Additional information
Personnel: Joacim Cans, Matt Sinner, Metal Mike Chalasciak, Stefan Elmgren, Mark Zonder. This solid album from Can features Fates Warning' Mark Zonder on drums. Limited European edition includes a video. In the 21st century, the power metal scene isn't just veteran headbangers like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Queensrÿche, it's also power metal revival bands such as Symphony X, Iron Savior, Morifade, DragonForce, and Rhapsody. The difference between the older power metallers and the younger power metal revival acts is not a stylistic difference but rather, a matter of when a band came along; stylistically, the power metal revival combos that were formed in the '90s or 2000s are consistently mindful of the power metal artists who started recording in the late '70s or '80s. That is certainly true of the Sweden-based vocalist of Hammerfall, Joacim Cans, who maintains his devotion to old-school power metal throughout his solo project Beyond the Gates. This 2004 release offers no acknowledgment of post-'80s trends in alternative metal; there are no chugging or downtuned guitars on Beyond the Gates, and the disc is totally oblivious to alt metal favorites like Sevendust, Korn, Slipknot, and Limp Bizkit. When Beyond the Gates is playing, one is transported back to a time when Ronald Reagan was president of the United States, Margaret Thatcher was prime minister of England and power metal was ruled by the melodic yet forceful likes of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Grim Reaper, and Queensrÿche. For all their intensity, those old-school headbangers were undeniably musical and intricate, and the same goes for Cans. Melody and aggression are equally important on Beyond the Gates, which has a real sense of craftsmanship and is never about brutality for the sake of brutality. This highly derivative CD won't score any points for originality, but it's an enjoyably decent, if predictable, effort that will appeal to headbangers who still hold their old Savatage and King Diamond albums in high regard. ~ Alex Henderson
