyond Fallen has a dark edge to it, and with song titles such as the title track, plus "Concrete Lucifer," "The Lowest Point," "Bringing Out The Dead" and "The Rise of The Fallen," it's easy to see why. Still, he says the music is anchored with positive themes.

"Even 'Rise of The Fallen' is kind of an upbeat thing for us," he says. "It's kind of like the Notre Dame fight song. People that say discouraging things to us, but we're not going to let that bother us. We're going to rise above it. And a song like 'Bringing Out The Dead' is kind of a social thing based around Columbine. We're not glamorizing it, but saying 'Why did these kids do this?' Instead of just saying 'Boy, they went nuts,' the social issue there is 'Why did they do it?' "

Beyond Fallen will host a CD release party on Saturday at The Island Club in Mayfield.

Count on some volume.

"When we play, we want people to feel like they're not just seeing a bar band, but somebody that maybe they'd see in a bigger venue," says Karavis. "We really try to put together a set that keeps people's attention. We want to sound really big and powerful. The type of metal we do has a lot of heavy guitars - a really, really thick guitar sound - and that's what we want. We don't want to preach to the audience. We want to put on a show."

If you go ...

WHAT: Beyond Fallen's "Lost In The Shadows" CD release party. Also on the bill is Idol Eyez, Ethereal Collapse, Lowlyfe, Balero and Absolution

WHERE: The Island Club, Rt. 6, Mayfield.

WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m.

COVER: $5

ON THE WEB: http://www.beyondfallen.com/